1,618 results match your criteria: "∇Centre for Ecology and Hydrology[Affiliation]"

Asymptomatic infection and antibody prevalence to co-occurring avian influenza viruses vary substantially between sympatric seabird species following H5N1 outbreaks.

Sci Rep

January 2025

Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Laboratories, King's Buildings, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FL, UK.

Emerging infectious diseases are of major concern to animal and human health. Recent emergence of high pathogenicity avian influenza virus (HPAIV) (H5N1 clade 2.3.

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The impacts of degradation and deforestation on tropical forests are poorly understood, particularly at landscape scales. We present an extensive ecosystem analysis of the impacts of logging and conversion of tropical forest to oil palm from a large-scale study in Borneo, synthesizing responses from 82 variables categorized into four ecological levels spanning a broad suite of ecosystem properties: (i) structure and environment, (ii) species traits, (iii) biodiversity, and (iv) ecosystem functions. Responses were highly heterogeneous and often complex and nonlinear.

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Article Synopsis
  • Glacier-fed streams (GFS) are extreme aquatic ecosystems with little nutrients and fluctuating environments, where microorganisms predominantly form biofilms.
  • Researchers analyzed 156 metagenomes from various mountain ranges, revealing thousands of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) of prokaryotes, algae, fungi, and viruses that demonstrate complex biotic interactions in these biofilms.
  • The study found that as glaciers shrink, biofilms transition from using inorganic energy sources to relying more on heterotrophy as algal biomass increases, highlighting the adaptability of microbial life in these unique ecosystems amid climate change.
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Advances in manufacturing and trade have reshaped global nitrogen deposition patterns, yet their dynamics and drivers remain unclear. Here, we compile a comprehensive global nitrogen deposition database spanning 1977-2021, aggregating 52,671 site-years of data from observation networks and published articles. This database show that global nitrogen deposition to land is 92.

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Unlabelled: Glacier-fed streams are permanently cold, ultra-oligotrophic, and physically unstable environments, yet microbial life thrives in benthic biofilm communities. Within biofilms, microorganisms rely on secondary metabolites for communication and competition. However, the diversity and genetic potential of secondary metabolites in glacier-fed stream biofilms remain poorly understood.

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Article Synopsis
  • The rapid melting of mountain glaciers, a sign of climate change, threatens unique ecosystems known as glacier-fed streams (GFSs), which are primarily dominated by microbial life.
  • Using advanced techniques like metabarcoding and metagenomics, researchers conducted a detailed study of the bacterial microbiome in 152 GFSs across major mountain ranges, revealing distinct taxonomic and functional differences compared to other cryospheric microbiomes.
  • The findings highlight the importance of geographic isolation and environmental factors in shaping bacterial diversity, underscoring the urgent need for further research due to the risks posed by climate change to this unique ecosystem.
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Forecasting population responses to rapidly changing marine ecosystems requires mechanistic models integrating complex demographic processes, fitted to long time series, across large spatial scales. We used a Bayesian metapopulation model fit to colony census data and climatic covariates spanning 1900-2100 for all Northeast Atlantic colonies of an exemplar seabird, the Northern gannet (Morus bassanus) to investigate metapopulation dynamics under two climate scenarios. Fecundity varied non-linearly with near-surface air temperature and recruitment was depressed by sea surface temperature.

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Identifying the scaling rules describing ecological patterns across time and space is a central challenge in ecology. Taylor's law of fluctuation scaling, which states that the variance of a population's size or density is proportional to a positive power of the mean size or density, has been widely observed in population dynamics and characterizes variability in multiple scientific domains. However, it is unclear if this phenomenon accurately describes ecological patterns across many orders of magnitude in time, and therefore links otherwise disparate observations.

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Background: Early-life exposures including diet, and the gut microbiome have been proposed to predispose infants towards multifactorial diseases later in life. Delivery via Cesarian section disrupts the establishment of the gut microbiome and has been associated with negative long-term outcomes. Here, we hypothesize that Cesarian section delivery alters not only the composition of the developing infant gut microbiome but also its metabolic capabilities.

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Using Zebrafish G Protein-Coupled Receptors to Obtain a Better Appreciation of the Impact of Pharmaceuticals in Wastewater to Fish.

Environ Sci Technol

December 2024

Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Otsu, Shiga 520-0811, Japan.

Pharmaceutical discharge to the environment is of concern due to its potential adverse effects on aquatic species. It is estimated that around 40% of pharmaceuticals target G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The transforming growth factor- (TGF) shedding assay was applied to measure the antagonistic activities of pharmaceuticals against human GPCRs.

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The Controls Over Mesopelagic Interior Carbon Storage (COMICS) cruise DY086 took place aboard the RRS Discovery in the South Atlantic during November and December, 2017. Physical, chemical, biogeochemical and biological data were collected during three visits to ocean observatory station P3, off the coast of South Georgia, during an austral spring bloom. A diverse range of equipment including CTD-rosette, Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), net deployments, marine snow catchers (MSCs), Stand Alone Pump System (SAPS) and PELAGRA Sediment Traps were used to produce a comprehensive, high-quality dataset.

