Past Human Disturbance Effects upon Biodiversity are Greatest in the Canopy; A Case Study on Rainforest Butterflies

A key part of tropical forest spatial complexity is the vertical stratification of biodiversity, with widely differing communities found in higher rainforest strata compared to terrestrial levels. Despite this, our understanding of how human disturbance may differentially affect biodiversity across vertical strata of tropical forests has been slow to develop. For the first time, how the patterns of current biodiversity vary between three vertical strata within a single forest, subject to three different types of historic anthropogenic disturbance, was directly assessed. In total, 229 species of butterfly were detected, with a total of 5219 individual records. Butterfly species richness, species diversity, abundance and community evenness differed markedly between vertical strata. We show for the first time, for any group of rainforest biodiversity, that different vertical strata within the same rainforest, responded differently in areas with different historic human disturbance. Differences were most notable within the canopy. Regenerating forest following complete clearance had 47% lower canopy species richness than regenerating forest that was once selectively logged, while the reduction in the mid-storey was 33% and at ground level, 30%. These results also show for the first time that even long term regeneration (over the course of 30 years) may be insufficient to erase differences in biodiversity linked to different types of human disturbance. We argue, along with other studies, that ignoring the potential for more pronounced effects of disturbance on canopy fauna, could lead to the underestimation of the effects of habitat disturbance on biodiversity, and thus the overestimation of the conservation value of regenerating forests more generally.     

Are there risk factors for acute renal failure in adult patients using deoxycholate amphotericin B?

BackgroundDeoxycholate amphotericin B (DAB) is a nephrotoxic drug and the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) is high.AimsThe aim of this study was to describe the incidence of AKI in patients under DAB therapy and determine risk factor to predict the AKI.MethodsThe data of this retrospective study included previously hospitalized patients treated with intravenous DAB for at least five days. Clinical and laboratorial data were evaluated and AKI was classified in stages using Acute Kidney Injury Network criteria. Univariated test followed by a multivariable analysis was performed to determine risk factor and Kaplan–Meier survival estimates were calculated to evaluate the role of AKI in the outcome.ResultsOne hundred six patients were included in the final analysis. AKI occurred in 51.9% and dialysis was necessary in 4.7%. The occurrence of AKI was not associated with any risk factor. The mortality of the patients was neither associated with AKI nor with dialysis. Other nephrotoxic drugs were not risk factors for AKI.ConclusionsThe incidence of AKI in patients using DAB is high and we cannot predict the chance of AKI using clinical or laboratorial data.     

Life cycle and adaptive strategies of three non-annual,ruderalCardueae: Onopordum nervosum,Carthamus arborescens,andCirsium scabrum

The life cycle and autoecology of three Mediterranean thorny species,Onopordum nervosum (Iberian endemic),Cirsium scabrum (Western Mediterranean) andCarthamus arborescens (Iberian-North African), of potential use in agriculture as bioenergetic, forage or oil producing plants were studied. These threeCardueae spp. are good examples of ways in which Mediterranean plants adapt their typical annual cycle to avoid summer droughts.O. nervosum is a perennial, monocarpic, heliophilous species which flowers in early summer and grows even under the extreme xeric conditions of the Mediterranean summers. It is a basiphilous plant usually found in sandy-loamy and sandy-clayey-loamy soils with a marked geographical variability in its seed germination.C. scabrum is a perennial, monocarpic species which has a long life cycle, flowering in summer and growing only during the wet months. It is not well-adapted to droughts and is usually restricted to acid soils.C. arborescens is a perennial, polycarpic species which flowers in spring and dries up in summer. It is usually found in basic loamy-sandy or sandy-loamy soils poor in organic matter.     

