Causative agent of canine heartworm () detected in wild lemurs.

The lemurs of Madagascar are threatened by human activities. We present the first molecular detection of canine heartworm () in a wild non-human primate, the mouse lemur (). Zoonotic infection has been associated with clinical pathology that includes serious and often fatal cardiac and pulmonary reactions.

The Coevolution Effect as a Driver of Spillover.

Global habitat fragmentation is associated with the emergence of infectious diseases of wildlife origins in human populations. Despite this well-accepted narrative, the underlying mechanisms driving this association remain unclear. We introduce a nuanced hypothesis, the 'coevolution effect'.

Who let the cats out? A global meta-analysis on risk of parasitic infection in indoor versus outdoor domestic cats ( Felis catus).

Parasitic infection risks in domestic animals may increase as a result of outdoor activities, often leading to transmission events to and from owners, other domestic animals and wildlife. Furthermore, outdoor access has not been quantified in domestic animals as a risk factor with respect to latitude or parasite transmission pathway. Cats are an ideal model to test parasitic infection risk in outdoor animals because there have been many studies analysing this risk factor in this species; and there is a useful dichotomy in cat ownership between indoor-only cats and those with outdoor access.

Drought-Induced Carbon and Water Use Efficiency Responses in Dryland Vegetation of Northern China.

Given the context of global warming and the increasing frequency of extreme climate events, concerns have been raised by scientists, government, and the public regarding drought occurrence and its impacts, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. In this paper, the drought conditions for the forest and grassland areas in the northern region of China were identified based on 12 years of satellite-based Drought Severity Index (DSI) data. The impact of drought on dryland vegetation in terms of carbon use efficiency (CUE) and water use efficiency (WUE) were also investigated by exploring their correlations with DSI.

State-of-the-art global models underestimate impacts from climate extremes.

Global impact models represent process-level understanding of how natural and human systems may be affected by climate change. Their projections are used in integrated assessments of climate change. Here we test, for the first time, systematically across many important systems, how well such impact models capture the impacts of extreme climate conditions.

Long-term history of vehicle collisions on the endangered Nēnē (Branta sandvicensis).

Millions of birds in the United States die annually due to vehicle collisions on roads. Collisions may be of particular interest for species of conservation concern, such as the endangered Hawaiian goose (Nēnē), which is endemic to Hawai'i. Using a nearly 40-year dataset of Nēnē road mortality in and around Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, we sought to answer the following research questions: 1) has Nēnē mortality changed over time? 2) are there times of the year in which mortality is greatest and does it relate to specific events in the species' lifecycle? 3) does age at mortality differ over time, space, or sex? 4) given that existing mortalities appear to occur only in certain locations, do the number of mortality events differ across these locations; 5) does mortality rate show any density dependence? and, 6) are mortality rates related to numbers of visitors or vehicles? Between 1977 and 2014, a total of 92 Nēnē died from vehicle collisions; while absolute mortality increased over this time, the mortality rate remained the same.

Climate change induced eutrophication of cold-water lake in an ecologically fragile nature reserve.

Aquatic ecosystem sustainability around the globe is facing crucial challenges because of increasing anthropogenic and natural disturbances. In this study, the Tianchi Lake, a typical cold-water lake and a UNESCO/MAB (Man and Biosphere) nature reserve located in high latitude and elevation with the relatively low intensity of human activity was chosen as a system to examine the linkages between climate change and eutrophication. As a part of the UNESCO Bogda Man and Biosphere Reserve, Tianchi Lake has been well preserved for prevention from human intervention, but why has it been infected with eutrophication recent years? Our results show that climate change played a significant role in the eutrophication in the Tianchi Lake.

Global soil nitrous oxide emissions since the preindustrial era estimated by an ensemble of terrestrial biosphere models: Magnitude, attribution, and uncertainty.

Our understanding and quantification of global soil nitrous oxide (N O) emissions and the underlying processes remain largely uncertain. Here, we assessed the effects of multiple anthropogenic and natural factors, including nitrogen fertilizer (N) application, atmospheric N deposition, manure N application, land cover change, climate change, and rising atmospheric CO concentration, on global soil N O emissions for the period 1861-2016 using a standard simulation protocol with seven process-based terrestrial biosphere models. Results suggest global soil N O emissions have increased from 6.

