Integration of ground survey and remote sensing derived data: Producing robust indicators of habitat extent and condition

The availability of suitable habitat is a key predictor of the changing status of biodiversity. Quantifying habitat availability over large spatial scales is, however, challenging. Although remote sensing techniques have high spatial coverage, there is uncertainty associated with these estimates due to errors in classification. Alternatively, the extent of habitats can be estimated from ground‐based field survey. Financial and logistical constraints mean that on‐the‐ground surveys have much lower coverage, but they can produce much higher quality estimates of habitat extent in the areas that are surveyed. Here, we demonstrate a new combined model which uses both types of data to produce unified national estimates of the extent of four key habitats across Great Britain based on Countryside Survey and Land Cover Map. This approach considers that the true proportion of habitat per km² (Z_i) is unobserved, but both ground survey and remote sensing can be used to estimate Z_i. The model allows the relationship between remote sensing data and Z_i to be spatially biased while ground survey is assumed to be unbiased. Taking a statistical model‐based approach to integrating field survey and remote sensing data allows for information on bias and precision to be captured and propagated such that estimates produced and parameters estimated are robust and interpretable. A simulation study shows that the combined model should perform best when error in the ground survey data is low. We use repeat surveys to parameterize the variance of ground survey data and demonstrate that error in this data source is small. The model produced revised national estimates of broadleaved woodland, arable land, bog, and fen, marsh and swamp extent across Britain in 2007.     

米修链霉菌TF78对香蕉枯萎病的田间防效及根际土壤微生物的影响

【背景】香蕉枯萎病是香蕉生产上的毁灭性病害,生物防治是遏制该病害发生的有效手段。在前期的研究中,从健康香蕉根际土壤中分离获得一株对香蕉枯萎病具有良好盆栽防治效果的生防菌——米修链霉菌(Streptomyces misionensis) TF78,但其对香蕉枯萎病的田间生防潜力和对土壤微生物环境的影响尚不清楚。【目的】评价米修链霉菌TF78对香蕉枯萎病的田间防治效果,明确其对香蕉根际土壤微生物群落的影响。【方法】选取两块发病香蕉园,测定该生防菌株对香蕉枯萎病的防治效果,并利用扩增子测序技术分析施用菌剂组和空白对照组共12份香蕉根际土壤的微生物多样性和丰度。【结果】米修链霉菌TF78对两块香蕉园的田间防效分别达55.30%和45.32%。该生防菌株处理组的物种稀释曲线坡度大于空白对照组,并显著富集了优势种群梳霉门(Kickxellomycota),消减了绿弯菌门(Chloroflexi)、酸杆菌门(Acidobacteria)和苔藓杆菌(Bryobacter)的丰度,对土壤中优势种群变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)、放线菌门(Actinobacteria)、芽单胞菌门(Gemmatimonadetes)及木霉属(Trichoderma)、鞘氨醇单胞菌属(Sphingomonas)、寡养单胞菌属(Stenotrophomonas)和芽孢杆菌属(Bacillus)的相对丰度影响不显著。【结论】米修链霉菌TF78塑造了不利于香蕉枯萎病菌Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.cubense存活的土壤环境,有效降低了田间香蕉枯萎病的发生,同时对土壤中大部分具有重要生态功能和抑菌功能的优势微生物种群影响不显著。该研究结果为米修链霉菌TF78的进一步开发应用奠定了基础。     

Redox-state dependent blinking of single photosystem I trimers at around liquid-nitrogen temperature

Efficient light harvesting in a photosynthetic antenna system is disturbed by a ragged and fluctuating energy landscape of the antenna pigments in response to the conformation dynamics of the protein. This situation is especially pronounced in Photosystem I (PSI) containing red shifted chlorophylls (red Chls) with the excitation energy much lower than the primary donor. The present study was conducted to clarify light-harvesting dynamics of PSI isolated from Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 by using single-molecule spectroscopy at liquid?nitrogen temperatures. Fluorescence emission at around 720?nm from the red Chls in single PSI trimers was monitored at 80–100?K. Intermittent variations in the emission intensities, so-called blinking, were frequently observed. Its time scale lay in several tens of seconds. The blinking amplitude depended on the redox state of the phylloquinone (A₁). Electrochromic shifts of Chls induced by the negative charge on A₁ were calculated based on the X-ray crystallographic structure. A Chl molecule, Chl-A839 (numbering according to PDB 5OY0), bound near A₁ was found to have a large electrochromic shift. This Chl has strong exciton coupling with neighboring Chl (A838) whose site energy was predicted to be determined by interaction with an arginine residue (ArgF84) [Adolphs et al., 2010]. A possible scenario of the blinking was proposed. Conformational fluctuations of ArgF84 seesaw the excitation-energy of Chl-A838, which perturbs the branching ratio of excitation-energy between the red Chl and the cationic form of P700 as a quencher. The electrochromic shift of Chl-A839 enhances the effect of the conformation dynamics of ArgF84.     

