Drivers of change and conservation needs for vertebrates in drylands: an assessment from global scale to Sahara-Sahel wetlands

Drylands range across more than half of the global terrestrial area and harbour about a quarter of continental vertebrate species, many of them endemic. However, this fauna is being increasingly threatened, in particular the one that inhabits deserts, one of the last biomes on earth. This work tracks the most relevant global change drivers acting on drylands, especially in deserts and arid regions, the conservation actions being developed, and the research needs for vertebrate conservation, following IUCN standardised classification schemes. Using the Sahara-Sahel wetlands as case study, it is provided a detailed examination of these aspects to support regional biodiversity conservation and human welfare. Deserts and arid regions are threatened by the synergistic effects of increasing development of urban areas, agriculture, energy production, mining, transportation and service corridors, resulting in pollution, invasive species, human intrusions and disturbance, biological resource overuse and in general, natural system modifications. In addition, climate change together with social underdevelopment of many desert-range countries places the mitigation of threat factors in a large and complex web of global-local societal challenges. Conservation actions targeting land/water and species protection and management, as well as education, awareness, capacity building, and legislation measures to increase livelihood development, are being developed. Additional research efforts are need to enhance biodiversity conservation planning, monitoring biodiversity and land-degradation status (based on Essential Biodiversity Variables), and quantification of socioeconomic factors associated with sustainable use of natural resources and human development. Sahara-Sahel wetlands are important life-support systems for both humans and vertebrates, the last vulnerable to listed global threats. They offer framework scenario to revert current environmental and societal challenges in deserts. Long-term conservation of desert vertebrate biodiversity requires appropriate policy instruments to promote sustainable use of natural resources. Raising environmental alertness within local communities of uniqueness of desert biodiversity is needed to promote policy change

DISTRIBUCIÓN DE LOS ANFIBIOS EN LA PROVINCIA DE GRANADA (SE PENINSULA IBÉRICA)

In this article on use the 10 x 10 km. U. T. M. gnd system to represent the distribution of Amphibians in the province of Granada. We have taken great care to make the sampling effort homogeneus among the 13 1 squares in which the province was divided. We have found 11 Amphibians species, 3 of which are Urodelans and 8 are Anurans. The Granada province is the South-oriental limit for the distribution of the Urodelans in the Ibenan Peninsula, and this is perhaps the reason that the populations of these species are scarce and difficult to find in this area. However, al1 Amurans species show a more South-oriental distnbution. We have studied some physical and climatic parameters to observe which factors condition the distribution of each species. The principal factors in this study area that influence the distnbution are the rainfall, number of water places, the limestone lithology and the presence of woody and shruby areas.En el presente artículo se representa la distnbución de los anfibios por medio de la malla U. T. M. de 10 x 10 km. Se ha prestado especial atención a la homogeneización del esfuerzo de muestre0 a través de las 131 cuadrículas en las que queda dividida la provincia de Granada. En el área de estudio se han encontrado 1 1 especies de anfibios, de las que 3 son urodelos y 8 son anuros. Por aquí pasa el límite suroriental de la distribución ibérica de los urodelos por lo que las poblaciones de las especies son escasas y puntuales; sin embargo, todas las especies de anuros presentan poblaciones más surorientales. Se ha estudiado la relación entre diversos parámetros medioambientales y la distribución de las especies; en el área de estudio el factor con más influencia es, como cabría esperar, la precipitación, seguido del número de puntos de agua, la litología caliza y la presencia de masas arbóreas o arbustivas

Design strategies for optimizing holographic optical tweezers setups

We provide a detailed account of the construction of a system of holographic optical tweezers. While much information is available on the design, alignment and calibration of other optical trapping configurations, those based on holography are relatively poorly described. Inclusion of a spatial light modulator in the setup gives rise to particular design trade-offs and constraints, and the system benefits from specific optimization strategies, which we discuss.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figure

HoloTrap: Interactive hologram design for multiple dynamic optical trapping

This work presents an application that generates real-time holograms to be displayed on a holographic optical tweezers setup; a technique that allows the manipulation of particles in the range from micrometres to nanometres. The software is written in Java, and uses random binary masks to generate the holograms. It allows customization of several parameters that are dependent on the experimental setup, such as the specific characteristics of the device displaying the hologram, or the presence of aberrations. We evaluate the software's performance and conclude that real-time interaction is achieved. We give our experimental results from manipulating 5 micron-diametre microspheres using the program.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

Drivers of change and conservation needs for vertebrates in drylands : an assessment from global scale to Sahara-Sahel wetlands

