Human appropriation of net primary production as driver of change in landscape-scale vertebrate richness

Aim

Land use is the most pervasive driver of biodiversity loss. Predicting its impact on species richness (SR) is often based on indicators of habitat loss. However, the degradation of habitats, especially through land-use intensification, also affects species. Here, we evaluate whether an integrative metric of land-use intensity, the human appropriation of net primary production, is correlated with the decline of SR in used landscapes across the globe.

Location

Global.

Time period

Present.

Major taxa studied

Birds, mammals and amphibians.

Methods

Based on species range maps (spatial resolution: 20 km × 20 km) and an area-of-habitat approach, we calibrated a “species–energy model” by correlating the SR of three groups of vertebrates with net primary production and biogeographical covariables in “wilderness” areas (i.e., those where available energy is assumed to be still at pristine levels). We used this model to project the difference between pristine SR and the SR corresponding to the energy remaining in used landscapes (i.e., SR loss expected owing to human energy extraction outside wilderness areas). We validated the projected species loss by comparison with the realized and impending loss reconstructed from habitat conversion and documented by national Red Lists.

Results

Species–energy models largely explained landscape-scale variation of mapped SR in wilderness areas (adjusted R²-values: 0.79–0.93). Model-based projections of SR loss were lower, on average, than reconstructed and documented ones, but the spatial patterns were correlated significantly, with stronger correlation in mammals (Pearson's r = 0.68) than in amphibians (r = 0.60) and birds (r = 0.57).

Main conclusions

Our results suggest that the human appropriation of net primary production is a useful indicator of heterotrophic species loss in used landscapes, hence we recommend its inclusion in models based on species–area relationships to improve predictions of land-use-driven biodiversity loss.     

Genes expressed during sexual differentiation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Four genes specifically expressed during gametogenesis of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii have been cloned and their expression patterns analyzed. mRNAs encoded by these gamete-specific genes (gas) were absent or present only at very low levels in vegetative cells and mature zygotes. In young zygotes 2 h after gamete fusion, the mRNAs of three gas genes still persisted. The gas mRNAs accumulated during gametic differentiation. The temporal patterns of accumulation of individual mRNAs differed; some started to increase early during gametogenesis, others accumulated in the late phase. The accumulation of one of the late mRNAs (gas28) was stricly light-dependent. To illustrate the utility of the genes cloned in the analysis of sexual differentiation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii we show that in a gametogenesis-defective mutant, the expression of late genes is prevented while that of early genes is normal.     

Differentiation and structural decline in the leaves and bark of birch (Betula pendula) under low ozone concentrations

Summary Leaf and bark structure of a birch clone (Betula pendula Roth) continuously exposed to charcoal-filtered air or charcoal-filtered air plus ozone (0.05, 0.075, 0.1 l 1^-1) was investigated throughout one growing season. Increasing ozone dose influenced leaf differentiation by reducing leaf area and increasing inner leaf air space, density of cells developing into stomata, scales and hairs. When approximately the same ozone dose had been reached, macroscopical and microscopical symptoms appeared irrespective of the ozone concentration used during treatment. Structural decline began in mesophyll cells around stomatal cavities (droplet-like exudates on the cell walls), continued with disintegration of the cytoplasma and ended in cell collapse. Epidermal cells showed shrinkage of the mucilaginous layer (related to water loss). Their collapse marked the final stage of leaf decline. When subsidiary cells collapsed, guard cells passively opened for a transitory period before collapsing and closing. With increasing ozone dose starch remained accumulated along the small leaf veins and in guard cells. IIK-positive grains were formed in the epidermal cells. This contrasted with the senescent leaves, where starch was entirely retranslocated. Injury symptoms in stem and petiole proceeded from the epidermis to the cambium. Reduced tissue area indicated reduced cambial activity. In plants grown in filtered air and transferred into ozone on 20 August, injury symptoms developed faster than in leaves formed in the presence of ozone. Results are discussed with regard to O₃-caused acclimation and injury mechanisms.     