NDVI is not reliable as a surrogate of forage abundance for a large herbivore in tropical forest habitat

Remotely sensed vegetation indices are increasingly being used in wildlife studies but field‐based support for their utility as a measure of forage availability comes largely from open‐canopy habitats. We assessed whether normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) represents forage availability for Asian elephants in a southern Indian tropical forest. We found that the number of food species was a small percentage of all plant species. NDVI was not a good measure of food abundance in any vegetation category partly because of (a) small to moderate proportional abundances of food species relative to the total abundance of all species in that category (herbs and shrubs), (b) abundant overstory vegetation resulting in low correlations between NDVI and food abundance, despite a high proportional abundance of food species and a concordance between total abundance and food species abundance (graminoids), and (c) the relevant variables measured and important as food at the ground level (count and GBH) not being related to primary productivity (trees and recruits). NDVI had a negative relationship with the total abundance of graminoids, which represent a bulk of elephant and other herbivore diet, because of negative interaction with other vegetation and canopy cover that positively explained NDVI. Spatially interpolated total graminoid abundance modeled from field data outperformed NDVI in predicting total graminoid abundance, although interpolation models of food graminoid abundance were not satisfactory. Our results reject the utility of NDVI in mapping elephant forage abundance in tropical forests, a finding that has implications for studies of other herbivores also. Abstract in Kannada is available with online material.     

Grandisol as an attractant for the sugar beet pest Bothynoderes affinis and data on other Lixinae species

As a result of field tests in Bulgaria and Hungary, cis‐2‐isopropenyl‐l‐methylcyclobutane ethanol (racemic grandisol) is reported for the first time as an attractant for Bothynoderes affinis (Schrank) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Lixinae), a member of the pest weevil complex of sugar beet. Dose–response experiments in the field using Csalomon TAL (modified pitfall) traps (Plant Protection Institute, CAR HAS, Budapest, Hungary) showed that catches of B. affinis adults increased with increasing attractant dose. In a subsequent experiment studying the effect of trap color (white, blue, yellow, fluorescent yellow, and transparent) all traps with the lure caught more than non‐baited control traps, and the highest number of adults was recorded in transparent and yellow baited traps. Trap color had a significant effect on the number of B. affinis females captured. Transparent TAL traps baited with 1–10 mg grandisol applied on rubber dispensers are recommended for the detection and monitoring of B. affinis. In addition to the target species, 17 other Lixinae species were captured during the field experiments, demonstrating for the first time the possible role of grandisol in the chemical communication systems of some of these species. A second locality of Lixus punctiventris Boheman (Lixinae, Lixini) in Bulgaria is reported. TAL traps baited with grandisol might be a useful tool for surveying Lixinae diversity in different biotopes.     

某坦克部队外训期间的膳食营养调查

目的:了解坦克部队官兵在野外驻训期间的膳食营养状况,为指导合理膳食提供参考依据。方法:膳食调查采用称重法,能量消耗采用生活观察法,体格检查指标包括体重和皮褶厚度。结果:每日人均禽肉、鱼虾、蔬菜等摄入水平未达到"军人食物定量"标准,而植物油摄入量则超过军标要求;VB1、VC、铁、锌、硒、碘等摄入量未达到"军人营养素供给量"标准要求;三大产能营养素供能比例不合理,脂肪摄入偏高,碳水化合物偏低;多数官兵野外驻训7 d后体重和皮褶厚度降低。结论:该部队在野外驻训期间膳食结构不够合理,部分营养素摄入量未达到军标要求,应调整膳食结构,改善官兵的营养状况。     

A Quantitative Measure of Field Illumination

In this paper, we describe a statistically based algorithm to quantify the uniformity of illumination in an optical light microscopy imaging system that outputs a single quality factor (QF) score. The importance of homogeneous field illumination in quantitative light microscopy is well understood and often checked. However, there is currently no standard automatic quantitative measure of the uniformity of the field illumination. Images from 89 different laser-scanning confocal microscopes (LSCMs), which were collected as part of an international study on microscope quality assessment, were used as a “training” set to build the algorithm. To validate the algorithm and verify its robustness, images from 33 additional microscopes, including LSCM and wide-field (WF) microscopes, were used. The statistical paradigm used for developing the quality scoring scale was a regression approach to supervised learning. Three intensity profiles across each image—2 corner-to-corner diagonals and a center horizontal—were used to generate pixel-intensity data. All of the lines passed through the center of the image. The intensity profile data then were converted into a single-field illumination QF score in the range of 0–100, with 0 having extreme variation, and therefore, essentially unusable, and 100 having no deviation, i.e., straight lines with a constant uniform intensity. Empirically, a QF ≥ 83 was determined to be the minimum acceptable value based on manufacturer acceptance tests and reasonably achievable values. This new QF is an invaluable metric to ascertain objectively and easily the uniformity of illumination quality, provide a traceable reference for monitoring field uniformity over time, and make a direct comparison among different microscopes. The QF can also be used as an indicator of system failure and the need for alignment or service of the instrument.     

Cell competition: Winning out by losing notch

Cell competition where ‘loser’ cells are eliminated by neighbors with higher fitness is a widespread phenomenon in development. However, a growing body of evidence argues cells with somatic mutations compete with their wild type counterparts in the earliest stages of cancer development. Recent studies have begun to shed light on the molecular and cellular mechanisms that alter the competitiveness of cells carrying somatic mutations in adult tissues. Cells with a ‘winner’ phenotype create clones which may expand into extensive fields of mutant cells within normal appearing epithelium, favoring the accumulation of further genetic alterations and the evolution of cancer. Here we focus on how mutations which disrupt the Notch signaling pathway confer a ‘super competitor’ status on cells in squamous epithelia and consider the broader implications for cancer evolution.