Global Peatland Restoration after 30 years: where are we in this mossy world?

As part of the Society of Ecological Restoration World Conference in 2015, we held a Global Peatland Restoration symposium, where we gave experts from around the world the mandate to provide an updated picture of peatland restoration in their part of the world and scan the horizon to identify challenges and opportunities to come. This special section was put together to make these valuable contributions available to all.     

Two Decades of Molecular Ecology: where are we and where are we heading?

The twentieth anniversary of the journal Molecular Ecology was celebrated with a symposium on the current state and the future directions of the field. The event, organized by Tim Vines and Loren Rieseberg, took place on the opening day of the First Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology organized by the American Society of Naturalists (ASN), the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution (CSEE), the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB), the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) and the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB) in Ottawa (Canada) from 6–10 July 2012. The get together of these five societies created a truly international and exciting “Evolution conference” and the ideal framework for the Molecular Ecology symposium. Its thirteen talks were grouped into the five different subject areas of the journal: Speciation and Hybridization; Landscape Genetics, Phylogeography and Conservation; Ecological Genomics and Molecular Adaptation; Kinship, Parentage and Behaviour; Ecological Interactions. Each session was followed by a panel discussion on the future direction of the subfield. That more than 300 colleagues registered for this special symposium illustrates the broad interest in, and appreciation of, molecular ecology – both the field and the journal.     

Do introduced North American beavers Castor canadensis engineer differently in southern South America? An overview with implications for restoration

• 1 Twenty‐five pairs of North American beavers Castor canadensis Kuhl were introduced to Tierra del Fuego Island in 1946. The population has expanded across the archipelago, arriving at the Chilean mainland by the mid‐1990s. Densities range principally between 0.5–2.05 colonies/km. They have an impact on between 30–50% of stream length and occupy 2–15% of landscape area with impoundments and meadows. Beaver impacts constitute the largest landscape‐level alteration in subantarctic forests since the last ice age.
• 2 The colonization pattern, colony densities and impacted area indicate that habitat in the austral archipelago is optimal for beaver invasion, due to low predator pressure and suitable food resources. Nothofagus pumilio forests are particularly appropriate habitat, but a more recent invasion is occurring in adjacent steppe ecosystems. Nonetheless, Nothofagus reproductive strategies are not well adapted to sustain high beaver population levels.
• 3 Our assessment shows that at the patch‐scale in stream and riparian ecosystems, the direction and magnitude of exotic beaver impacts are predictable from expectations derived from North American studies, relating ecosystem engineering with underlying ecological mechanisms such as the relationships of habitat heterogeneity and productivity on species richness and ecosystem function.
• 4 Based on data from the species' native and exotic range, our ability to predict the effects of beavers is based on: (i) understanding the ecological relationships of its engineering effects on habitat, trophic dynamics and disturbance regimes, and (ii) having an adequate comprehension of the landscape context and natural history of the ecosystem being engineered.
• 5 We conclude that beaver eradication strategies and subsequent ecosystem restoration efforts, currently being considered in southern Chile and Argentina, should focus on the ecology of native ecosystems rather than the biology of this invasive species per se. Furthermore, given the nature of the subantarctic landscape, streams will probably respond to restoration efforts more quickly than riparian ecosystems.

     

Pim kinases in hematological malignancies: where are we now and where are we going?

The proviral insertion in murine (PIM) lymphoma proteins are a serine/threonine kinase family composed of three isoformes: Pim-1, Pim-2 and Pim-3. They play a critical role in the control of cell proliferation, survival, homing and migration. Recently, overexpression of Pim kinases has been reported in human tumors, mainly in hematologic malignancies. In vitro and in vivo studies have confirmed their oncogenic potential. Indeed, PIM kinases have shown to be involved in tumorgenesis, to enhance tumor growth and to induce chemo-resistance, which is why they have become an attractive therapeutic target for cancer therapy. Novel molecules inhibiting Pim kinases have been evaluated in preclinical studies, demonstrating to be effective and with a favorable toxicity profile. Given the promising results, some of these compounds are currently under investigation in clinical trials. Herein, we provide an overview of the biological activity of PIM-kinases, their role in hematologic malignancies and future therapeutic opportunities.     

Leptin in farm animals: where are we and where can we go?