Genetically determined fungal pathogen tolerance and soil variation influence ectomycorrhizal traits of loblolly pine.

Selection on genetically correlated traits within species can create indirect effects on one trait by selection on another. The consequences of these trait correlations are of interest because they may influence how suites of traits within species evolve under differing selection pressures, both natural and artificial. By utilizing genetic families of loblolly pine either tolerant (t) or susceptible (s) to two different suites of pathogenic fungi responsible for causing either pine decline or fusiform rust disease, we investigated trait variation and trait correlations within loblolly pine ( L.

Global ammonia emissions from synthetic nitrogen fertilizer applications in agricultural systems: Empirical and process-based estimates and uncertainty.

Excessive ammonia (NH ) emitted from nitrogen (N) fertilizer applications in global croplands plays an important role in atmospheric aerosol production, resulting in visibility reduction and regional haze. However, large uncertainty exists in the estimates of NH emissions from global and regional croplands, which utilize different data and methods. In this study, we have coupled a process-based Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM) with the bidirectional NH exchange module in the Community Multiscale Air-Quality (CMAQ) model (DLEM-Bi-NH ) to quantify NH emissions at the global and regional scale, and crop-specific NH emissions globally at a spatial resolution of 0.

Impact of the 2015/2016 El Niño on the terrestrial carbon cycle constrained by bottom-up and top-down approaches.

Evaluating the response of the land carbon sink to the anomalies in temperature and drought imposed by El Niño events provides insights into the present-day carbon cycle and its climate-driven variability. It is also a necessary step to build confidence in terrestrial ecosystems models' response to the warming and drying stresses expected in the future over many continents, and particularly in the tropics. Here we present an in-depth analysis of the response of the terrestrial carbon cycle to the 2015/2016 El Niño that imposed extreme warming and dry conditions in the tropics and other sensitive regions.

Widespread seasonal compensation effects of spring warming on northern plant productivity.

Climate change is shifting the phenological cycles of plants, thereby altering the functioning of ecosystems, which in turn induces feedbacks to the climate system. In northern (north of 30° N) ecosystems, warmer springs lead generally to an earlier onset of the growing season and increased ecosystem productivity early in the season. In situ and regional studies also provide evidence for lagged effects of spring warmth on plant productivity during the subsequent summer and autumn.

Effects of 8-Year Nitrogen and Phosphorus Treatments on the Ecophysiological Traits of Two Key Species on Tibetan Plateau.

Understanding how nitrogen (N) and/or phosphorus (P) addition affects plants carbon- and water- related ecophysiological characteristics is essential for predicting the global change impact on the alpine meadow ecosystem structure and function in carbon and water cycling. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) with the largest alpine meadow in the world is regarded as the third pole in the earth and has been experiencing increased atmospheric N deposition. In this project, we focused on two key species ( and ) of the alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau and investigated the variability of photosynthetic and stomatal responses to 8-year N and/or P treatments through field measurements and modeling.

Ectoparasitism in Black-and-White Ruffed Lemurs ( Varecia variegata) in Southeastern Madagascar.

We documented ectoparasites found on wild black-and-white ruffed lemurs ( Varecia variegata) in the southeastern rain forests of Madagascar and describe trends in parasitism. In this study, 235 mesostigmatid mites (1 male, 87 females, 147 nymphs) identified as Liponyssella sp., in the acarine family Macronyssidae, were collected during 87% (34/39) of lemur examinations (mean number/host=7.

Different pathways for 4-n-nonylphenol biodegradation by two Aspergillus strains derived from estuary sediment: Evidence from metabolites determination and key-gene identification.

Nonylphenols (NPs) are known as Endocrine Disputing Chemicals (ECDs) and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and have attracted continuous attention. Biodegradation is one of the effective ways for pollutant removal in aquatic, sedimentary and soil environments. In this study, two estuarine derived fungi strains, NPF2 and NPF3, were screened from Moshui river estuarine sediment and identified as genus Aspergillus.

