Hurricanes enhance coral connectivity but also superspread coral diseases.

Climate change poses an existential threat to coral reefs. A warmer and more acidic ocean weakens coral ecosystems and increases the intensity of hurricanes. The wind-wave-current interactions during a hurricane deeply change the ocean circulation patterns and hence potentially affect the dispersal of coral larvae and coral disease agents.

Tick abundance and infection with three zoonotic bacteria are heterogeneous in a Belgian peri-urban forest.

Ixodes ricinus is a vector of several pathogens of public health interest. While forests are the primary habitat for I. ricinus, its abundance and infection prevalence are expected to vary within forest stands.

Land system governance shapes tick-related public and animal health risks.

Land cover and land use have established effects on hazard and exposure to vector-borne diseases. While our understanding of the proximate and distant causes and consequences of land use decisions has evolved, the focus on the proximate effects of landscape on disease ecology remains dominant. We argue that land use governance, viewed through a land system lens, affects tick-borne disease risk.

Intraspecific demographic and trait responses to environmental change drivers are linked in two species of ciliate.

Background: Over the past decade, theory and observations have suggested intraspecific variation, trait-based differences within species, as a buffer against biodiversity loss from multiple environmental changes. This buffering effect can only occur when different populations of the same species respond differently to environmental change. More specifically, variation of demographic responses fosters buffering of demography, while variation of trait responses fosters buffering of functioning.

Land reclamation and its consequences: A 40-year analysis of water residence time in Doha Bay, Qatar.

Qatar's rapid industrialization, notably in its capital city Doha, has spurred a surge in land reclamation projects, leading to a constriction of the entrance to Doha Bay. By reducing and deflecting the ocean circulation, land reclamation projects have reduced the effective dispersion of wastewater introduced into the bay and hence degraded the water quality. Here, we assess fluctuations in water residence time across three distinct eras (1980, 2000, and 2020) to gauge the impact of successive land reclamation developments.

Seychelles Plateau's oil spill vulnerability.

Small Island Developing States, such as Seychelles, are highly susceptible to oil pollution incidents, with limited infrastructure for detection and mitigation. While an oil spill could significantly impact Seychelle's tourism industry, contributing to ~40% of its GDP, the archipelago's vulnerability remains largely unknown. Here, we developed a high-resolution ocean circulation model for Seychelles Plateau, simulating currents over three years (2018-2020) to model oil spill dispersal to six ecologically and economically significant coastal areas.

Biophysical models resolution affects coral connectivity estimates.

Estimating connectivity between coral reefs is essential to inform reef conservation and restoration. Given the vastness of coral reef ecosystems, connectivity can only be simulated with biophysical models whose spatial resolution is often coarser than the reef scale. Here, we assess the impact of biophysical models resolution on connectivity estimates by comparing the outputs of five different setups of the same model with resolutions ranging from 250 m to 4 km.

The microbiome of the ice-capped Cayambe Volcanic Complex in Ecuador.

A major challenge in microbial ecology is to understand the principles and processes by which microbes associate and interact in community assemblages. Microbial communities in mountain glaciers are unique as first colonizers and nutrient enrichment drivers for downstream ecosystems. However, mountain glaciers have been distinctively sensitive to climate perturbations and have suffered a severe retreat over the past 40  years, compelling us to understand glacier ecosystems before their disappearance.

Demodicosis in Different Age Groups and Alternative Treatment Options-A Review.

Infestation with mites is a common occurrence, especially in adults and the elderly. More recent attention has been paid to the presence of spp. mites in children, even ones without comorbidities.

The Role of Individually Selected Diets in Obese Women with PCOS-A Review.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common heterogeneous endocrine and metabolic disorders in premenopausal women. It is a complex multifactorial disorder with strong epigenetic and environmental influences, including factors related to eating habits and lifestyle. There is a close relationship between obesity and PCOS.

Simulating Lagrangian Subgrid-Scale Dispersion on Neutral Surfaces in the Ocean.

To capture the effects of mesoscale turbulent eddies, coarse-resolution Eulerian ocean models resort to tracer diffusion parameterizations. Likewise, the effect of eddy dispersion needs to be parameterized when computing Lagrangian pathways using coarse flow fields. Dispersion in Lagrangian simulations is traditionally parameterized by random walks, equivalent to diffusion in Eulerian models.

Quantifying the environmental impact of a major coal mine project on the adjacent Great Barrier Reef ecosystems.

A major coal mine project in Queensland, Australia, is currently under review. It is planned to be located about 10 km away from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA). Sediment dispersal patterns and their impact on marine ecosystems have not been properly assessed yet.

Observations and Simulations of Dropout Events and Flux Decays in October 2013: Comparing MEO Equatorial With LEO Polar Orbit.

