Publications by authors named "S V Leavitt"

Article Synopsis
  • The northern North American Cordillera is a crucial area for biodiversity, particularly for unique lichens like the endangered wanderlust lichens which thrive in arid steppe habitats across several western states.
  • The study focuses on understanding the evolutionary background and geographic distribution of these lichens (Rhizoplaca species) by analyzing their genetic information and using species distribution models.
  • Findings indicate distinct genetic lineages linked to geographic regions, highlighting the importance of both dispersal and historical separation in the evolution of these lichens.
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BACKGROUNDThere is substantial heterogeneity in disease presentation for individuals with TB disease, which may correlate with disease outcomes. We estimated disease outcomes by disease severity at presentation among individuals with TB during the pre-chemotherapy era.METHODSWe extracted data on people with TB enrolled between 1917 and 1948 in the USA, stratified by three disease severity categories at presentation using the U.

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Natural climate solutions can mitigate climate change in the near-term, during a climate-critical window. Yet, persistent misunderstandings about what constitutes a natural climate solution generate unnecessary confusion and controversy, thereby delaying critical mitigation action. Based on a review of scientific literature and best practices, we distill five foundational principles of natural climate solutions (nature-based, sustainable, climate-additional, measurable, and equitable) and fifteen operational principles for practical implementation.

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An estimated 40% of people who developed TB in 2021 were not diagnosed or treated. Pre-chemotherapy era data are a rich resource on survival of people with untreated TB. We aimed to identify heterogeneities in these data to inform their more precise use.

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DNA barcoding approaches provide powerful tools for characterizing fungal diversity. However, DNA barcoding is limited by poor representation of species-level diversity in fungal sequence databases. Can the development of custom, regionally focused DNA reference libraries improve species-level identification rates for lichen-forming fungi? To explore this question, we created a regional ITS database for lichen-forming fungi (LFF) in the Intermountain West of the United States.

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