Analyzing the mutual feedbacks between lake pollution and human behaviour in a mathematical social-ecological model

Does the adoption of environment-oriented actions by individuals necessarily improve the state of an ecosystem in the most effective way? We address this question with the example of eutrophication in shallow lakes. When exposed to fertilizers, such lakes can undergo a critical transition called eutrophication, resulting in a loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. We couple a generic model of eutrophication with a best-response model of human behaviour, where agents can choose to pollute the lake at a high level (defection) or at a low level (cooperation). It is known that feedbacks between the interacting lake pollution and human behaviour can give rise to complex dynamics with multiple stable states and oscillations. Here, we analyze the impact of all model parameters on the shape of the nullclines. S-shaped nullclines are a condition for complex dynamics to occur. Moreover, we find that agents decreasing their pollution discharge into the lake is not necessarily the most effective way to reduce the pollution level in the lake. This is due to coexisting counterintuitive stable equilibria where the lake is in a clear state despite a high level of pollution discharge. We analyze the complex dynamics of the system and describe in detail Hopf, saddle-node, homoclinic and Bogdanov-Takens bifurcations. The complex dynamics with potential multistability and counterintuitive equilibria suggests that generic management recommendations holding for every level of pollution and of cooperation are impossible. Apart from the direct perturbation of an ecological variable, we identify three ways a management strategy can influence the social-ecological system: it can change the location, the resilience and the existence of stable equilibria.     

Reciprocal relationships and potential feedbacks between biodiversity and disturbance

Two major foci of ecological research involve reciprocal views of the relationship between biodiversity and disturbance: disturbance determines community diversity or diversity determines realized disturbance severity. Here, we present an initial attempt to synthesize these two approaches in order to understand whether feedbacks occur, and what their effects on patterns of diversity might be. Our review of published experiments shows that (i) disturbance severity can be both a cause and a consequence of local diversity in a wide range of ecosystems and (ii) shapes of the unidirectional relationships between diversity and disturbance can be quite variable. To explore how feedbacks between diversity and disturbance might operate to alter expected patterns of diversity in nature, we develop and then evaluate a conceptual model that decomposes the relationships into component parts, considering sequentially the effect of diversity on disturbance severity, and the effect of realized disturbance on diversity loss, subsequent recruitment, and competitive exclusion. Our model suggests that feedbacks can increase mean values of richness, decrease variability, and alter the patterns of correlation between diversity and disturbance in nature. We close by offering ideas for future research to help fill gaps in our understanding of reciprocal relationships among ecological variables like diversity and disturbance.     

New biotechnologies: spin-off on health and society

New biotechnologies and the new biology deriving from them are having a revolutionary impact on economy and society and are consequently transforming the role of researchers, which is changing continually to meet the competence required. The advances in human genetics on the other hand make it necessary to look for different approaches and new rules in bioethics. Comprehensive views and careful considerations are therefore needed in order that this new biology may have a positive impact on health, being respectful of the social and ethical principles of human beings.     

Communicating about ocean health: theoretical and practical considerations

As anthropogenic stressors threaten the health of marine ecosystems, there is a need to better understand how the public processes and responds to information about ocean health. Recent studies of public perceptions about ocean issues report high concern but limited knowledge, prompting calls for information campaigns to mobilize public support for ocean restoration policy. Drawing on the literature from communication, psychology and related social science disciplines, we consider a set of social-cognitive challenges that researchers and advocates are likely to encounter when communicating with the public about ocean health and emerging marine diseases—namely, the psychological distance at which ocean issues are construed, the unfamiliarity of aquatic systems to many members of the public and the potential for marine health issues to be interpreted through politicized schemas that encourage motivated reasoning over the dispassionate consideration of scientific evidence. We offer theory-based strategies to help public outreach efforts address these challenges and present data from a recent experiment exploring the role of message framing (emphasizing the public health or environmental consequences of marine disease) in shaping public support for environmental policy.     

High trophic level feedbacks on global ocean carbon uptake and marine ecosystem dynamics under climate change

Despite recurrent emphasis on their ecological and economic roles, the importance of high trophic levels (HTLs) on ocean carbon dynamics, through passive (fecal pellet production, carcasses) and active (vertical migration) processes, is still largely unexplored, notably under climate change scenarios. In addition, HTLs impact the ecosystem dynamics through top-down effects on lower trophic levels, which might change under anthropogenic influence. Here we compare two simulations of a global biogeochemical–ecosystem model with and without feedbacks from large marine animals. We show that these large marine animals affect the evolution of low trophic level biomasses, hence net primary production and most certainly ecosystem equilibrium, but seem to have little influence on the 21st-century anthropogenic carbon uptake under the RCP8.5 scenario. These results provide new insights regarding the expectations for trophic amplification of climate change through the marine trophic chain and regarding the necessity to explicitly represent marine animals in Earth System Models.     