We compare ESA PROBA-V observations of electron flux at LEO with those from the NASA Van Allen Probes mostly at MEO for October 2013. Dropouts are visible at all energy during four storms from both satellites. Equatorially trapped electron fluxes are higher than at LEO by 10 (<1 MeV) to 10 (>2.

Draft Genome Sequences of Two Cultivable Strains of the Bacterial Symbiont Serratia symbiotica.

, one of the most frequent symbiont species in aphids, includes strains that exhibit various lifestyles ranging from free-living to obligate intracellular mutualism. Here, we report the draft genome sequences of two strains, namely, 24.1 and Apa8A1, isolated from aphids of the genus , consisting of genome sizes of 3,089,091 bp and 3,232,107 bp, respectively.

Corrigendum to "Geochemical characteristics of Holocene aeolian deposits east of Qinghai Lake, China, and their paleoclimatic implications" [Sci. Total Environ. 692(2019) 917-929].

The paleoclimate evolution of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (TP), especially in the Qinghai Lake Basin (QLB), has long been a subject of interest to scholars due to the particularity of the geographical location. However, because of the uncertainties of the chronologies and the interpretations of the proxies used, climate change in this region remains controversial during the Holocene. The Hudong dunefield is located to the east of Qinghai Lake and is the largest sand accumulation area in the QLB.

Species Composition and Toxigenic Potential of Isolates Causing Fruit Rot of Sweet Pepper in China.

Apart from causing serious yield losses, various kinds of mycotoxins may be accumulated in plant tissues infected by strains. Fusarium mycotoxin contamination is one of the most important concerns in the food safety field nowadays. However, limited information on the causal agents, etiology, and mycotoxin production of this disease is available on pepper in China.

Disaggregating SDG-6 water stress indicator at different spatial and temporal scales in Tunisia.

The recently adopted UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) encompasses a specific goal for water (SDG-6). The target 6.4 deals with water scarcity and refers to two main indicators: water use efficiency and water stress (WS), monitored by the UN statistical services yearly at the country level.

Geochemical characteristics of Holocene aeolian deposits east of Qinghai Lake, China, and their paleoclimatic implications.

The paleoclimate evolution of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (TP), especially in the Qinghai Lake Basin (QLB), has long been a subject of interest to scholars due to the particularity of the geographical location. However, because of the uncertainties of the chronologies and the interpretations of the proxies used, climate change in this region remains controversial during the Holocene. The Hudong dunefield is located to the east of Qinghai Lake and is the largest sand accumulation area in the QLB.

Variation in lipid synthesis, but genetic homogeneity, among parasitic wasp populations.

Lipid synthesis can have a major effect on survival and reproduction, yet most insect parasitoids fail to synthesize lipids. For parasitic wasps in the genus however studies have suggested that there is intraspecific variation in the ability for lipid synthesis. These studies were performed on only few populations, and a large-scale investigation of both lipogenic ability and population genetic structure is now needed.

Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Belgian forestry workers and associated risk factors.

Background: As forest is the preferred environment for ticks, forestry workers are exposed to tick bites and tick-borne diseases. We assessed the seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) antibodies and investigated, using an integrated landscape approach, the individual and environmental factors associated with the seroprevalence of Bb in Belgian forestry workers, a high-risk group in Belgium.

Methods: A group of 310 Belgian forest workers was examined to assess the seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia IgG antibodies.

Predicting the cumulative effect of multiple disturbances on seagrass connectivity.

The rate of exchange, or connectivity, among populations effects their ability to recover after disturbance events. However, there is limited information on the extent to which populations are connected or how multiple disturbances affect connectivity, especially in coastal and marine ecosystems. We used network analysis and the outputs of a biophysical model to measure potential functional connectivity and predict the impact of multiple disturbances on seagrasses in the central Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA), Australia.

Time trend of clinical cases of Lyme disease in two hospitals in Belgium, 2000-2013.

Background: As several studies indicated an increase in Lyme disease (LD), notably in neighbouring countries, concerns have arisen regarding the evolution of Lyme disease in Belgium. In order to confirm or infirm the increase of LD in Belgium, we focused on hospital admissions of patients diagnosed with LD between 2000 and 2013 based on hospital admission databases from two hospitals in Belgium.

Methods: Hospital databases are a stable recording system.

A Lévy-flight diffusion model to predict transgenic pollen dispersal.

The containment of genetically modified (GM) pollen is an issue of significant concern for many countries. For crops that are bee-pollinated, model predictions of outcrossing rates depend on the movement hypothesis used for the pollinators. Previous work studying pollen spread by honeybees, the most important pollinator worldwide, was based on the assumption that honeybee movement can be well approximated by Brownian motion.