Delayed herbivory by migratory geese increases summer‐long CO2 uptake in coastal western Alaska

The advancement of spring and the differential ability of organisms to respond to changes in plant phenology may lead to “phenological mismatches” as a result of climate change. One potential for considerable mismatch is between migratory birds and food availability in northern breeding ranges, and these mismatches may have consequences for ecosystem function. We conducted a three‐year experiment to examine the consequences for CO₂ exchange of advanced spring green‐up and altered timing of grazing by migratory Pacific black brant in a coastal wetland in western Alaska. Experimental treatments represent the variation in green‐up and timing of peak grazing intensity that currently exists in the system. Delayed grazing resulted in greater net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and gross primary productivity (GPP), while early grazing reduced CO₂ uptake with the potential of causing net ecosystem carbon (C) loss in late spring and early summer. Conversely, advancing the growing season only influenced ecosystem respiration (ER), resulting in a small increase in ER with no concomitant impact on GPP or NEE. The experimental treatment that represents the most likely future, with green‐up advancing more rapidly than arrival of migratory geese, results in NEE changing by 1.2 µmol m^?2 s^?1 toward a greater CO₂ sink in spring and summer. Increased sink strength, however, may be mitigated by early arrival of migratory geese, which would reduce CO₂ uptake. Importantly, while the direct effect of climate warming on phenology of green‐up has a minimal influence on NEE, the indirect effect of climate warming manifest through changes in the timing of peak grazing can have a significant impact on C balance in northern coastal wetlands. Furthermore, processes influencing the timing of goose migration in the winter range can significantly influence ecosystem function in summer habitats.     

Prion Protein Does Not Confer Resistance to Hippocampus-Derived Zpl Cells against the Toxic Effects of Cu2+, Mn2+, Zn2+ and Co2+ Not Supporting a General Protective Role for PrP in Transition Metal Induced Toxicity

The interactions of transition metals with the prion protein (PrP) are well-documented and characterized, however, there is no consensus on their role in either the physiology of PrP or PrP-related neurodegenerative disorders. PrP has been reported to protect cells from the toxic stimuli of metals. By employing a cell viability assay, we examined the effects of various concentrations of Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mn²⁺, and Co²⁺ on Zpl (Prnp ^-/-) and ZW (Prnp ^+/+) hippocampus-derived mouse neuronal cells. Prnp ^-/- Zpl cells were more sensitive to all four metals than PrP-expressing Zw cells. However, when we introduced PrP or only the empty vector into Zpl cells, we could not discern any protective effect associated with the presence of PrP. This observation was further corroborated when assessing the toxic effect of metals by propidium-iodide staining and fluorescence activated cell sorting analysis. Thus, our results on this mouse cell culture model do not seem to support a strong protective role for PrP against transition metal toxicity and also emphasize the necessity of extreme care when comparing cells derived from PrP knock-out and wild type mice.     

Where Failure Is Not an Option –Personalized Medicine in Astronauts

Drug safety and efficacy are highly variable among patients. Most patients will experience the desired drug effect, but some may suffer from adverse drug reactions or gain no benefit. Pharmacogenetic testing serves as a pre-treatment diagnostic option in situations where failure or adverse events should be avoided at all costs. One such situation is human space flight. On the international space station (ISS), a list of drugs is available to cover typical emergency settings, as well as the long-term treatment of common conditions for the use in self-medicating common ailments developing over a definite period. Here, we scrutinized the list of the 78 drugs permanently available at the ISS (year 2014) to determine the extent to which their metabolism may be affected by genetic polymorphisms, potentially requiring genotype-specific dosing or choice of an alternative drug. The purpose of this analysis was to estimate the potential benefit of pharmacogenetic diagnostics in astronauts to prevent therapy failure or side effects.     

Space‐time tradeoffs in the development of precipitation‐based isoscape models for determining migratory origin

Precipitation stable isotope patterns over continental scales provide a fundamental tool for tracking origins of migratory species. Hydrogen isotopes from rain and environmental waters are assimilated into animal tissues and may thereby reveal the location where tissues were synthesized. Predictive isotopic maps (or isoscapes) of stable hydrogen isotope values in precipitation (δ²H_p) are typically generated by time‐averaging observations from a global network of stations that have been sampled irregularly in space and time. We previously demonstrated that restricting the temporal range in δ²H_p isoscapes to biologically relevant time frames did not improve predictions of geographic origin for two migratory species in North America and Europe; rather, it decreased the accuracy of assignment. Here, we examined whether the reduction in assignment accuracy stemmed from a decrease in the number of sampling stations available to support isoscape development for shorter time periods. Multiple regression models were used to predict the hydrogen isotope composition in precipitation using isotopic measurements from each station along with a suite of independent variables. The reduction in the number of stations with δ²H_p measurements used to estimate isoscape model parameters did not alter the accuracy and precision of assignments consistently. We also examined accuracy across a range of reduced station numbers and found that mean accuracy was affected only at very low numbers of stations, indicating that the spatial isotopic patterns in precipitation that are useful for assignment applications can be characterized with data from relatively limited data stations. The number and spatial distribution of stations may have more influence when geostatistical models are used to generate isoscapes, as they incorporate spatial correlation in the dataset. The results can be used to guide future research in understanding how data availability and constraints in creating δ²H_p isoscapes may affect predictions of geographic origins.     

Long‐term experimental warming alters community composition of ascomycetes in Alaskan moist and dry arctic tundra

Arctic tundra regions have been responding to global warming with visible changes in plant community composition, including expansion of shrubs and declines in lichens and bryophytes. Even though it is well known that the majority of arctic plants are associated with their symbiotic fungi, how fungal community composition will be different with climate warming remains largely unknown. In this study, we addressed the effects of long‐term (18 years) experimental warming on the community composition and taxonomic richness of soil ascomycetes in dry and moist tundra types. Using deep Ion Torrent sequencing, we quantified how OTU assemblage and richness of different orders of Ascomycota changed in response to summer warming. Experimental warming significantly altered ascomycete communities with stronger responses observed in the moist tundra compared with dry tundra. The proportion of several lichenized and moss‐associated fungi decreased with warming, while the proportion of several plant and insect pathogens and saprotrophic species was higher in the warming treatment. The observed alterations in both taxonomic and ecological groups of ascomycetes are discussed in relation to previously reported warming‐induced shifts in arctic plant communities, including decline in lichens and bryophytes and increase in coverage and biomass of shrubs.