Think globally, measure locally: The MIREN standardized protocol for monitoring plant species distributions along elevation gradients

Climate change and other global change drivers threaten plant diversity in mountains worldwide. A widely documented response to such environmental modifications is for plant species to change their elevational ranges. Range shifts are often idiosyncratic and difficult to generalize, partly due to variation in sampling methods. There is thus a need for a standardized monitoring strategy that can be applied across mountain regions to assess distribution changes and community turnover of native and non-native plant species over space and time. Here, we present a conceptually intuitive and standardized protocol developed by the Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN) to systematically quantify global patterns of native and non-native species distributions along elevation gradients and shifts arising from interactive effects of climate change and human disturbance. Usually repeated every five years, surveys consist of 20 sample sites located at equal elevation increments along three replicate roads per sampling region. At each site, three plots extend from the side of a mountain road into surrounding natural vegetation. The protocol has been successfully used in 18 regions worldwide from 2007 to present. Analyses of one point in time already generated some salient results, and revealed region-specific elevational patterns of native plant species richness, but a globally consistent elevational decline in non-native species richness. Non-native plants were also more abundant directly adjacent to road edges, suggesting that disturbed roadsides serve as a vector for invasions into mountains. From the upcoming analyses of time series, even more exciting results can be expected, especially about range shifts. Implementing the protocol in more mountain regions globally would help to generate a more complete picture of how global change alters species distributions. This would inform conservation policy in mountain ecosystems, where some conservation policies remain poorly implemented

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\u20135 and 5\u201315 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\ub0C (mean = 3.0 \ub1 2.1\ub0C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 \ub1 2.3\ub0C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler ( 120.7 \ub1 2.3\ub0C). 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

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-km <sup>2</sup> 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-km <sup>2</sup> 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

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

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

Livestock grazing, habitat protection and diversity of bees and wasps in the Central Monte desert

El principal objetivo de las reservas es prevenir o mitigar los impactos humanos sobre los ecosistemas naturales. Es importante evaluar cuán bien las reservas alcanzan este objetivo. Evaluamos si la protección del hábitat que brinda la Reserva de la Biósfera de Ñacuñán (Monte Central, Argentina) resulta en cambios detectables en la estructura del hábitat, y en la riqueza y la composición de especies de abejas y avispas. Realizamos muestreos con trampas bandeja y observaciones de visitantes florales en seis pares de sitios dentro y fuera de la reserva. Nuestros resultados sugieren que los treinta y cinco años de exclusión del ganado vacuno en Ñacuñán han tenido efectos detectables sobre la estructura del hábitat. Sin embargo, estos cambios en el hábitat se tradujeron sólo en efectos parciales y conflictivos sobre la riqueza de himenópteros, y no tuvieron efectos detectables sobre la composición de himenópteros. Nuestro estudio debería repetirse en el futuro, con un mayor esfuerzo de muestreo y a lo largo de varios años antes que estos resultados puedan ser aplicados como guía de decisiones de manejo

Auditory processing disorders: Diagnostic and therapeutic challenge

BACKGROUND: The auditory processing disorders (APD) are characterized by normal peripheral hearing, but abnormal processing of auditory information within the central auditory nervous system and the neurobiological activity that underlies that processing and gives rise to the electrophysiological auditory potentials. Learning disorders (LD) are diagnosed when a subject's achievement on individually administered standardized tests in reading, mathematics or written expression is substantially below (defined as a discrepancy of more than two standard deviations from the mean) that expected for age, schooling and level of intelligence. Prevalence of APD in students diagnosed with LD is estimated to be as high but is still unclear the overlap between the APD and other developmental disorders. This lack of clarity is probably due to the use of multiple diagnostic criteria and different tests proposed that evaluate the same cognitive domains as memory, attention, speech production etc. METHODS: The aim of our study was to present a cluster analysis to determine the overall profile of students that are tested for dyslexia with the co-occurrence of poor performance on auditory skills. In absence of any audiometric hearing loss, they have been addressed for auditory processing assessment according to diagnostic criteria. We evaluated 70 patients (30 males and 40 females) aged between 17 and 55 years. The students were tested on cognitive, auditory, reading and language skills with an IQ assessment, dyslexia assessment, phonological awareness screening, instrumental evaluation for hearing threshold. Exclusion criteria: IQ below the norm (<70 points) and the presence of neurological and sensory deficits. RESULT S: Among 70 patients examined, 33% have poor SRT -PTA agreement because ITA Matrix test showed a SRT average of -3.8 dB SNR; of these 33%, 56% also showed a low score in repeating non-words with shielded mouth, 61% a speed less than 4th percentage in spelling and 39% less than the 5th percentage in the fusion test. Analyzing the profiles of the group with poor SRT-PTA agreement, we focused on four cases that are suspected for APD and we tested them. Only one subjects had a poor performance below two standard deviation on two tests according to diagnostic criteria, so we confirm an APD. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical presentation of APD has much in common especially with specific language impairment (SLI) and dyslexia and this occurrence suggests that may be a symptom of a more varied neurodevelopmental disorder. We conclude that all the patients with difficult on auditory skills with normal hearing threshold should be assess for an APD. The diagnosis of APD is still today a challenge that require a larger sample for further investigation

Minimal hearing loss in children: effect on speech in noise perception

Background: Minimal hearing loss (Mhl) is a relatively underappreciated pathological entity encompassing three types of sensorineural hearing loss, based on audiometric evaluation Unilateral hearing loss (Uhl), mild bilateral hearing loss (MBhl), high-frequency hearing loss (hFhl). the condition is quite common in the pediatric population and does not have a single cause, but rather a wide range of possible etiolo- gies. Mhl may go unnoticed by parents and can manifest indirectly with speech delay and poor school performances. it is also associated with difficulties in speech perception, particularly in environments with background noise and reverberation. Speech audiometry evaluation is there- fore crucial, not only to make a timely diagnosis but also to guide treatment and provide important cues on child’s progression and rehabilitation. A recently validated test for the evaluation of children’s speech reception threshold (SRT) is the Simplified Italian Matrix (ItaMatrix) Test that allows to evaluate the speech intelligibility in noise in an adaptive way. In the present study, we used the ItaMatrix test to evaluate how mild hearing loss could affect speech recognition in children in comparison to a group of normal-hearing peers. Methods: We enrolled 47 patients between 6 and 13 years old referred to our ENT Unit for Learning disabilities. An exclusion criterion was any previously known behavioral or physical condition affecting the child that can worsen the academic performances, such as hyperactivity or dyslexia. First, the children underwent pure-tone audiometry (PTA) subsequently, we evaluated the speech-reception threshold (SRT), in quiet (SRTq) and noise (SRTn) using the ItaMatrix test. Results: We found that 28 children had normal hearing (group 1) and 19 had a hearing loss. among the hearing loss group, we decided to only consider the bilateral hearing loss children (group 2, N.=7) for homogeneity of analysis. Pta, Srtn, and Srtq were higher in group 2. the correlation between Pta and Srtn appears to be stronger in group 2, suggesting that a noisy environment is a more pressing challenge for the child with hearing loss. Age influences the SNRn in both groups but appears to correlate more with SRTn than SRTq, reflecting the fact that the maturation of the brain network makes a greater contribution in hearing with background noise than quiet. The impact of MHL is particularly important when considering the school environment, typically a noisy class, where the signal intensity decreases moving away from the teacher while background noise, coming from different sources, remains constant (squires 2016) at about 65 dB. Conclusions: Our study supports the evidence that children with Mhl require a more favorable signal-to-noise ratio to process the acoustic signal effectively and keep up with their peers in school