Fat affects meat quality, value and production efficiency as well as providing energy reserves for pregnancy and lactation in farm livestock. Leptin, the adipocyte product of the obese (ob) gene, was quickly seen as a predictor of body fat content in animals approaching slaughter and an aid to assessing reproductive readiness in females. Its participation in inflammation and immune responses that help animals survive infection and trauma has clear additional relevance to meat and milk production. Furthermore, almost a decade of discoveries of nucleotide polymorphisms in the leptin and leptin receptor genes has suggested useful applications relating to feed intake regulation, the efficiency of feed use, the composition of growth, the timing of puberty, mammogenesis and mammary gland function and fertility in cattle, pigs and poultry. The current review attempts to summarise where research has taken us in each of these aspects and speculates on where future research might lead.     

Neurochemical dementia diagnostics in Alzheimer's disease: where are we now and where are we going?

Neurochemical dementia diagnostics (NDD) is a routine laboratory tool used in the diagnostic process for patients with neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. Currently, two groups of biomarkers analyzed in the cerebrospinal fluid are considered - namely amyloid-β peptides and Tau proteins - along with the hyperphosphorylated forms of the latter (pTau). Current directions in the development of NDD include the following: search for novel biomarkers with improved analytical or diagnostic performance; optimization of the analysis of the biomarkers already available (e.g., by improved quality control and interlaboratory comparison of results); applications of novel technologies enabling better management of patient samples; and search for biomarkers in the blood. This article presents the state-of-the-art in the field of cerebrospinal fluid-based NDD, and also summarizes some of the hypotheses of how the future development of NDD tools might look.     

Teaching history-taking: where are we?

Knowledge in history-taking has increased rapidly over the last twenty years. Currently the principles to be taught include "conduct," "content," and "diagnostic reasoning." However, inattentiveness of medical schools, reluctance of busy faculty to be involved, and increasing enrollments have resulted in difficulties in teaching these skills. Studies have shown a beneficial short-term effect of teaching these materials on interview performance but it is unknown whether this effect is long-lasting. The methods for instruction include the bedside and videotape models utilizing the concept of the fifteen-minute interview technique, programmed instruction, patient instructors, and direct student feedback. Future research should focus on identifying strategies in diagnostic reasoning, developing graduated competency criteria for trainees at different levels of their education, refining methods to evaluate large numbers of students, measuring outcomes of effective training such as compliance, and comparing costs and effectiveness of various methods. In addition, there remains the need to establish an association of course directors.     

Prions: where do we stand 20 years after the appearance of bovine spongiform encephalopathy?

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) identified twenty years ago in the British cattle herds. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a TSE that occurs in humans. In 1996, scientists found a possible link between BSE and a new variant of CJD (vCJD). The fact that the non conventional infectious agent of TSE, named prions, could cross the species barrier from cattle to human through meat consumption, raised a tremendous concern for public safety in Europe. This led to the development in the following two decades of substantial and expensive measures to contain BSE and prevent its transmission to humans. In parallel, scientific programs have been funded to progress through the comprehension of the physiopathology of these fatal disorders. In Europe, the BSE epidemics is now ending and the number of cases is decreasing thanks to the strict control of animal foodstuff that was the main source of prion contamination. Only a small number of vCJD have been detected, however, additional concerns have been raised recently for public safety as secondary transmission of CJD through medical procedure and blood transfusion is possible. In addition, the possibility that the BSE was transmitted to other animals including small ruminants is also worrisome. Research efforts are now focussing on decontamination and ante mortem diagnosis of TSE to prevent animal and human transmission. However, needs for fundamental research are still important as many questions remain to be addressed to understand the mechanism of prion transmission, as well as its pathogenesis.     

Bacteriophage applications: where are we now?

Bacteriophages are bacterial viruses and have been used for almost a century as antimicrobial agents. In the West, their use diminished when chemical antibiotics were introduced, but they remain a common therapeutic approach in parts of eastern Europe. Increasing antibiotic resistance in bacteria has driven the demand for novel therapies to control infections and led to the replacement of antibiotics in animal husbandry. Alongside this, increased pressure to improve food safety has created a need for faster detection of pathogenic bacteria. Hence, there has been a resurgence of interest in bacteriophage applications, and this has encouraged the emergence of a large number of biotech companies hoping to commercialize their use. Research in Europe and the United States has increased steadily, leading to the development of a range of applications for bacteriophage agents for the healthcare, veterinary and agricultural sectors. This article will attempt to answer the question of whether bacteriophages are now delivering on their potential.     

Extinction debt in plant communities: where are we now?

In many ecological communities, extinctions following habitat loss do not happen immediately. Understanding this delay is a major challenge, with conservation implications. In this issue, Otsu et al. show how landscape and management features affect the time lag. With this research as a starting point, we highlight the gaps and challenges still remaining in the study of extinction debt, especially in plant communities.