Pollen Morphology and Boron Concentration in Floral Tissues as Factors Triggering Natural and GA-Induced Parthenocarpic Fruit Development in Grapevine

Parthenocarpic fruit development (PFD) reduces fruit yield and quality in grapevine. Parthenocarpic seedless berries arise from fruit set without effective fertilization due to defective pollen germination. PFD has been associated to micronutrient deficiency but the relation of this phenomenon with pollen polymorphism has not been reported before. In this work, six grapevine cultivars with different tendency for PFD and grown under micronutrient-sufficient conditions were analyzed to determine pollen structure and germination capability as well as PFD rates. Wide variation in non-germinative abnormal pollen was detected either among cultivars as well as for the same cultivar in different growing seasons. A straight correlation with PFD rates was found (R² = 0.9896), suggesting that natural parthenocarpy is related to defective pollen development. Such relation was not observed when PFD was analyzed in grapevine plants exposed to exogenous gibberellin (GA) or abscissic acid (ABA) applications at pre-anthesis. Increase (GA treatment) or reduction (ABA treatment) in PFD rates without significative changes in abnormal pollen was determined. Although these plants were maintained at sufficient boron (B) condition, a down-regulation of the floral genes VvBOR3 and VvBOR4 together with a reduction of floral B content in GA-treated plants was established. These results suggest that impairment in B mobility to reproductive tissues and restriction of pollen tube growth could be involved in the GA-induced parthenocarpy.     

Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Knee with a Combination of Autologous Conditioned Serum and Physiotherapy: A Two-Year Observational Study

Background

Autologous conditioned serum (ACS) is an autologous blood product that has shown efficacy against knee osteoarthritis (OA) in randomized controlled trials. However, there are few reports of its effectiveness in everyday practice. Here, we report clinical efficacy results from a two-year prospective observational study of patients with highly symptomatic knee OA who received ACS in conjunction with physiotherapy.

Methods

118 patients with unilateral knee OA (Kellgren-Lawrence grades I–IV), who were candidates for surgery but instead chose conservative treatment, were treated with a combination of four intra-articular injections of ACS (2 mL each) once weekly over four weeks and subsequent physiotherapy applied 4 weeks after ACS injection. Main endpoints of the study were pain (Numeric Rating Scale [NRS]) assessed at 0, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months, and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) global score, assessed at 0 and 24 months. The effect size (Cohen’s d) was calculated for pain and WOMAC outcomes, with effect sizes >0.8 considered large.

Results

By 3 months, there were significant improvements in pain (NRS) from baseline (-63.0%, p<0.001), which were maintained over 24 months. Mean WOMAC global score was reduced at 24 months compared to baseline (-56.9%, p<0.001), as were WOMAC subscores of pain (-86.0%, p<0.001) and function (-51.3%, p<0.001). Effect sizes for pain (>5) and WOMAC improvement (8.0–13.6) were very large. Only one patient received total knee joint replacement during the study. Clinical improvement did not correlate with gender, age, Kellgren-Lawrence grade, or body mass index.

Conclusions

Treatment with ACS and physiotherapy produced a rapid decline in pain, which was sustained for the entire two years of the study. This was accompanied by a large improvement in WOMAC scores at two years. These results confirm that ACS combined with physiotherapy is an effective treatment for OA of the knee.     

Brooding in the Chilean Oyster Ostrea chilensis: Unexpected Complexity in the Movements of Brooded Offspring within the Mantle Cavity

Brooding in invertebrates serves to protect embryos from stressful external conditions by retaining progeny inside the female body, effectively reducing the risk of pelagic stages being exposed to predation or other environmental stressors, but with accompanying changes in pallial fluid characteristics, including reduced oxygen availability. Brooded embryos are usually immobile and often encapsulated, but in some Ostrea species the embryos move freely inside the female pallial cavity in close association with the mother’s gills for as long as eight weeks. We used endoscopic techniques to characterize the circulation pattern of embryos brooded by females of the oyster, Ostrea chilensis. Progeny at embryonic and veliger stages typically circulated in established patterns that included the use of dorsal and ventral food grooves (DFG, VFG) to move anteriorly on the gills. Both embryos and veligers accumulated around the mother’s palps, and remained there until an active maternal countercurrent moved them to the gill inhalant area. Both food grooves were able to move embryos, veligers, and food-particle aggregates anteriorly, but the DFG was more important in progeny transport; early embryos were moved more rapidly than veligers in the DFG. A microcirculation pattern of embryos was apparent when they were moved by gill lamellae: when they were close to the VFG, most embryos lost gill contact and ´´fell´´ down to the DFG. Those that actually reached the DFG moved anteriorly, but others came into contact with the base of the lamellae and again moved towards the VFG. The circulation pattern of the progeny appears well-suited for both cleaning them and directing them posteriorly to an area where there is more oxygen and food than in the palp region. This process for actively circulating progeny involves the feeding structures (gill and palps) and appears to be energetically costly for the female. It also interferes with feeding, which could explain the poor energy balance previously documented for brooding females of this species.     