Linking land to ocean: feedbacks in the management of socio-ecological systems in the Great Barrier Reef catchments

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) off Australia’s northeast coast is one of the natural wonders of the world. As a consequence it has high value, not only for biodiversity, but also for tourists who come to see the GBR and the biodiversity associated with it, bringing in over A$3.5B per annum to the Australian economy. However, there are a number of natural and anthropogenic factors that are threatening the health of the reef ecosystems. One of the major anthropogenic factors is the impact of sediments and nutrients that run off the land, via the rivers, into the lagoon of the reef. Extensive beef production is one of the major land uses of the GBR catchment, and brings in over $1B to the national economy annually and employs nearly 9,000 people, many of them in rural communities. Over 70% of terrestrial sediments and nutrients deposited in the GBR lagoon affecting the health of vulnerable reef ecosystems originate from the extensive grazing lands of Queensland’s interior. Recent research indicates that the quantity of sediments and nutrients lost from these grazing lands is strongly dependent upon grazing management practices; grazing leads to degradation of soil and vegetation resources, reduced infiltration and vegetation production. This has led to a growing concern amongst the Australian public about the environmental performance of the beef industry and increasing pressures on graziers to change their management practices to decrease the off-farm impacts. Given the constraints within the system improvements in water quality draining into the GBR lagoon can best be achieved by demonstrating the productivity and economic benefits of science-based improved grazing management practices for graziers, leading to “AllWin” outcomes for all concerned. In the longer term, only when the range of stakeholders involved approach catchments as linked biophysical, social and economic systems, will truly integrated adaptive catchment management be applied to the GBR.     

肠道微生物代谢产物—S-雌马酚与人类健康关系研究进展

大豆异黄酮是一种年销量很大、市场普及率较高的保健品。具有抗氧化、抗肿瘤等功能,对延缓女性衰老和改善更年期综合征有很好效果。但研究表明,大豆异黄酮的保健功能主要归功于其肠道代谢产物S-雌马酚。S-雌马酚是豆类食品在肠道内经特定微生物代谢后产生的一种高度稳定小分子,其与雌激素的结构和功能高度相似,能与β-雌激素(ER-β)受体结合。具有防治更年期综合征、心血管疾病和多种雌素依赖性癌症的功能。到目前为止,雌马酚的功能及其与人类健康之间的关系还有待进一步研究。本文结合国内外最新研究进展,着重介绍雌马酚的生理功能及其与各类疾病的研究进展,展望雌马酚在各类疾病防治中可能发挥的重要作用。     

A review of the feedbacks between bivalve grazing and ecosystem processes

This paper gives an overview of interactions betweenbivalve grazing and ecosystem processes, that mayaffect the carrying capacity of ecosystems for bivalvesuspension feeders. These interactions consist of anumber of positive and negative feedbacks.Bivalve grazing can result in local food depletion,which may negatively influence bivalve growth. On alarger scale, it may induce a top-down control ofphytoplankton biomasss, and structural shifts inphytoplankton composition. In the case of harmfulalgal blooms, phytoplankton may negatively affectbivalve grazing rates.The processing of large amounts of particulate mattermay change nutrient cycling on the scale of estuaries,and can result in changes in the inorganic nutrientpool available for phytoplankton, through regenerationand reduced storage of nutrients in algal biomass.This can reduce nutrient limitation of thephytoplankton and stimulate algal growth rates.Observations from mesocosm studies suggest that apositive feedback from bivalve grazing onphytoplankton growth may also change the physiologicalstate of the algae and improve food quality. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Positive feedbacks between decomposition and soil nitrogen availability along fertility gradients

Background and aims

We determined the relationship between site N supply and decomposition rates with respect to controls exerted by environment, litter chemistry, and fungal colonization.

Methods

Two reciprocal transplant decomposition experiments were established, one in each of two long-term experiments in oak woodlands in Minnesota, USA: a fire frequency/vegetation gradient, along which soil N availability varies markedly, and a long-term N fertilization experiment. Both experiments used native Quercus ellipsoidalis E.J. Hill and Andropogon gerardii Vitman leaf litter and either root litter or wooden dowels.

Results

Leaf litter decay rates generally increased with soil N availability in both experiments while belowground litter decayed more slowly with increasing soil N. Litter chemistry differed among litter types, and these differences had significant effects on belowground (but not aboveground) decay rates and on aboveground litter N dynamics during decomposition. Fungal colonization of detritus was positively correlated with soil fertility and decay rates.

Conclusions

Higher soil fertility associated with low fire frequency was associated with greater leaf litter production, higher rates of fungal colonization of detritus, more rapid leaf litter decomposition rates, and greater N release in the root litter, all of which likely enhance soil fertility. During decomposition, both greater mass loss and litter N release provide mechanisms through which the plant and decomposer communities provide positive feedbacks to soil fertility as ultimately driven by decreasing fire frequency in N-limited soils and vice versa.     

