Potential Niche Modeling Distribution and Wing Geometric Morphometrics of Apis mellifera In The Brazilian Pantanal

The ecological niche models can be important for biogeographic patterns and processes and geometric morphometrics involves identifying changes that have occurred and comparing them to other specimens from different places and/or environmental conditions, assessing whether the environment is influencing such change. The present work aimed to verify the potential model of distribution for Apis mellifera and analyze if there is variation in the geometric morphometrics in wing venation in the Pantanal. We followed the hypothesis that there is variation in the geometric morphometrics of wings and that the geographically closest groups are more similar. For niche modeling, 44 geographical points and 19 bioclimatic variables were used. For morphometrics, twenty-two anatomical landmarks were plotted at the intersection of the veins. The X and Y coordinates were standardized through Procrustes superimposition, and PCA and MANOVA tests were performed. The predictive model indicated that the center of the Pantanal plain shows the greater probability of occurrence for the species. The most important bioclimatic variables were: average temperature in the rainiest quarter (84%) and average annual temperature (72%). Morphometric analyzes indicate that there was variation between the most distant geographic points. The slight variation between some closely located points in the Pantanal can be related to individual reflections of colonies from other points, since the species has great dispersion capacity. Thus, the distribution of A. mellifera in the Pantanal is possibly related to temperature also accompanied by human occupation and the geometric morphometrics of its wings reflecting aspects of dispersion and population dynamics in the Brazilian Pantanal

A Global Assessment of the Effects of Eucalyptus Plantations on Stream Ecosystem Functioning

Forest change is a major environmental problem worldwide. Forest streams, with their large aquatic–terrestrial interface and strong dependence on terrestrially derived organic matter, are highly sensitive to forest changes. Fast-wood plantations can be particularly threatening if they markedly differ from native forests. Eucalyptus plantations, in particular, cover large areas worldwide (> 20 million ha, mostly from 35°S to 35°N), but their effects on stream functioning have been addressed mostly in the Iberian Peninsula, which limits generalization to other regions. We assessed the effect of eucalyptus plantations on total (microbial decomposers and macroinvertebrates; in coarse mesh bags) and microbial-driven (in fine mesh bags) leaf litter decomposition by comparing streams flowing through native forests and eucalyptus plantations in seven regions in the Iberian Peninsula, Central Africa and South America. We found an overall significant inhibition of total litter decomposition by 23%. The effect did not significantly differ across regions, although a significant inhibition was found for Spain (− 41%), South Brazil (− 31%) and Uruguay (− 36%) (Portugal had a marginally nonsignificant inhibition by 50%) but not for other regions, suggesting that the effects of plantations in temperate climates are mediated through effects on macroinvertebrate communities. Contrarily, the overall effect for microbial-driven litter decomposition was non-significant, but it significantly differed across regions with a significant stimulation in Central Brazil (110%) and Uruguay (32%), and nonsignificant effects for other regions (Kenya had a marginally nonsignificant inhibition by 48%), suggesting that functional redundancy among microbial communities is not general and effects can occur if plantations induce changes in nutrient availability, solar irradiation or litter characteristics

Litter breakdown processing in streams of Cerrado : biome: drainages with exotic forest plantation

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, 2017.Áreas de silvicultura de espécies exóticas acarretam impactos por efeitos diretos e indiretos, como a perda de espécies e alterações na estrutura morfológica dos ambiente e nos processos ecológicos em zonas ripárias. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram avaliar as mudanças na qualidade da água, entrada de matéria orgânica alóctone vegetal e processo de decomposição (com comunidades de decompositores), em córregos de microbacias sob influência de silvicultura exótica no Cerrado. A amostragem compreendeu o período de agosto à outubro de 2015. Para avaliar as características físicas e químicas da água foram utilizados como analisadores digitais portáteis e cromatógrafo de íons. A matéria orgânica alóctone foi coletada através de 42 redes (malha de 0,5 mm) em zonas ribeirinhas. A decomposição de detritos foliares de diferentes qualidades nutricionais (Alnus glutinosa, Eucalyptus grandis e Inga laurina), foram avaliados por litter bags (malha de 10 e 0,5 mm). Além disso, foram analisadas as comunidades de decompositores como fungos por biomassa (ergosterol) e invertebrados (por densidade, riqueza e porcentagem de fragmentadores e raspadores). As microbacias com influência da silvicultura não mostraram mudanças na qualidade da água, devido aos impactos da estrutura física no ambiente serem baixos e à presença de remanescentes de vegetação nas zonas ribeirinhas. No entanto, decomposição demonstrou ser alterada pela qualidade nutricional de detritos vegetais e quando barrada a fragmentação de invertebrados. A eficiência e a sensibilidade dos processos ecológicos detectaram as mudanças ambientais de baixa magnitude, destacando a necessidade de usá-las em futuras ações de manejo. As Áreas de Preservação Permanente demonstraram ser importantes para a manutenção dos processos Ecológicos em zonas ripárias de áreas de drenagem com silvicultura exótica.Exotic forest plantation (silviculture) can increase impacts of the direct and indirect effects, as the species loss, change the streams morphological structure and the ecological processes in riparian zones. The objectives were to evaluate the changes in water quality, allochthonous litter organic matter input and litter breakdown process (as decomposer communities) of streams in catchments on exotic silviculture in Brazilian Savannah (Cerrado) Biome. The sampling period comprised to August to October 2015. To evaluate the water physical and chemical characteristics we use a digital portable analyzers and ion chromatograph. Allochthonous organic matter was measured through 42 networks (mesh of 0,5 mm) in riparian zones. The decomposition of different nutritional litter species qualities (Alnus glutinosa, Eucalyptus grandis and Inga laurina) was evaluated by litter bags (mesh of 10 and 0,5 mm). In addition, decomposer communities at litter breakdown as fungi biomass (by ergosterol) and invertebrates (by density, richness and percentage of shredders and scrapers) were also evaluated. Catchments on silviculture influence not show changes in water quality due to low physical structure impacts on environment and presence of vegetation in riparian zones. Nevertheless, we observed changes in decomposers communities, with higher fungal biomass by litter bags with physical barrier towards shredder invertebrate in catchments on exotic silviculture. The efficiency and sensibility of ecological processes in detected the low magnitude environmental changes, highlights the need to use them in future management actions. The Permanent Preservation Areas have been shown to be important for the maintenance of Ecological processes in riparian zones of drainage areas with exotic forestry

