Stable isotope analysis of vegetation history and land use change at Laguna Santa Elena in southern Pacific Costa Rica

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany - Laguna Santa Elena (8.9290° N, 82.9257° W, 1055 m a.s.l.) is a small lake in the Diquís archaeological sub-region of southern Pacific...     

Effect of habitat permanence on life-history: extending the Daphnia model into new climate spaces

We use an Australian freshwater invertebrate species, Daphnia carinata, to assess whether variation in habitat permanence influences life-history traits in subpopulations. Using a life table experiment, we measure the life-history traits of populations from both permanent and temporary pools. We show that these habitat classes are associated with clear differences in important life-history traits and evidence of trade-offs in important traits influencing reproduction, diapause, and growth rate and suggest this is evidence for local adaptation. Here we use Daphnia from Australian populations spanning semi-arid and temperate climates generating results that are in broad agreement with similar studies in the northern hemisphere, and so extend these results to a new continent and its particular climate. Variation in habitat permanence, it appears, is a very general driver of life-history divergence.

     

Inconsistent detection of extinction debts using different methods

The extinction debt, delayed species extinctions following landscape degradation, is a widely discussed concept. But a consensus about the prevalence of extinctions debts is hindered by a multiplicity of methods and a lack of comparisons among habitats. We applied three contrasting species–area relationship methods to test for plant community extinction debts in three habitats which had different degradation histories over the last century: calcareous grassland, heathland and woodland. These methods differ in their data requirements, with the first two using information on past and current habitat area alongside current species richness, whilst the last method also requires data on past species richness. The most data‐intensive, and hence arguably most reliable method, identified extinction debts across all habitats for specialist species, whilst the other methods did not. All methods detected an extinction debt in calcareous grassland, which had undergone the most severe degradation. We conclude that some methods failed to detect an extinction debt, particularly in habitats that have undergone moderate degradation. Data on past species numbers are required for the most reliable method; as such data are rare, extinction debts may be under‐reported.     

Understorey plant community assemblage of Australian Eucalyptus woodlands under elevated CO2 is modulated by water and phosphorus availability

水分和磷调控的澳大利亚桉树林林下植物群落组合对二氧化碳浓度升高的响应 鉴于林下植物群落具有的关键性功能作用和全球范围内巨大的森林覆盖面积,研究林下群落对 CO₂浓度升高(eCO₂)的响应以及土壤资源在这些响应中的作用,对于了解CO₂浓度升高对森林生态系统造成的影响非常重要。本研究评估了在澳大利亚东部磷有限的桉树林林下群落中,两种限制性的资源(即水分和磷)在发芽、物候、覆盖率、群落组成和叶片性状等方面对eCO₂响应的作用。我们收集了含有当地土壤种子库的土壤,在温室条件下种植实验性的林下植物群落。研究结果表明,添加磷提高了植物的总体覆盖率,特别是在生长期的最初4 周以及水分含量高的条件下,而且该响应是由植物群落中的类禾本科植物所驱动。然而,随着实验的进行,不同处理方法之间的差异逐渐减小,所有处理在大约11周后均达到了80%左右的植物覆盖率。相反,植物覆盖率并未受到eCO₂ 的影响。多元分析结果反映出植物群落组成随时间的变化,盆栽从以裸土为主变为以高覆盖率的多样化群落为主。但是在实验过程中,磷的添加以及水分可利用性和CO₂之间的相互作用都对植物群落随时间的变化轨迹有所影响。CO₂浓度的升高也增加了群落水平的比叶面积,这表明植物群落对eCO₂的功能适应可能发生在成分响应开始之前。鉴于我们用种子库培育的林下群落对eCO₂ 的响应随着时间的推移而有 所变化,并且受到与磷和水分可利用性的相互作用的调节。我们的结果表明,在水分含量有限的系统中, 特别是在土壤养分可利用性低所导致的生产力响应受限的情况下,CO₂浓度的升高在塑造植物群落方面作用有限。     

A computational model of in vitro angiogenesis based on extracellular matrix fibre orientation

Recent interest in the process of vascularisation within the biomedical community has motivated numerous new research efforts focusing on the process of angiogenesis. Although the role of chemical factors during angiogenesis has been well documented, the role of mechanical factors, such as the interaction between angiogenic vessels and the extracellular matrix, remains poorly understood. In vitro methods for studying angiogenesis exist; however, measurements available using such techniques often suffer from limited spatial and temporal resolutions. For this reason, computational models have been extensively employed to investigate various aspects of angiogenesis. This paper outlines the formulation and validation of a simple and robust computational model developed to accurately simulate angiogenesis based on length, branching and orientation morphometrics collected from vascularised tissue constructs. Microvessels were represented as a series of connected line segments. The morphology of the vessels was determined by a linear combination of the collagen fibre orientation, the vessel density gradient and a random walk component. Excellent agreement was observed between computational and experimental morphometric data over time. Computational predictions of microvessel orientation within an anisotropic matrix correlated well with experimental data. The accuracy of this modelling approach makes it a valuable platform for investigating the role of mechanical interactions during angiogenesis.