With super SDMs (machine learning, open access big data, and the cloud) towards more holistic global squirrel hotspots and coldspots.

Species-habitat associations are correlative, can be quantified, and used for powerful inference. Nowadays, Species Distribution Models (SDMs) play a big role, e.g.

Diploid species phylogeny and evolutionary reticulation indicate early radiation of Ephedra in the Tethys coast.

Reconstructing a robust species phylogeny and disentangling the evolutionary and biogeographic history of the gymnosperm genus Ephedra, which has a large genome and rich polyploids, remain a big challenge. Here we reconstructed a transcriptome-based phylogeny of 19 diploid Ephedra species, and explored evolutionary reticulations in this genus represented by 50 diploid and polyploid species, using four low-copy nuclear and nine plastid genes. The diploid species phylogeny indicates that the Mediterranean species diverged first, and the remaining species split into three clades, including the American species (Clade A), E.

Review of chemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass using low-liquid and low-chemical catalysts for effective bioconversion.

Chemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) is essential for effective biological conversion in subsequent steps to produce biofuels or biochemicals. For effective pretreatment, high lignin content and its recalcitrant nature of LCB are major factors influencing bioconversion, especially lignin is known to be effectively solubilized by alkaline, organic, and deep eutectic solvents, ionic liquids, while hemicellulose is effectively dissolved by various acid catalysts and organic solvents. Depending on the pretreatment method/catalyst used, different pretreatment process scheme should be applied with different amounts of catalyst and water inputs to achieve a satisfactory effect.

Rabies Elimination: Is It Feasible without Considering Wildlife?

Rabies is a vaccine-preventable fatal viral disease that is zoonotic in nature. In this article, we provide a justification why the agreement of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) on The Global Strategic Plan to End Human Deaths from Dog-mediated Rabies by 2030 should also include a more holistic approach and ecologic views.

Herbivore species coexistence in changing rangeland ecosystems: First high resolution national open-source and open-access ensemble models for Iceland.

Rangeland ecosystems are changing worldwide with the abandonment of extensive pastoralism practices and greater interest for species coexistence. However, the lack of compiled data on current changes in the abundance and distribution of herbivores challenges rangeland management decisions. Here we gathered and made available for the first time the most extensive set of occurrence data for rangeland herbivores in Iceland in an Open Access framework for transparent and repeatable science-based decisions.

Where should China practice forestry in a warming world?

As a nature-based and cost-effective solution, forestation plays a crucial role in combating global warming, biodiversity collapse, environmental degradation, and global well-being. Although China is acknowledged as a global leader of forestation and has achieved considerable overall success in environmental improvements through mega-forestation programs, many negative effects have also emerged at local scales due to the planting of maladapted tree species. To better help achieve carbon neutrality and the new vision of an ecological civilization, China has committed to further increase forestation.

Modeling Eastern Russian High Arctic Geese (Anser fabalis, A. albifrons) during moult and brood rearing in the 'New Digital Arctic'.

Many polar species and habitats are now affected by man-made global climate change and underlying infrastructure. These anthropogenic forces have resulted in clear implications and many significant changes in the arctic, leading to the emergence of new climate, habitats and other issues including digital online infrastructure representing a 'New Artic'. Arctic grazers, like Eastern Russian migratory populations of Tundra Bean Goose Anser fabalis and Greater White-fronted Goose A.

Palearctic passerine migrant declines in African wintering grounds in the Anthropocene (1970-1990 and near future): A conservation assessment using publicly available GIS predictors and machine learning.

The Anthropocene causes many massive and novel impacts, e.g., on migratory birds and their habitats.

Data mining and model-predicting a global disease reservoir for low-pathogenic Avian Influenza (A) in the wider pacific rim using big data sets.

Avian Influenza (AI) is a complex but still poorly understood disease; specifically when it comes to reservoirs, co-infections, connectedness and wider landscape perspectives. Low pathogenic (Low-path LP) AI in chickens caused by less virulent strains of AI viruses (AIVs)-when compared with highly pathogenic AIVs (HPAIVs)-are not even well-described yet or known how they contribute to wider AI and immune system issues. Co-circulation of LPAIVs with HPAIVs suggests their interactions in their ecological aspects.