Abundance and seasonality of insects in urban fragments of the Brazilian Cerrado

Insects are important ecosystem agents, however, in general, a decline in the composition and abundance of these animals around the globe has been observed. In the urban environment, this characteristic has been more critical, due to the lack of diversity and quality of habitats in these environments, which feature fragmentation of habitats. Thus, processes that naturally affect the composition of animals in the environment can be observed, shaping the abundance of species in their environments, processes such as seasonality, especially in tropical regions, with well-defined rain and dry seasons. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the seasonality and abundance of insects in urban fragments in the Cerrado, for this purpose four urban fragments were sampled in Campo Grande MS, during the months of January to December 2012 using Malaise traps. 26,890 individuals of 19 orders were collected, where the abundance of insect orders stands out Diptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemipetera and Trichoptera. A peak in general insect abundance was found in November, and there were significant differences over the months between different orders. However, no difference was found between the fragments, however, there was a trend towards changes in the diversity of orders related to the size of the fragments. The different strategies to deal with water stress well marked for the Cerrado is an important factor for the composition of the insect fauna of the domain and variations in the habitat, such as area size and phytosocionomic composition directly affect the orders found

A Global Assessment of the Effects of Eucalyptus Plantations on Stream Ecosystem Functioning

Forest change is a major environmental problem worldwide. Forest streams, with their large aquatic-terrestrial interface and strong dependence on terrestrially derived organic matter, are highly sensitive to forest changes. Fast-wood plantations can be particularly threatening if they markedly differ from native forests. Eucalyptus plantations, in particular, cover large areas worldwide (>20 million ha, mostly from 35 degrees S to 35 degrees N), but their effects on stream functioning have been addressed mostly in the Iberian Peninsula, which limits generalization to other regions. We assessed the effect of eucalyptus plantations on total (microbial decomposers and macroinvertebrates; in coarse mesh bags) and microbial-driven (in fine mesh bags) leaf litter decomposition by comparing streams flowing through native forests and eucalyptus plantations in seven regions in the Iberian Peninsula, Central Africa and South America. We found an overall significant inhibition of total litter decomposition by 23%. The effect did not significantly differ across regions, although a significant inhibition was found for Spain (-41%), South Brazil (-31%) and Uruguay (-36%) (Portugal had a marginally nonsignificant inhibition by 50%) but not for other regions, suggesting that the effects of plantations in temperate climates are mediated through effects on macroinvertebrate communities. Contrarily, the overall effect for microbial-driven litter decomposition was non-significant, but it significantly differed across regions with a significant stimulation in Central Brazil (110%) and Uruguay (32%), and nonsignificant effects for other regions (Kenya had a marginally nonsignificant inhibition by 48%), suggesting that functional redundancy among microbial communities is not general and effects can occur if plantations induce changes in nutrient availability, solar irradiation or litter characteristics

European Heart Journal Advance

Aim Numerous genes are known to cause dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). However, until now technological limitations have hindered elucidation of the contribution of all clinically relevant disease genes to DCM phenotypes in larger cohorts. We now utilized next-generation sequencing to overcome these limitations and screened all DCM disease genes in a large cohort. Methods and results In this multi-centre, multi-national study, we have enrolled 639 patients with sporadic or familial DCM. To all samples, we applied a standardized protocol for ultra-high coverage next-generation sequencing of 84 genes, leading to 99.1% coverage of the target region with at least 50-fold and a mean read depth of 2415. In this well characterized cohort, we find the highest number of known cardiomyopathy mutations in plakophilin-2, myosin-binding protein C-3, and desmoplakin. When we include yet unknown but predicted disease variants, we find titin, plakophilin-2, myosin-binding protein-C 3, desmoplakin, ryanodine receptor 2, desmocollin-2, desmoglein-2, and SCN5A variants among the most commonly mutated genes. The overlap between DCM, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and channelopathy causing mutations is considerably high. Of note, we find that .38% of patients have compound or combined mutations and 12.8% have three or even more mutations. When comparing patients recruited in the eight participating European countries we find remarkably little differences in mutation frequencies and affected genes. Conclusion This is to our knowledge, the first study that comprehensively investigated the genetics of DCM in a large-scale cohort and across a broad gene panel of the known DCM genes. Our results underline the high analytical quality and feasibility of Next-Generation Sequencing in clinical genetic diagnostics and provide a sound database of the genetic causes of DCM. -