Abstract: Drylands range across more than half of the global terrestrial area and harbour about a quarter of continental vertebrate species, many of them endemic. However, this fauna is being increasingly threatened, in particular the one that inhabits deserts, one of the last biomes on earth. This work tracks the most relevant global change drivers acting on drylands, especially in deserts and arid regions, the conservation actions being developed, and the research needs for vertebrate conservation, following IUCN standardised classification schemes. Using the Sahara-Sahel wetlands as case study, it is provided a detailed examination of these aspects to support regional biodiversity conservation and human welfare. Deserts and arid regions are threatened by the synergistic effects of increasing development of urban areas, agriculture, energy production, mining, transportation and service corridors, resulting in pollution, invasive species, human intrusions and disturbance, biological resource overuse and in general, natural system modifications. In addition, climate change together with social underdevelopment of many desert-range countries places the mitigation of threat factors in a large and complex web of global-local societal challenges. Conservation actions targeting land/ water and species protection and management, as well as education, awareness, capacity building, and legislation measures to increase livelihood development, are being developed. Additional research efforts are need to enhance biodiversity conservation planning, monitoring biodiversity and land-degradation status (based on Essential Biodiversity Variables), and quantification of socioeconomic factors associated with sustainable use of natural resources and human development. Sahara-Sahel wetlands are important life-support systems for both humans and vertebrates, the last vulnerable to listed global threats. They offer framework scenario to revert current environmental and societal challenges in deserts. Long-term conservation of desert vertebrate biodiversity requires appropriate policy instruments to promote sustainable use of natural resources. Raising environmental alertness within local communities of uniqueness of desert biodiversity is needed to promote policy change

Effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network in protecting Iberian endemic fauna

The Iberian Peninsula is a major European region of biodiversity, as it harbours more than 30% of European endemic species. Despite a number of studies having evaluated the ability of nature reserves to protect certain taxa, there is still a lack of knowledge on how Iberian endemic fauna are represented in these reserves. We detected biodiversity hotspots of Iberian endemicity and evaluated the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network (N2000) in representing 249 endemic species from eight animal taxonomic groups (amphibians, mammals, freshwater fishes, reptiles, water beetles, butterflies, lacewings and dung beetles). We found that only the 10% of these Iberian endemic species are considered species of community interest (i.e. species included in the Annexes of the Habitats Directive). We conducted gap analyses and null models of representativeness in N2000. Generally, N2000 is effective in its representation of Iberian endemic fauna, although we detected species and few hotspots of endemism that were still not represented. It is necessary to declare a few new protected areas, thus enhancing N2000's effectiveness in the conservation of the Iberian endemic fauna. Although the aim of N2000 is to protect species listed in the Birds and Habitats Directives, the conservation status of endemic species from one of the most important areas of Europe in terms of biodiversity, could be also a concern for the European Union. Our results are useful in the context of the recent European Commission mandate calling for a ‘fitness check’ of the Birds and Habitats Directives. This approach could be also applicable to other regions with high value of endemicity.DS‐F was supported by a post‐doctoral contract funded by Universidad de Castilla‐La Mancha and the European Social Fund (ESF). PA was supported by a ‘Ramón y Cajal’ contract (RYC‐2011‐07670, MINECO). This research was partially funded by project POII11‐0277‐5747 (Junta de Castilla‐La Mancha).Peer Reviewe

Comparison of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and porcine circovirus 2 commercial vaccines efficacy when applied separate or combined under experimental conditions

Background Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mhyo) and Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV-2) are two of the most significant infectious agents causing economic losses in the weaning to slaughter period. Due to their similar vaccination age, the objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of two already existing Mhyo (Hyogen®) and PCV-2 (Circovac®) vaccines when administered separately or combined (RTM) by means of Mhyo or PCV-2 experimental challenges. Results Seven groups of animals were included in the study, being three of them challenged with PCV-2, three with Mhyo and one composed of non-challenged, non-vaccinated pigs. Within each experimental challenge, non-vaccinated (NV) groups were compared with double vaccinated groups using the commercial products separated (VS) or combined (VC). Both vaccinated groups showed significant differences for most parameters measured regarding PCV-2 (serology, percentage of infected animals and viral load in tissues) and Mhyo (serology and gross lesions) when compared to NV groups. VS and VC offered similar results, being only significantly different the PCV-2 antibody values at different time points (higher in the VS group) of the study, although not at the termination day (21 days post-PCV-2 inoculation). Conclusion The present study expands the knowledge on the possibility of using two separate Mhyo and PCV-2 commercial vaccines as a RTM product, which offered equivalent virological, immunological and pathological outcomes as compared to these vaccines when used by separate.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Revista de Vertebrados de la Estación Biológica de Doñaña