Validation of Reference Genes for Accurate Normalization of Gene Expression in Lilium davidii var. unicolor for Real Time Quantitative PCR

Lilium is an important commercial market flower bulb. qRT-PCR is an extremely important technique to track gene expression levels. The requirement of suitable reference genes for normalization has become increasingly significant and exigent. The expression of internal control genes in living organisms varies considerably under different experimental conditions. For economically important Lilium, only a limited number of reference genes applied in qRT-PCR have been reported to date. In this study, the expression stability of 12 candidate genes including α-TUB, β-TUB, ACT, eIF, GAPDH, UBQ, UBC, 18S, 60S, AP4, FP, and RH2, in a diverse set of 29 samples representing different developmental processes, three stress treatments (cold, heat, and salt) and different organs, has been evaluated. For different organs, the combination of ACT, GAPDH, and UBQ is appropriate whereas ACT together with AP4, or ACT along with GAPDH is suitable for normalization of leaves and scales at different developmental stages, respectively. In leaves, scales and roots under stress treatments, FP, ACT and AP4, respectively showed the most stable expression. This study provides a guide for the selection of a reference gene under different experimental conditions, and will benefit future research on more accurate gene expression studies in a wide variety of Lilium genotypes.     

Vertical Movements and Patterns in Diving Behavior of Whale Sharks as Revealed by Pop-Up Satellite Tags in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a wide-ranging, filter-feeding species typically observed at or near the surface. This shark’s sub-surface habits and behaviors have only begun to be revealed in recent years through the use of archival and satellite tagging technology. We attached pop-up satellite archival transmitting tags to 35 whale sharks in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan Peninsula from 2003–2012 and three tags to whale sharks in the northeastern Gulf off Florida in 2010, to examine these sharks’ long-term movement patterns and gain insight into the underlying factors influencing their vertical habitat selection. Archived data were received from 31 tags deployed on sharks of both sexes with total lengths of 5.5–9 m. Nine of these tags were physically recovered facilitating a detailed long-term view into the sharks’ vertical movements. Whale sharks feeding inshore on fish eggs off the northeast Yucatan Peninsula demonstrated reverse diel vertical migration, with extended periods of surface swimming beginning at sunrise followed by an abrupt change in the mid-afternoon to regular vertical oscillations, a pattern that continued overnight. When in oceanic waters, sharks spent about 95% of their time within epipelagic depths (<200 m) but regularly undertook very deep (“extreme”) dives (>500 m) that largely occurred during daytime or twilight hours (max. depth recorded 1,928 m), had V-shaped depth-time profiles, and comprised more rapid descents (0.68 m sec^-1) than ascents (0.50 m sec^-1). Nearly half of these extreme dives had descent profiles with brief but conspicuous changes in vertical direction at a mean depth of 475 m. We hypothesize these stutter steps represent foraging events within the deep scattering layer, however, the extreme dives may have additional functions. Overall, our results demonstrate complex and dynamic patterns of habitat utilization for R. typus that appear to be in response to changing biotic and abiotic conditions influencing the distribution and abundance of their prey.     

Short Term Minimum Water Temperatures Determine Levels of Infection by the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus in Alytes obstetricans Tadpoles

Amphibians are one of the groups of wildlife most seriously threatened by emerging infectious disease. In particular, chytridiomycosis, caused by the aquatic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, is responsible for amphibian species declines on a worldwide scale. Population-level outcomes following the introduction of the pathogen are context dependent and mediated by a large suite of abiotic and biotic variables. In particular, studies have shown that temperature has a key role in determining infection dynamics owing to the ectothermic nature of the amphibian host and temperature-dependency of pathogen growth rates. To assess the temperature-dependent seasonality of infectious burdens in a susceptible host species, we monitored lowland populations of larval midwife toads, Alytes obstetricians, in Central Spain throughout the year. We found that infections were highly seasonal, and inversely correlated against water temperature, with the highest burdens of infection seen during the colder months. Short-term impacts of water-temperature were found, with the minimum temperatures occurring before sampling being more highly predictive of infectious burdens than were longer-term spans of temperature. Our results will be useful for selecting the optimal time for disease surveys and, more broadly, for determining the key periods to undertake disease mitigation.