Elements of disease in a changing world: modelling feedbacks between infectious disease and ecosystems

An overlooked effect of ecosystem eutrophication is the potential to alter disease dynamics in primary producers, inducing disease‐mediated feedbacks that alter net primary productivity and elemental recycling. Models in disease ecology rarely track organisms past death, yet death from infection can alter important ecosystem processes including elemental recycling rates and nutrient supply to living hosts. In contrast, models in ecosystem ecology rarely track disease dynamics, yet elemental nutrient pools (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus) can regulate important disease processes including pathogen reproduction and transmission. Thus, both disease and ecosystem ecology stand to grow as fields by exploring questions that arise at their intersection. However, we currently lack a framework explicitly linking these disciplines. We developed a stoichiometric model using elemental currencies to track primary producer biomass (carbon) in vegetation and soil pools, and to track prevalence and the basic reproduction number (R₀) of a directly transmitted pathogen. This model, parameterised for a deciduous forest, demonstrates that anthropogenic nutrient supply can interact with disease to qualitatively alter both ecosystem and disease dynamics. Using this element‐focused approach, we identify knowledge gaps and generate predictions about the impact of anthropogenic nutrient supply rates on infectious disease and feedbacks to ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling.     

Omega-3: a link between global climate change and human health

In recent years, global climate change has been shown to detrimentally affect many biological and environmental factors, including those of marine ecosystems. In particular, global climate change has been linked to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, UV irradiation, and ocean temperatures, resulting in decreased marine phytoplankton growth and reduced synthesis of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Marine phytoplankton are the primary producers of omega-3 PUFAs, which are essential nutrients for normal human growth and development and have many beneficial effects on human health. Thus, these detrimental effects of climate change on the oceans may reduce the availability of omega-3 PUFAs in our diets, exacerbating the modern deficiency of omega-3 PUFAs and imbalance of the tissue omega-6/omega-3 PUFA ratio, which have been associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disease. This article provides new insight into the relationship between global climate change and human health by identifying omega-3 PUFA availability as a potentially important link, and proposes a biotechnological strategy for addressing the potential shortage of omega-3 PUFAs in human diets resulting from global climate change.     

Soils as agents of selection: feedbacks between plants and soils alter seedling survival and performance

Soils are one of the first selective environments a seed experiences and yet little is known about the evolutionary consequences of plant-soil feedbacks. We have previously found that plant phytochemical traits in a model system, Populus spp., influence rates of leaf litter decay, soil microbial communities and rates of soil net nitrogen mineralization. Utilizing this natural variation in plant-soil linkages we examined two related hypotheses: (1) Populus angustifolia seedlings are locally adapted to their native soils; and (2) Soils act as agents of selection, differentially affecting seedling survival and the heritability of plant traits. We conducted a greenhouse experiment by planting seedlings from 20 randomly collected P. angustifolia genetic families in soils conditioned by various Populus species and measured subsequent survival and performance. Even though P. angustifolia soils are less fertile overall, P. angustifolia seedlings grown in these soils were twice as likely to survive, grew 24% taller, had 27% more leaves, and 29% greater above-ground biomass than P. angustifolia seedlings grown in non-native P. fremontii or hybrid soils. Increased survival resulted in higher trait variation among seedlings in native soils compared to seedlings grown in non-native soils. Soil microbial biomass varied significantly across soil environments which could explain more of the variation in seedling performance than soil texture, pH, or nutrient availability, suggesting strong microbial interactions and feedbacks between plants, soils, and associated microorganisms. Overall, these data suggest that a “home-field advantage” or a positive plant soil feedback helps maintain genetic variance in P. angustifolia seedlings.     

Plant-soil feedbacks: a meta-analytical review

Plants can change soil biology, chemistry and structure in ways that alter subsequent plant growth. This process, referred to as plant–soil feedback (PSF), has been suggested to provide mechanisms for plant diversity, succession and invasion. Here we use three meta-analytical models: a mixed model and two Bayes models, one correcting for sampling dependence and one correcting for sampling and hierarchical dependence (delta-splitting model) to test these hypotheses. All three models showed that PSFs have medium to large negative effects on plant growth, and especially grass growth, the life form for which we had the most data. This supports the hypothesis that PSFs, through negative frequency dependence, maintain plant diversity, especially in grasslands. PSFs were also large and negative for annuals and natives, but the delta-splitting model indicated that more studies are needed for these results to be conclusive. Our results support the hypotheses that PSFs encourage successional replacements and plant invasions. Most studies were performed using monocultures of grassland species in greenhouse conditions. Future research should examine PSFs in plant communities, non-grassland systems and field conditions.     