Alimentación de la boga del Guadiana (Chondrostoma polylepis wi/lkommi, Stein. 1866) en la interfase río-embalse de Sierra Boyera (Córdoba. España)Predación del búho real (Bubo bubo) sobre la perdiz roja (Alectoris rufa): selección de edad y sexoAlimentación de la nutria (Lutra lufra L, 1758)en el Nordeste de la Península IbéricaDatos sobre la distribución espacialde micromamíferos en el Parque Nacionalde DoñanaGuía para el reconocimiento microscópico de los pelos de los mamíferos de la Patagonia.Sobre la distribución geográfica de Anaecypris hispanica (STEINDACHNER, 1866) (OSTEICHTHYES, CYPRINIDAE)Cronología del periodo reproductor de Rana temporaria L. en La Coruña (NW de España).Un nuevo caso de melanismo en Natrix natrix (LINNAEUS 1758) procedente de Fuente Dé (Santander)Nuevas citas de anfibios y reptiles para el SE de la Península Ibérica.Datos sobre la dieta invernal del Búho chico (Asia atus) en la provinvia de LeónLa Distribucióndel Mara (Dolichotis patagonum) según criterios ecológicos e históricosSolapamiento entre la dieta de la cabra montés (Capra pyrenaica) y la del muflón (Ovis musimon)Nota sobre dietas de carnívoros e índices de abundancia en una Reserva de caza del norte de España.Discriminación osteométrica en el géneroTalpa (LINNEO, 1758), en el norte IbéricoObservaciones sobre el comportamiento depredativo de algunos colúbridos Ibéricos en estado salvajePeer reviewe

Comprehensive single-cell genome analysis at nucleotide resolution using the PTA Analysis Toolbox

Detection of somatic mutations in single cells has been severely hampered by technical limitations of whole-genome amplification. Novel technologies including primary template-directed amplification (PTA) significantly improved the accuracy of single-cell whole-genome sequencing (WGS) but still generate hundreds of artifacts per amplification reaction. We developed a comprehensive bioinformatic workflow, called the PTA Analysis Toolbox (PTATO), to accurately detect single base substitutions, insertions-deletions (indels), and structural variants in PTA-based WGS data. PTATO includes a machine learning approach and filtering based on recurrence to distinguish PTA artifacts from true mutations with high sensitivity (up to 90%), outperforming existing bioinformatic approaches. Using PTATO, we demonstrate that hematopoietic stem cells of patients with Fanconi anemia, which cannot be analyzed using regular WGS, have normal somatic single base substitution burdens but increased numbers of deletions. Our results show that PTATO enables studying somatic mutagenesis in the genomes of single cells with unprecedented sensitivity and accuracy.</p

Revista de Vertebrados de la Estación Biológica de Doñaña

Comportamiento reproductor del camaleón común (Chamaeleo chamaeleon L.) en el sur de EspañaDistribución de los reptiles en la provincia de Granada (SE. Península Ibérica)Datos sobre la reproducción y el crecimientode Psammodromus hispanicus Fitzinger, 1826 en un medio adehesado de la España CentralVariación en la colocación y orientación del nido del Alzacola (Cercotrichas galactotes) en dos especies de árbolesOrganización de la comunidad de aves reproductora en las landas montanas del País Vasco AtlánticoEcología de una población ibérica de lobos (Canis Lupus)Etude biométrique des Crosidures (Soricidae, Insectivora) de la región de Massa (Souss, Maroe).Variación geográfica del género Eliomys en la Península IbéricaTendencias gregarias del Ciervo (Cervus elaphus) en Doñana.Data on the autumn diet of the red deer (Cervus elaphus L. 1758) in the Montes de Toledo (Central Spain)Nota sobre la coexistencia de Hyla arborea (L. 1758E Hyla meridionalis (Boettger 1874) rn rl Valle del TiétarCalendario reproductivo y tamaño de las puesta en el galápago leproso, Mauremys leprosa (Shweigger, 1812), en Doñana, HuelvaPelícola (Felicola) inaqualis Piager, 1880 (MALLOPHAGA:TRICHODECTIDAE) parásito deE Herpestes ichneumon L (CARNIVORA: HERPESTIDAE)Abundancia y amplitud de los desplazamientos de Apodemus sylvaticus en cuatro biotopos de Doñana que difieren en cobertura vegetalPeer reviewe