Pollen influx values measured in different sedimentary environments and their palaeoecological implications

Aspects which need to be considered when calculating pollen influx values in three sedimentary environments (pollen traps, peats and lake sediments) are reviewed. Examples of influx values (grains cm^-2 year^-1) in northern Fennoscandia for two arboreal taxa Betula and Pinus, calculated from these three different environments are presented. Such long term average pollen influx values can be used to indicate the presence/absence and density of the species within the vicinity of the sampling site. Contrary to expectations, conditions do exist in which numerically comparable values are obtained from all three environments. Using these pollen influx values to interpret forest and woodland history in tree-line situations, from both peats and lake sediments, a higher degree of precision can be obtained than through the more classical pollen percentage method alone.     

Environmental correlates of annual survival differ between two ecologically similar and congeneric owls

Understanding how survival is affected by the environment is essential to gain insight into population dynamics and the evolution of life‐history traits as well as to identify environmental selection pressures. However, we still have little understanding of the relative effect of different environmental factors and their interactions on demographic traits and population dynamics. Here we used two long‐term, individual‐based datasets on Tawny Owl Strix aluco (1981–2010) and Ural Owl S. uralensis (1986–2010) to undertake capture‐mark‐recapture analysis of annual survival of adult females in response to three biologically meaningful environmental variables and their two‐way interactions. Despite the similar ecology of these two species, their survival was associated with different and uncorrelated environmental drivers. The main correlate of Tawny Owl survival was an inverse association with snow depth (winter severity). For Ural Owl, high food (vole) abundance improved survival during years with deep snow, but was less important during years with little snow. In addition, Ural Owl survival was strongly density‐dependent, whereas Tawny Owl survival was not. Our findings advise caution in extrapolating demographic inferences from one species to another, even when they are very closely related and ecologically similar. Analyses including only one or few potential environmental drivers of a species' survival may lead to incomplete conclusions because survival may be affected by several factors and their interactions.     

Variation in eggshell traits between geographically distant populations of pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca

The expression and impact of maternal effects may vary greatly between populations and environments. However, little is known about large‐scale geographical patterns of variation in maternal deposition to eggs. In birds, as in other oviparous animals, the outermost maternal component of an egg is the shell, which protects the embryo, provides essential mineral resources and allows its interaction with the environment in the form of gas exchange. In this study, we explored variation of eggshell traits (mass, thickness, pore density and pigmentation) across 15 pied flycatcher populations at a large geographic scale. We found significant between‐population variation in all eggshell traits, except in pore density, suggesting spatial variation in their adaptive benefits or in the females’ physiological limitations during egg laying. Between‐ population variation in shell structure was not due to geographic location (latitude and longitude) or habitat type. However, eggshells were thicker in populations that experienced higher ambient temperature during egg laying. This could be a result of maternal resource allocation to the shell being constrained under low temperatures or of an adaptation to reduce egg water loss under high temperatures. We also found that eggshell colour intensity was positively associated with biliverdin pigment concentration, shell thickness and pore density. To conclude, our findings reveal large‐ scale between‐population variation of eggshell traits, although we found little environmental dependency in their expression. Our findings call for further studies that explore other environmental factors (e.g. calcium availability and pollution levels) and social factors like sexual selection intensity that may account for differences in shell structure between populations.     

Phenotypic plasticity in growth and fecundity induced by strong population fluctuations affects reproductive traits of female fish

Fish are known for their high phenotypic plasticity in life‐history traits in relation to environmental variability, and this is particularly pronounced among salmonids in the Northern Hemisphere. Resource limitation leads to trade‐offs in phenotypic plasticity between life‐history traits related to the reproduction, growth, and survival of individual fish, which have consequences for the age and size distributions of populations, as well as their dynamics and productivity. We studied the effect of plasticity in growth and fecundity of vendace females on their reproductive traits using a series of long‐term incubation experiments. The wild parental fish originated from four separate populations with markedly different densities, and hence naturally induced differences in their growth and fecundity. The energy allocation to somatic tissues and eggs prior to spawning served as a proxy for total resource availability to individual females, and its effects on offspring survival and growth were analyzed. Vendace females allocated a rather constant proportion of available energy to eggs (per body mass) despite different growth patterns depending on the total resources in the different lakes; investment into eggs thus dictated the share remaining for growth. The energy allocation to eggs per mass was higher in young than in old spawners and the egg size and the relative fecundity differed between them: Young females produced more and smaller eggs and larvae than old spawners. In contrast to earlier observations of salmonids, a shortage of maternal food resources did not increase offspring size and survival. Vendace females in sparse populations with ample resources and high growth produced larger eggs and larvae. Vendace accommodate strong population fluctuations by their high plasticity in growth and fecundity, which affect their offspring size and consequently their recruitment and productivity, and account for their persistence and resilience in the face of high fishing mortality.     

All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality among Users of Basal Insulins NPH,Detemir, and Glargine

Background

Insulin therapy in type 2 diabetes may increase mortality and cancer incidence, but the impact of different types of basal insulins on these endpoints is unclear. Compared to the traditional NPH insulin, the newer, longer-acting insulin analogues detemir and glargine have shown benefits in randomized controlled trials. Whether these advantages translate into lower mortality among users in real life is unknown.

Objective

To estimate the differences in all-cause and cause-specific mortality rates between new users of basal insulins in a population-based study in Finland.