Carbon source utilization of soil extracted microorganisms as a tool to detect the effects of soil supplemented with genetically engineered and non-engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum and a recombinant peptide at the community level

Abstract: Substrate utilization of microbial cells extracted from soil with a 0.85% aqueous sodium chloride solution, was determined to estimate effects on soil microorganisms at the community level with microtiter plates (Biolog GN®) containing 95 different sources of organic carbon. A consistent pattern of utilized substrates was obtained after 24 h of microtiter plate incubation at 28°C. The absorbance values (OD₅₉₀) obtained from a microtiter plate reader after background correction were transformed by using the average absorbance values of oxidized substrates as a threshold to distinguish between well utilized and poorly or non-utilized substrates and thereby reduce variances between replicates. Doubling times of the extracted soil microorganisms in the microtiter plates were tested with 12 substrates and ranged from 1.96 h to 3.23 h, depending on the carbon source. The carbon source utilization assay was used to assess the effects of soil inoculation with Corynebacterium glutamicum with and without a genetically engineered plasmid (pUN1; 6.3 kb), which encoded for the synthesis of the mammalian protease inhibiting peptide, aprotinin. Additionally, aprotinin itself was added at two concentrations to soil samples. An identical decrease in the number of carbon sources utilized, especially carbohydrates, occurred upon soil inoculation with both C. glutamicum strains after inoculation with 10⁶ cells g⁻¹ soil. This effect was only detectable during the first three weeks of incubation, as long as cell numbers of C. glutamicum (pUN1) were above 10⁵ cfu g⁻¹. Soil amendment with aprotinin resulted in utilization of additional substrates, most of them carbohydrates. With 0.1 mg aprotinin g⁻¹ soil this stimulation lasted 2 days and with 10 mg g⁻¹ it lasted for 7 days.     

Apoplastic pH of intact leaves of Vicia faba as influenced by light

The fluorochrome FITC-dextran was used to measure the effectof light on the apoplastic pH of intact Vicia faba leaves withthe ratio imaging technique. In darkadapted leaves the apoplasticpH varied depending on the leaf between 5.2 and 5.9. Red light(660 nm, 4–12 W m^–2) leads to multiphasic responses:in the first seconds an alkalinization ({small tilde}0.3 pHunits), and thereafter an acidification of the leaf apoplast({small tilde}0.4 pH units) were observed. Both effects couldbe inhibited by DCMU. While variation of CO₂ concentration revealedno effect on light-induced apoplastic pH changes, a decreasein O₂ concentration decreased the effect. On the basis of ourdata it is suggested that the influence of photosynthesis onplasmalemma H⁺ ATPase is responsible for the observed effects,rather than altered CO₂ uptake. Key words: Leaf apoplast, apoplastic pH, light, ratio imaging, pH-sensitive fluorescent dye, Vicia fab     

The genes of the lysosomal cysteine proteinases cathepsin B, H, L, and S map to different mouse chromosomes

The mouse genes for the lysosomal cysteine proteinases cathepsin B, H, L, and S were mapped to Chromosomes (Chrs) 14, 9, 13, and 3, respectively. Two of the DNA probes used in this study detected an additional, independently segregating locus. The cathepsin B-specific probe hybridized to a locus on Chr 2, and the cathepsin H probe to a locus on the X Chr. These loci either correspond to pseudogenes or to cathepsin B- and cathepsin H-related genes. The four cysteine proteinases mapped in this study lie within known regions of conserved synteny between mouse and human chromosomes, when compared with the corresponding positions of their human homologs. Assuming that the genes of the cysteine proteinase gene family arose from a common ancestral gene, our results suggest that these four cysteine proteinases had been dispersed over different chromosomes before separation of mouse and human in evolution. Received: 22 August 1996 / Accepted: 20 November 1996     

Development of the sperm head in the caddis fly Potamophylax rotundipennis (Insecta,Trichoptera)

The restructuring of the sperm head has been examined in a caddis fly, Potamophylax rotundipennis (Limnephilidae), using light and electron microscopy. The roughly spherical nuclei of young spermatids are transformed into needle-shaped elements in advanced spermatids. During this process, the nuclei transiently become sickle-shaped. Prominent structural changes occur within the nucleus during spermiogenesis. The chromatin of spherical and slightly elongated nuclei has an amorphous appearance, then coarse granules become apparent, chromatin threads are visible in fully elongated nuclei and finally lamellar elements appear. During the changes in chromatin texture, a dense layer, the chromatin rim, develops transiently. This feature of the chromatin surface is interpreted as the structural expression of exchanges between nucleus and cytoplasm. A microtubular manchette is formed at the cytoplasmic face of the nuclear envelope. Whereas the manchette covers the full perimeter of the nucleus in early stages of elongation, gaps in the palisade of microtubules appear before the nuclear diameter decreases and needle-shaped nuclei develop. It is possible that the intermittent deployment of manchette microtubules is involved in reducing the nuclear diameter towards the end of nuclear elongation. The delayed detachment of the chromatin from the posterior pole of the nucleus, observed at the onset of nuclear clongation, points to local modifications of the nuclear envelope responsible for the connection of the centriole adjunct and the flagellum with the posterior pole of the nucleus.