H6N8 avian influenza virus in Antarctic seabirds demonstrates connectivity between South America and Antarctica.

Wild aquatic birds are the natural reservoirs of avian influenza viruses (AIVs). It is estimated that 100 million seabirds live in the Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent islands, regularly encountering migratory birds that use the islands to nest. Between 2010 and 2013, we collected samples from 865 seabirds in Elephant, King George and Livingston islands, around Antarctica Peninsula: chinstrap penguin (n = 143); gentoo penguin (n = 208); Adelie penguin (n = 46); brown skua (n = 90); Cape petrel (n = 115) and southern giant petrel (n = 263).

Tracking the impacts of El Niño drought and fire in human-modified Amazonian forests.

With humanity facing an unprecedented climate crisis, the conservation of tropical forests has never been so important - their vast terrestrial carbon stocks can be turned into emissions by climatic and human disturbances. However, the duration of these effects is poorly understood, and it is unclear whether impacts are amplified in forests with a history of previous human disturbance. Here, we focus on the Amazonian epicenter of the 2015-16 El Niño, a region that encompasses 1.

Assessing invertebrate herbivory in human-modified tropical forest canopies.

Studies on the effects of human-driven forest disturbance usually focus on either biodiversity or carbon dynamics but much less is known about ecosystem processes that span different trophic levels. Herbivory is a fundamental ecological process for ecosystem functioning, but it remains poorly quantified in human-modified tropical rainforests.Here, we present the results of the largest study to date on the impacts of human disturbances on herbivory.

Lack of Detection of Avian Influenza, Newcastle Disease, and West Nile Viruses in Wild Birds of Northeastern Brazil.

We tested 529 wild birds captured in northeastern Brazil for infection by avian influenza, Newcastle disease, and West Nile. Viruses were not detected by real-time PCR with the exception of one Tropical Gnatcatcher ( Polioptila plumbea) positive for influenza virus, but this could not be confirmed by viral isolation or gene sequencing.

West Nile virus surveillance, Brazil, 2008-2010.

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) is an emergent pathogen that is widely distributed in North and Central America. The recent introduction in South America has focused attention on the spread of WNV across Southern American countries. The transmission network involves mosquitoes, birds, horses and humans.