Bringing traits back into the equation: A roadmap to understand species redistribution.

Ecological and evolutionary theories have proposed that species traits should be important in mediating species responses to contemporary climate change; yet, empirical evidence has so far provided mixed evidence for the role of behavioral, life history, or ecological characteristics in facilitating or hindering species range shifts. As such, the utility of trait-based approaches to predict species redistribution under climate change has been called into question. We develop the perspective, supported by evidence, that trait variation, if used carefully can have high potential utility, but that past analyses have in many cases failed to identify an explanatory value for traits by not fully embracing the complexity of species range shifts.

Climate velocities and species tracking in global mountain regions.

Mountain ranges contain high concentrations of endemic species and are indispensable refugia for lowland species that are facing anthropogenic climate change. Forecasting biodiversity redistribution hinges on assessing whether species can track shifting isotherms as the climate warms. However, a global analysis of the velocities of isotherm shifts along elevation gradients is hindered by the scarcity of weather stations in mountainous regions.

Higher temperature variability in deforested mountain regions impacts the competitive advantage of nocturnal species.

Deforestation is a major contributor to biodiversity loss, yet the impact of forest loss on daily microclimate variability and its implications for species with different daily activity patterns remain poorly understood. Using a recently developed microclimate model, we investigated the effects of deforestation on the daily temperature range (DTR) in low-elevation tropical regions and high-elevation temperate regions. Our results show that deforestation substantially increases DTR in these areas, suggesting a potential impact on species interactions.

The modulation of Pacific Decadal Oscillation on ENSO-East Asian summer monsoon relationship over the past half-millennium.

Monsoon precipitation affects natural and social systems in East Asia, one of the most densely populated regions in the world. Monsoon precipitation variability is strongly influenced by El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and may be related to the phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). However, a collective understanding of the long-term PDO-ENSO-monsoon relationship remains limited because related studies are almost exclusively based on short instrumental records.

sp. nov., isolated from human faeces.

A strictly anaerobic predominant bacterium, designated as strain gm001, was isolated from a freshly voided faecal sample collected from a healthy Taiwanese adult. Cells were Gram-stain-negative rods, non-motile and non-spore-forming. Strain gm001 was identified as a member of the genus , and a comparison of 16S rRNA and gene sequences revealed sequence similarities of 98.

Locally-adapted reproductive photoperiodism determines population vulnerability to climate change in burying beetles.

Understanding how phenotypic traits vary among populations inhabiting different environments is critical for predicting a species' vulnerability to climate change. Yet, little is known about the key functional traits that determine the distribution of populations and the main mechanisms-phenotypic plasticity vs. local adaptation-underlying intraspecific functional trait variation.

Reduced body sizes in climate-impacted Borneo moth assemblages are primarily explained by range shifts.

Both community composition changes due to species redistribution and within-species size shifts may alter body-size structures under climate warming. Here we assess the relative contribution of these processes in community-level body-size changes in tropical moth assemblages that moved uphill during a period of warming. Based on resurvey data for seven assemblages of geometrid moths (>8000 individuals) on Mt.

Contrasting forms of competition set elevational range limits of species.

How abiotic and biotic factors constrain distribution limits at the harsh and benign edges of species ranges is hotly debated, partly because macroecological experiments testing the proximate causes of distribution limits are scarce. It has long been recognized - at least since Darwin's On the Origin of Species - that a harsh climate strengthens competition and thus sets species range limits. Using thorough field manipulations along a large elevation gradient, we show the mechanisms by which temperature determines competition type, resulting in a transition from interference to exploitative competition from the lower to the upper elevation limits in burying beetles (Nicrophorus nepalensis).

Managing consequences of climate-driven species redistribution requires integration of ecology, conservation and social science.

Climate change is driving a pervasive global redistribution of the planet's species. Species redistribution poses new questions for the study of ecosystems, conservation science and human societies that require a coordinated and integrated approach. Here we review recent progress, key gaps and strategic directions in this nascent research area, emphasising emerging themes in species redistribution biology, the importance of understanding underlying drivers and the need to anticipate novel outcomes of changes in species ranges.

Biodiversity redistribution under climate change: Impacts on ecosystems and human well-being.