Synergy between small- and large-scale feedbacks of vegetation on the water cycle

Predictions of the effects of climate change on the extent of forests, savannas and deserts are usually based on simple response models derived from actual vegetation distributions. In this review, we show two major problems with the implicitly assumed straightforward cause–effect relationship. Firstly, several studies suggest that vegetation itself may have considerable effects on regional climate implying a positive feedback, which can potentially lead to large‐scale hysteresis. Secondly, vegetation ecologists have found that effects of plants on microclimate and soils can cause a microscale positive feedback, implying that critical precipitation conditions for colonization of a site may differ from those for disappearance from that site. We argue that it is important to integrate these nonlinearities at disparate scales in models to produce more realistic predictions of potential effects of climate change and deforestation.     

Eco‐evolutionary feedbacks between private and public goods: evidence from toxic algal blooms

The importance of ‘eco‐evolutionary feedbacks’ in natural systems is currently unclear. Here, we advance a general hypothesis for a particular class of eco‐evolutionary feedbacks with potentially large, long‐lasting impacts in complex ecosystems. These eco‐evolutionary feedbacks involve traits that mediate important interactions with abiotic and biotic features of the environment and a self‐driven reversal of selection as the ecological impact of the trait varies between private (small scale) and public (large scale). Toxic algal blooms may involve such eco‐evolutionary feedbacks due to the emergence of public goods. We review evidence that toxin production by microalgae may yield ‘privatised’ benefits for individual cells or colonies under pre‐ and early‐bloom conditions; however, the large‐scale, ecosystem‐level effects of toxicity associated with bloom states yield benefits that are necessarily ‘public’. Theory predicts that the replacement of private with public goods may reverse selection for toxicity in the absence of higher level selection. Indeed, blooms often harbor significant genetic and functional diversity: bloom populations may undergo genetic differentiation over a scale of days, and even genetically similar lineages may vary widely in toxic potential. Intriguingly, these observations find parallels in terrestrial communities, suggesting that toxic blooms may serve as useful models for eco‐evolutionary dynamics in nature. Eco‐evolutionary feedbacks involving the emergence of a public good may shed new light on the potential for interactions between ecology and evolution to influence the structure and function of entire ecosystems.     

The interface between plant metabolic engineering and human health

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Highlights► People should increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables to reduce their risk of chronic diseases. ► Despite many campaigns uptake of fruit and vegetable consumption has been limited. ► Metabolic engineering can improve understanding of the roles of dietary phytonutrients. ► Data from nutritional studies of model foods can set targets for crop improvements. ► Nutritionally enhanced fruit and vegetables, developed through breeding or metabolic engineering, could contribute to health.     

Harnessing synthetic biology to enhance ocean health

Ocean health is faltering, its capability for regeneration and renewal being eroded by a steady pulse of anthropomorphic impacts. Plastic waste has infiltrated all ocean biomes, climate change threatens coral reefs with extinction, and eutrophication has unleashed vast algal blooms. In the face of these challenges, synthetic biology approaches may hold untapped solutions to mitigate adverse effects, repair ecosystems, and put us on a path towards sustainable stewardship of our planet. Leveraging synthetic biology tools would enable innovative engineering approaches to augment the natural adaptive capacity of ocean biological systems to cope with the swiftness of human-induced change. Here, we present a framework for developing synthetic biology solutions for the challenges of plastic pollution, coral bleaching, and harmful algal blooms.     

Eco-evolutionary feedbacks in community and ecosystem ecology: interactions between the ecological theatre and the evolutionary play

Interactions between natural selection and environmental change are well recognized and sit at the core of ecology and evolutionary biology. Reciprocal interactions between ecology and evolution, eco-evolutionary feedbacks, are less well studied, even though they may be critical for understanding the evolution of biological diversity, the structure of communities and the function of ecosystems. Eco-evolutionary feedbacks require that populations alter their environment (niche construction) and that those changes in the environment feed back to influence the subsequent evolution of the population. There is strong evidence that organisms influence their environment through predation, nutrient excretion and habitat modification, and that populations evolve in response to changes in their environment at time-scales congruent with ecological change (contemporary evolution). Here, we outline how the niche construction and contemporary evolution interact to alter the direction of evolution and the structure and function of communities and ecosystems. We then present five empirical systems that highlight important characteristics of eco-evolutionary feedbacks: rotifer–algae chemostats; alewife–zooplankton interactions in lakes; guppy life-history evolution and nutrient cycling in streams; avian seed predators and plants; and tree leaf chemistry and soil processes. The alewife–zooplankton system provides the most complete evidence for eco-evolutionary feedbacks, but other systems highlight the potential for eco-evolutionary feedbacks in a wide variety of natural systems.