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Some insects, such as the painted lady butterfly , exhibit complex annual migratory cycles spanning multiple generations. Traversing extensive seas or deserts is often a required segment of these migratory journeys. We develop a bioavailable strontium isoscape for Europe and Africa and then use isotope geolocation combining hydrogen and strontium isotopes to estimate the natal origins of painted ladies captured north and south of the Sahara during spring and autumn, respectively.

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Phenological responses to climate change vary across trophic levels. However, how trophic phenological synchrony determines species' distributions through its effects on population dynamics has rarely been addressed. Here, we show that phenological variation underlies population and geographical range dynamics in a range-shifting herbivore, and demonstrate its interplay with changing trophic interactions.

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Are more data always better? - Machine learning forecasting of algae based on long-term observations.

J Environ Manage

December 2024

Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, United Kingdom.

Bloom-forming algae present a unique challenge to water managers as they can significantly impair provision of important ecosystem services and cause health risks to humans and animals. Consequently, effective short-term algae forecasts are important as they provide early warnings and enable implementation of mitigation strategies. In this context, machine learning (ML) emerges as a promising forecasting tool.

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The WHAM-Fβ model describes the toxic effects of mixtures of protons and metal cations towards biological species, using a set of intrinsic parameters for the cations (α, α*) and a sensitivity parameter (β) for each species. We applied the model to extensive water chemistry and zooplankton species occurrence data for four lakes contaminated with acidity and metals (Al, Ni, Cu, Zn) at Sudbury, Ontario, over the period 1973-2018, during which cation contamination declined, and zooplankton species numbers increased. Assuming that the appearance of a species resulted solely from decreases in water toxicity, and that α and α* values previously derived from laboratory toxicity test data could be applied in the field, we used the field data to estimate values of β for individual lake zooplankton species.

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To understand biodiversity change and support conservation decision-making, estimates of species' long-term population trends at regional and national scales are essential. However, such estimates are missing for many freshwater taxa, despite the diverse range of threats that they face. For this study, we mobilised monitoring data on riverine freshwater fish abundance collected across different regions of Germany.

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Increasing extreme climatic events threaten the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Because soil microbes govern key biogeochemical processes, understanding their response to climate extremes is crucial in predicting the consequences for ecosystem functioning. Here we subjected soils from 30 grasslands across Europe to four contrasting extreme climatic events under common controlled conditions (drought, flood, freezing and heat), and compared the response of soil microbial communities and their functioning with those of undisturbed soils.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pathogenic variants in the LRRK2 gene significantly contribute to Parkinson's disease, but not everyone with these variants develops the disease, suggesting lifestyle and environmental factors play a role.
  • A study analyzed household dust samples from different groups, including patients with and without PD and a healthy control group, identifying over 1,000 chemicals and 163 types of microorganisms, with some shown to be statistically significant in relation to PD.
  • Notably, hazardous chemicals like Bisphenol S were linked to negative effects on mitochondrial function in nerve cells from PD patients, highlighting the potential impact of environmental exposures on Parkinson's disease development.
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Fire, environmental and anthropogenic controls on pantropical tree cover.

Commun Earth Environ

November 2024

Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Explaining tropical tree cover distribution in areas of intermediate rainfall is challenging, with fire's role in limiting tree cover particularly controversial. We use a novel Bayesian approach to provide observational constraints on the strength of the influence of humans, fire, rainfall seasonality, heat stress, and wind throw on tropical tree cover. Rainfall has the largest relative impact on tree cover (11.

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Achieving net zero global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO), with declining emissions of other greenhouse gases, is widely expected to halt global warming. CO emissions will continue to drive warming until fully balanced by active anthropogenic CO removals. For practical reasons, however, many greenhouse gas accounting systems allow some "passive" CO uptake, such as enhanced vegetation growth due to CO fertilisation, to be included as removals in the definition of net anthropogenic emissions.

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The soil microbiome determines the fate of plant-fixed carbon. The shifts in soil properties caused by land use change leads to modifications in microbiome function, resulting in either loss or gain of soil organic carbon (SOC). Soil pH is the primary factor regulating microbiome characteristics leading to distinct pathways of microbial carbon cycling, but the underlying mechanisms remain understudied.

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Four approaches to setting soil health targets and thresholds in agricultural soils.

J Environ Manage

December 2024

AgroParisTech, INRAE, Bâtiment EGER, Campus AgroParisTech Grignon, 78850, Thiverval, France. Electronic address:

Article Synopsis
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Background: The microorganisms colonizing the gastrointestinal tract of animals, collectively referred to as the gut microbiome, affect numerous host behaviors dependent on the central nervous system (CNS). Studies comparing germ-free mice to normally colonized mice have demonstrated influences of the microbiome on anxiety-related behaviors, voluntary activity, and gene expression in the CNS. Additionally, there is epidemiologic evidence supporting an intergenerational influence of the maternal microbiome on neurodevelopment of offspring and behavior later in life.

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We present a genome assembly from an individual male (acorn piercer; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Tortricidae). The genome sequence is 564 megabases in span. Most of the assembly (99.

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