TRAITS UNDERLYING INVASIVENESS: A COMPARISON OF WIDESPREAD AND ENDEMIC SPECIES IN THE GENUS GAMBUSIA (POECILIIDAE)

Due to the irreversible nature of biological invasions, prediction has been a key area of emphasis in invasion biology. Specifically, the degree to which species-specific traits may help us predict invasion success is a core issue in the field. My research examined a series of traits and asked whether they were good predictors of invasion success, particularly establishment success. I compared traits among four species of the poeciliid fish Gambusia, two of them highly invasive (G. affinis and G. holbrooki) and two of them non-invasive (G. hispaniolae and G. geiseri).I examined abiotic tolerances, feeding behavior, behavioral responses to novel predation and competition, life histories, and dispersal tendencies. I found the invasive Gambusia species to be more tolerant of low temperatures and to exhibit higher feeding rates and dispersal tendencies than non-invasives. Invasive species were more likely to respond appropriately to novel predation by reducing foraging and activity level and by increasing refuge use, and less likely to show lower foraging success when faced with competitors. Invasives exhibited higher fecundity and juvenile growth rates, and consequently reached maturity sooner than non-invasives. I found no differences in the species\u27 diet breadth or aggressiveness.I then simulated the invasions of simplified pond communities and measured establishment success (with and without novel competitors) and community impact by tracking population trajectories over several months. As predicted from the trait comparisons, I found that in both simulations invasive Gambusia outperformed non-invasives by achieving andvmaintaining larger populations. In the first experiment, only invasive Gambusia were able to successfully establish (non-invasive populations had zero survival). In the second experiment, invasive Gambusia populations were better able to cope with competition and had greater community impact on lower trophic levels than the non-invasives.Overall, species traits were good predictors of establishment success. A species\u27 ability to cope with the abiotic conditions of the invaded community seemed particularly important to whether or not establishment occurred in the study communities. Life history traits and the species\u27 ability to cope with biotic interactions were important to determining the level of establishment species achieved if invaders survived the novel abiotic element

Great Plains Network - Kansas State University Agronomy Application Deep Dive

In May 2019, staff members from the Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC) and members of the Great Plains Network (GPN) attending their Annual Meeting meeting met with researchers at Kansas State University (KSU) for the purpose of an Application Deep Dive training session. The goal of this training session was to help characterize the requirements for an agronomy application, to enable cyberinfrastructure support staff to better understand the needs of the researchers they support, and to offer training to GPN members to be able to conduct these on their own. Material for this event includes both the written documentation from the agronomy application at KSU, details about the infrastructure setup at KSU, and also a writeup of the discussion that took place in person on May 20, 2019. EPOC, GPN, and KSU recorded a set of action items for this use case, continuing the ongoing support and collaboration. These are a reflection of the case study report, and in person discussion

User Priorities for Data: Results from SUPER

SUPER, a Study of User Priorities for e-infrastructure for Research, was a six-month effort funded by the UK e-Science Core Programme and JISC. Its aim was to inform investment in order to provide a usable, useful, and accessible e-infrastructure for all researchers and a coherent set of e-infrastructure services that would increase usage by at least a factor of ten by 2010. Through a series of unstructured face-to-face interviews with over 45 participants from 30 different projects, an online survey, together with a day-long workshop at NeSC, we have observed recurring issues relating to the provision of e-infrastructure. In this article we focus on the data-related issues identified during these interactions. We conclude with a prioritised list of future activities for research, development, and adoption in the data space

NK-, NKT-and CD8-derived IFNγ drives myeloid cell activation and erythrophagocytosis, resulting in Trypanosomosis-associated acute anemia

African trypanosomes are the causative agents of Human African Trypanosomosis (HAT/Sleeping Sickness) and Animal African Trypanosomosis (AAT/Nagana). A common hallmark of African trypanosome infections is inflammation. In murine trypanosomosis, the onset of inflammation occurs rapidly after infection and is manifested by an influx of myeloid cells in both liver and spleen, accompanied by a burst of serum pro-inflammatory cytokines. Within 48 hours after reaching peak parasitemia, acute anemia develops and the percentage of red blood cells drops by 50%. Using a newly developed in vivo erythrophagocytosis assay, we recently demonstrated that activated cells of the myeloid phagocytic system display enhanced erythrophagocytosis causing acute anemia. Here, we aimed to elucidate the mechanism and immune pathway behind this phenomenon in a murine model for trypanosomosis. Results indicate that IFNγ plays a crucial role in the recruitment and activation of erythrophagocytic myeloid cells, as mice lacking the IFNγ receptor were partially protected against trypanosomosis-associated inflammation and acute anemia. NK and NKT cells were the earliest source of IFNγ during T. b. brucei infection. Later in infection, CD8+ and to a lesser extent CD4+ T cells become the main IFNγ producers. Cell depletion and transfer experiments indicated that during infection the absence of NK, NKT and CD8+ T cells, but not CD4+ T cells, resulted in a reduced anemic phenotype similar to trypanosome infected IFNγR-/- mice. Collectively, this study shows that NK, NKT and CD8+ T cell-derived IFNγ is a critical mediator in trypanosomosis-associated pathology, driving enhanced erythrophagocytosis by myeloid phagocytic cells and the induction of acute inflammation-associated anemia

Skeletal carbonate mineralogy of Scottish bryozoans

This paper describes the skeletal carbonate mineralogy of 156 bryozoan species collected from Scotland (sourced both from museum collections and from waters around Scotland) and collated from literature. This collection represents 79% of the species which inhabit Scottish waters and is a greater number and proportion of extant species than any previous regional study. The study is also of significance globally where the data augment the growing database of mineralogical analyses and offers first analyses for 26 genera and four families. Specimens were collated through a combination of field sampling and existing collections and were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and micro-XRD to determine wt% MgCO3 in calcite and wt% aragonite. Species distribution data and phylogenetic organisation were applied to understand distributional, taxonomic and phylo-mineralogical patterns. Analysis of the skeletal composition of Scottish bryozoans shows that the group is statistically different from neighbouring Arctic fauna but features a range of mineralogy comparable to other temperate regions. As has been previously reported, cyclostomes feature low Mg in calcite and very little aragonite, whereas cheilostomes show much more variability, including bimineralic species. Scotland is a highly variable region, open to biological and environmental influx from all directions, and bryozoans exhibit this in the wide range of within-species mineralogical variability they present. This plasticity in skeletal composition may be driven by a combination of environmentally-induced phenotypic variation, or physiological factors. A flexible response to environment, as manifested in a wide range of skeletal mineralogy within a species, may be one characteristic of successful invasive bryozoans

The astrobiology primer: An outline of general knowledge - Version 1, 2006

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