Distributions of Earth's species are changing at accelerating rates, increasingly driven by human-mediated climate change. Such changes are already altering the composition of ecological communities, but beyond conservation of natural systems, how and why does this matter? We review evidence that climate-driven species redistribution at regional to global scales affects ecosystem functioning, human well-being, and the dynamics of climate change itself. Production of natural resources required for food security, patterns of disease transmission, and processes of carbon sequestration are all altered by changes in species distribution.

Seasonal and daily climate variation have opposite effects on species elevational range size.

The climatic variability hypothesis posits that the magnitude of climatic variability increases with latitude, elevation, or both, and that greater variability selects for organisms with broader temperature tolerances, enabling them to be geographically widespread. We tested this classical hypothesis for the elevational range sizes of more than 16,500 terrestrial vertebrates on 180 montane gradients. In support of the hypothesis, mean elevational range size was positively correlated with the scope of seasonal temperature variation, whereas elevational range size was negatively correlated with daily temperature variation among gradients.

Rapid range shifts of species associated with high levels of climate warming.

The distributions of many terrestrial organisms are currently shifting in latitude or elevation in response to changing climate. Using a meta-analysis, we estimated that the distributions of species have recently shifted to higher elevations at a median rate of 11.0 meters per decade, and to higher latitudes at a median rate of 16.

Elevation increases in moth assemblages over 42 years on a tropical mountain.

Physiological research suggests that tropical insects are particularly sensitive to temperature, but information on their responses to climate change has been lacking-even though the majority of all terrestrial species are insects and their diversity is concentrated in the tropics. Here, we provide evidence that tropical insect species have already undertaken altitude increases, confirming the global reach of climate change impacts on biodiversity. In 2007, we repeated a historical altitudinal transect, originally carried out in 1965 on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, sampling 6 moth assemblages between 1,885 and 3,675 m elevation.

Boy born after gender preselection following successive gestational androgen excess of maternal luteoma and female disorders of sex development.

Objective: To present male gender preselection after successive gestational hyperandrogenism and female pseudohermaphroditism by pregnancy luteomas.

Design: Case report.

Setting: University-based teaching hospital.

Selection of an effective red-pigment producing Monascus pilosus by efficient transformation with aurintricarboxylic acid.

The filamentous fungus Monascus pilosus was genetically transformed with a reporter plasmid, pMS-1.5hp, by aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) treatment to obtain an efficient red-pigment producing mutant. The transformation efficiency of Monascus pilosus was higher with the ATA-treatment than with either a non-restriction-enzyme-mediated integration (REMI) or a REMI method.

Cloning and characterization of monacolin K biosynthetic gene cluster from Monascus pilosus.

Monacolin K is a secondary metabolite synthesized by polyketide synthases (PKS) from Monascus, and it has the same structure as lovastatin, which is mainly produced by Aspergillus terreus. In the present study, a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone, mps01, was screened from the BAC library constructed from Monascus pilosus BCRC38072 genomic DNA. The putative monacolin K biosynthetic gene cluster was found within a 42 kb region in the mps01 clone.

Apoptosis-related phenotype of ejaculated spermatozoa in patients with varicocele.

Objective: To determine the integrity of the sperm plasma membrane, mitochondria, and DNA, which are essential for accurate transmission of genetic material to offspring, and to quantify possible apoptosis and investigate any relationship between these parameters in ejaculated sperm from men with or without varicoceles.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: University teaching hospital.

Changes to the meiotic spindle and zona pellucida of mature mouse oocytes following different cryopreservation methods.

This study is to investigate the change of morphology of the meiotic spindle and the extent of zona hardening relating to the morphological survival and developmental competence of thawed oocytes. Four- to 8-week-old female mice (C57BL/6) primed with an intraperitoneal injection of pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin and human chorionic gonadotropin. Cryopreserved oocytes using two protocols: vitrificaton using ethylene glycol (EG) and slow freezing using propanediol (PROH).

Continuous abdominal paracentesis for management of late type severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.

The ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is often observed in patients undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART). In severe form OHSS is a serious and potentially life-threatening. Here we report a 36-year-old woman with primary infertility due to endometriosis who underwent controlled ovarian hyperstimulation.

Apoptosis and kinematics of ejaculated spermatozoa in patients with varicocele.

Increased DNA fragmentation is found in sperm from infertile men. Varicocele is an important cause of male infertility, even though it is present in 15% of men who father children. Semen analysis does not always identify infertility in these patients.