Methods

23 751 individuals aged ≥40 with type 2 diabetes, who initiated basal insulin therapy in 2006–2009 were identified from national registers, with comprehensive data for mortality, causes of death, and background variables. Propensity score matching was performed on characteristics. Follow-up time was up to 4 years (median 1.7 years).

Results

2078 deaths incurred. With NPH as reference, the adjusted HRs for all-cause mortality were 0.39 (95% CI, 0.30–0.50) for detemir, and 0.55 (95% CI, 0.44–0.69) for glargine. As compared to glargine, the HR was 0.71 (95% CI, 0.54–0.93) among detemir users. Compared to NPH, the mortality risk for both cardiovascular causes as well as cancer were also significantly lower for glargine, and especially for detemir in adjusted analysis. Furthermore, the results were robust in various sensitivity analyses.

Conclusion

In real clinical practice, mortality was substantially higher among users of NPH insulin as compared to insulins detemir or glargine. Considering the large number of patients who require insulin therapy, this difference in risk may have major clinical and public health implications. Due to limitations of the observational study design, further investigation using an interventional study design is warranted.     

Environmental variability and population dynamics: do European and North American ducks play by the same rules?

Density dependence, population regulation, and variability in population size are fundamental population processes, the manifestation and interrelationships of which are affected by environmental variability. However, there are surprisingly few empirical studies that distinguish the effect of environmental variability from the effects of population processes. We took advantage of a unique system, in which populations of the same duck species or close ecological counterparts live in highly variable (north American prairies) and in stable (north European lakes) environments, to distinguish the relative contributions of environmental variability (measured as between‐year fluctuations in wetland numbers) and intraspecific interactions (density dependence) in driving population dynamics. We tested whether populations living in stable environments (in northern Europe) were more strongly governed by density dependence than populations living in variable environments (in North America). We also addressed whether relative population dynamical responses to environmental variability versus density corresponded to differences in life history strategies between dabbling (relatively “fast species” and governed by environmental variability) and diving (relatively “slow species” and governed by density) ducks. As expected, the variance component of population fluctuations caused by changes in breeding environments was greater in North America than in Europe. Contrary to expectations, however, populations in more stable environments were not less variable nor clearly more strongly density dependent than populations in highly variable environments. Also, contrary to expectations, populations of diving ducks were neither more stable nor stronger density dependent than populations of dabbling ducks, and the effect of environmental variability on population dynamics was greater in diving than in dabbling ducks. In general, irrespective of continent and species life history, environmental variability contributed more to variation in species abundances than did density. Our findings underscore the need for more studies on populations of the same species in different environments to verify the generality of current explanations about population dynamics and its association with species life history.     

Parasite infection alters host stable‐isotope composition under controlled feeding

相似文献   

Assessment of frost damage in mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal roots of Scots pine seedlings using classification analysis of their electrical impedance spectra

Key message

A novel non-destructive method is presented for studying the frost hardiness of roots. Principal component analysis from the electrical impedance spectra revealed differences between freezing temperatures, but no clear differences between the mycorrhizal treatments as regards freezing stress.

Abstract

We present a novel non-destructive method for the classification of root systems with different degrees of freezing injuries based on the measurement of electrical impedance spectra (EIS). Roots of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings, raised in perlite with nutrient solution, were colonized by Hebeloma sp. or Suillus luteus or left non-mycorrhizal, and exposed to a series of low temperatures (5, ?5, ?12 and ?18 °C) after cultivation with and without cold acclimation regimes. In EIS measurements, we ran a small-amplitude electric current to the root system at 44 frequencies between 5 Hz and 100 kHz through electrodes set in the stem and in perlite at the bottom of the container. The normalized (Euclidian) electrical impedance spectra were classified using the CLAFIC-method (CLAss-Featuring Information Compression) that is based on a subspace method with two variants where the longest projection vector defines the sample class. The current delivery through the root system was affected by freezing injuries in the roots. The most remarkable change, indicating the threshold for cold tolerance, took place between ?5 and ?12 °C for non-acclimated and between ?12 and ?18 °C for cold acclimated roots. No difference was found between the mycorrhizal treatments in the response to the freezing temperatures. The results on the effects of both the low-temperature exposure and mycorrhizas agree with freezing damage assessments done by other methods.

     

Three dimensional patient-specific collagen architecture modulates cartilage responses in the knee joint during gait

Site-specific variation of collagen fibril orientations can affect cartilage stresses in knee joints. However, this has not been confirmed by 3-D analyses. Therefore, we present a novel method for evaluation of the effect of patient-specific collagen architecture on time-dependent mechanical responses of knee joint cartilage during gait. 3-D finite element (FE) models of a human knee joint were created with the collagen architectures obtained from T₂ mapped MRI (patient-specific model) and from literature (literature model). The effect of accuracy of the implementation of collagen fibril architecture into the model was examined by using a submodel with denser FE mesh. Compared to the literature model, fibril strains and maximum principal stresses were reduced especially in the superficial/middle regions of medial tibial cartilage in the patient-specific model after the loading response of gait (up to ?413 and ?26%, respectively). Compared to the more coarsely meshed joint model, the patient-specific submodel demonstrated similar strain and stress distributions but increased values particularly in the superficial cartilage regions (especially stresses increased >60%). The results demonstrate that implementation of subject-specific collagen architecture of cartilage in 3-D modulates location- and time-dependent mechanical responses of human knee joint cartilage. Submodeling with more accurate implementation of collagen fibril architecture alters cartilage stresses particularly in the superficial/middle tissue.