Parasite Ecology of Invasive Species: Conceptual Framework and New Hypotheses.

Biological invasions have the potential to influence parasite dynamics by altering ecological interactions. Similarly, parasitism can influence invasion by aiding or limiting expansion. While many parasite-invasion relationships have been evaluated, many have not been described.

Quantifying urban growth patterns in Hanoi using landscape expansion modes and time series spatial metrics.

Urbanization has been driven by various social, economic, and political factors around the world for centuries. Because urbanization continues unabated in many places, it is crucial to understand patterns of urbanization and their potential ecological and environmental impacts. Given this need, the objectives of our study were to quantify urban growth rates, growth modes, and resultant changes in the landscape pattern of urbanization in Hanoi, Vietnam from 1993 to 2010 and to evaluate the extent to which the process of urban growth in Hanoi conformed to the diffusion-coalescence theory.

A New Species of Sucking Louse (Phthiraptera: Anoplura: Polyplacidae) From the Gray Mouse Lemur, Microcebus murinus (Primates: Cheirogaleidae), in Madagascar.

Lemurpediculus madagascariensis sp. nov. (Phthiraptera: Anoplura: Polyplacidae) is described from the Gray Mouse lemur, Microcebus murinus (J.

Detection of Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Populations in Southern Alabama Following a 26-yr Absence and Public Perceptions of the Threat of Zika Virus.

With the establishment of Zika virus in the Americas, an accurate understanding of the geographic range of its primary vector, Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae), is vital to assessing transmission risk. In an article published in June 2016, Hahn and colleagues compiled county-level records in the United States for the presence of Ae.

Past and future drought in Mongolia.

The severity of recent droughts in semiarid regions is increasingly attributed to anthropogenic climate change, but it is unclear whether these moisture anomalies exceed those of the past and how past variability compares to future projections. On the Mongolian Plateau, a recent decade-long drought that exceeded the variability in the instrumental record was associated with economic, social, and environmental change. We evaluate this drought using an annual reconstruction of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) spanning the last 2060 years in concert with simulations of past and future drought through the year 2100 CE.

Combined and synergistic effects of climate change and urbanization on water quality in the Wolf Bay watershed, southern Alabama.

This study investigated potential changes in flow, total suspended solid (TSS) and nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorous) loadings under future climate change, land use/cover (LULC) change and combined change scenarios in the Wolf Bay watershed, southern Alabama, USA. Four Global Circulation Models (GCMs) under three Special Report Emission Scenarios (SRES) of greenhouse gas were used to assess the future climate change (2016-2040). Three projected LULC maps (2030) were employed to reflect different extents of urbanization in future.

Long-term terrestrial carbon dynamics in the Midwestern United States during 1850-2015: Roles of land use and cover change and agricultural management.

To meet the increasing food and biofuel demand, the Midwestern United States has become one of the most intensively human-disturbed hotspots, characterized by widespread cropland expansion and various management practices. However, the role of human activities in the carbon (C) cycling across managed landscape remains far from certain. In this study, based on state- and national census, field experiments, and model simulation, we comprehensively examined long-term carbon storage change in response to land use and cover change (LUCC) and agricultural management in the Midwest from 1850 to 2015.

Laying sequence interacts with incubation temperature to influence rate of embryonic development and hatching synchrony in a precocial bird.

Incubation starts during egg laying for many bird species and causes developmental asynchrony within clutches. Faster development of late-laid eggs can help reduce developmental differences and synchronize hatching, which is important for precocial species whose young must leave the nest soon after hatching. In this study, we examined the effect of egg laying sequence on length of the incubation period in Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa).

Half-Century Ammonia Emissions From Agricultural Systems in Southern Asia: Magnitude, Spatiotemporal Patterns, and Implications for Human Health.

Much concern has been raised about the increasing threat to air quality and human health due to ammonia (NH) emissions from agricultural systems, which is associated with the enrichment of reactive nitrogen (N) in southern Asia (SA), home of more than 60% the world's population (i.e., the people of West, central, East, South, and Southeast Asia).