Arctic tidal current atlas.

Tidal and wind-driven near-inertial currents play a vital role in the changing Arctic climate and the marine ecosystems. We compiled 429 available moored current observations taken over the last two decades throughout the Arctic to assemble a pan-Arctic atlas of tidal band currents. The atlas contains different tidal current products designed for the analysis of tidal parameters from monthly to inter-annual time scales.

Polyploidy in gymnosperms - Insights into the genomic and evolutionary consequences of polyploidy in Ephedra.

While polyploidization is recognized as a major evolutionary driver for ferns and angiosperms, little is known about its impact in gymnosperms, where polyploidy is much less frequent. We explore Ephedra to evaluate (i) the extent of genome size diversity in the genus and the influence polyploidy has had on the evolution of nuclear DNA contents, and (ii) identify where shifts in genome size and polyploidy have occurred both temporally and spatially. A phylogenetic framework of all Ephedra species together with genome sizes and karyotypes for 87% and 67% of them respectively, were used to explore ploidy evolution and its global distribution patterns.

Inter-laboratory study for the certification of trace elements in seawater certified reference materials NASS-7 and CASS-6.

Certification of trace metals in seawater certified reference materials (CRMs) NASS-7 and CASS-6 is described. At the National Research Council Canada (NRC), column separation was performed to remove the seawater matrix prior to the determination of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Mo, Ni, U, V, and Zn, whereas As was directly measured in 10-fold diluted seawater samples, and B was directly measured in 200-fold diluted seawater samples. High-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICPMS) was used for elemental analyses, with double isotope dilution for the accurate determination of B, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mo, Ni, U, and Zn in seawater NASS-7 and CASS-6, and standard addition calibration for As, Co, Mn, and V.

Why choose Random Forest to predict rare species distribution with few samples in large undersampled areas? Three Asian crane species models provide supporting evidence.

Species distribution models (SDMs) have become an essential tool in ecology, biogeography, evolution and, more recently, in conservation biology. How to generalize species distributions in large undersampled areas, especially with few samples, is a fundamental issue of SDMs. In order to explore this issue, we used the best available presence records for the Hooded Crane (,  = 33), White-naped Crane (,  = 40), and Black-necked Crane (,  = 75) in China as three case studies, employing four powerful and commonly used machine learning algorithms to map the breeding distributions of the three species: TreeNet (Stochastic Gradient Boosting, Boosted Regression Tree Model), Random Forest, CART (Classification and Regression Tree) and Maxent (Maximum Entropy Models).

Continuous measurement of soil carbon efflux with Forced Diffusion (FD) chambers in a tundra ecosystem of Alaska.

Soil is a significant source of CO2 emission to the atmosphere, and this process is accelerating at high latitudes due to rapidly changing climates. To investigate the sensitivity of soil CO2 emissions to high temporal frequency variations in climate, we performed continuous monitoring of soil CO2 efflux using Forced Diffusion (FD) chambers at half-hour intervals, across three representative Alaskan soil cover types with underlying permafrost. These sites were established during the growing season of 2015, on the Seward Peninsula of western Alaska.

Effect of thaw depth on fluxes of CO₂ and CH₄ in manipulated Arctic coastal tundra of Barrow, Alaska.

Changes in CO₂ and CH₄ emissions represent one of the most significant consequences of drastic climate change in the Arctic, by way of thawing permafrost, a deepened active layer, and decline of thermokarst lakes in the Arctic. This study conducted flux-measurements of CO₂ and CH₄, as well as environmental factors such as temperature, moisture, and thaw depth, as part of a water table manipulation experiment in the Arctic coastal plain tundra of Barrow, Alaska during autumn. The manipulation treatment consisted of draining, controlling, and flooding treated sections by adjusting standing water.

Carcass composition and yield of Alaskan reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) steers and effects of electrical stimulation applied during field slaughter on meat quality.

Twenty six adult reindeer steers (>3 years old) were used in a study to evaluate the effect of electrical stimulation (ES) on the quality of hot-boned, rapidly frozen shoulder meat and of the striploin (M. longissimus, LD) from carcasses held at +3°C for 48h. Carcass yield and composition was determined from the left carcass half from which the shoulder meat was not removed.