Turnover and trends in butterfly communities on two British tidal islands: stochastic influences and deterministic factors

Aim Community trends were investigated for two small islands and two local mainland butterfly communities within the UK over a period of 20–30 years. Location Hilbre Island off the Wirral Peninsula at 53.33° N, 3.10° W; Lindisfarne, an island off the Northumberland coast at 56.41° N, 1.48° W; Leighton Moss at 54.08° N, 2.26° W; Wyre Forest at 52.23° N, 2.14° W, UK. Methods Butterfly species data were collected on Hilbre and two mainland sites (Leighton Moss and Wyre Forest) from 1983 to 2006, and on Lindisfarne from 1977 to 2006, as part of the National Habitat Survey, the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme and ‘Butterflies for the New Millennium Atlas’ recording. Matrices of associations (Sokal and Michener’s matching coefficient S_SM; resemblance coefficient) were computed between years and subject to non‐metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and Mantel tests. The pattern of extinctions and colonizations at sites were examined, their heterogeneity tested by applying a Friedman test to fractional incidences for the same years. Regression analysis (multiple regression and logit regression) was used to relate butterfly numbers and incidences to climate variables, time and previous records. Results Significant community trends based on population counts and species’ incidences were found for all four sites. There was a significant climatic signal for Hilbre; although this was not apparent for the remaining sites, significant associations occurred between records for a number of species and climatic variables at all sites. Substantial turnover of species on the islands was inversely related to numbers of records for species but not to their conspicuousness to recorders. Main conclusions We argue that time trends are widespread in butterfly communities, even for relatively short periods; they are largely generated by stochastic influences rather than by more substantive factors such as climate change. Potential biases in surveying and recording history are shown to be unlikely. A clear climate signal was found only for the small Hilbre Island, for which there was also evidence for the significant influence of colonization capability of individual source species. We conclude that for many species, small islands will be sinks or pseudosinks and their ‘populations’ vulnerable to small changes in source–sink dynamics.     

Climate change fingerprints in recent European plant phenology

A paper published in Global Change Biology in 2006 revealed that phenological responses in 1971–2000 matched the warming pattern in Europe, but a lack of chilling and adaptation in farming may have reversed these findings. Therefore, for 1951–2018 in a corresponding data set, we determined changes as linear trends and analysed their variation by plant traits/groups, across season and time as well as their attribution to warming following IPCC methodology. Although spring and summer phases in wild plants advanced less (maximum advances in 1978–2007), more (~90%) and more significant (~60%) negative trends were present, being stronger in early spring, at higher elevations, but smaller for nonwoody insect‐pollinated species. These trends were strongly attributable to winter and spring warming. Findings for crop spring phases were similar, but were less pronounced. There were clearer and attributable signs for a delayed senescence in response to winter and spring warming. These changes resulted in a longer growing season, but a constant generative period in wild plants and a shortened one in agricultural crops. Phenology determined by farmers’ decisions differed noticeably from the purely climatic driven phases with smaller percentages of advancing (~75%) trends, but farmers’ spring activities were the only group with reinforced advancement, suggesting adaptation. Trends in farmers’ spring and summer activities were very likely/likely associated with the warming pattern. In contrast, the advance in autumn farming phases was significantly associated with below average summer warming. Thus, under ongoing climate change with decreased chilling the advancing phenology in spring and summer is still attributable to warming; even the farmers’ activities in these seasons mirror, to a lesser extent, the warming. Our findings point to adaptation to climate change in agriculture and reveal diverse implications for terrestrial ecosystems; the strong attribution supports the necessary mediation of warming impacts to the general public.     

Oxytocin Increases the Influence of Public Service Advertisements

This paper presents a neurophysiologic model of effective public service advertisements (PSAs) and reports two experiments that test the model. In Experiment 1, we show that after watching 16 PSAs participants who received oxytocin, compared to those given a placebo, donated to 57% more causes, donated 56% more money, and reported 17% greater concern for those in the ads. In Experiment 2, we measured adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) and oxytocin levels in blood before and after participants watched a PSA. As predicted by the model, donations occurred when participants had increases in both ACTH and oxytocin. Our results indicate that PSAs with social content that cause OT release will be more effective than those that do not. Our results also explain why some individuals do not respond to PSAs.     

Non‐native mangroves support carbon storage,sediment carbon burial,and accretion of coastal ecosystems

Mangrove forests play an important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation by maintaining coastline elevations relative to sea level rise, protecting coastal infrastructure from storm damage, and storing substantial quantities of carbon (C) in live and detrital pools. Determining the efficacy of mangroves in achieving climate goals can be complicated by difficulty in quantifying C inputs (i.e., differentiating newer inputs from younger trees from older residual C pools), and mitigation assessments rarely consider potential offsets to CO₂ storage by methane (CH₄) production in mangrove sediments. The establishment of non‐native Rhizophora mangle along Hawaiian coastlines over the last century offers an opportunity to examine the role mangroves play in climate mitigation and adaptation both globally and locally as novel ecosystems. We quantified total ecosystem C storage, sedimentation, accretion, sediment organic C burial and CH₄ emissions from ~70 year old R. mangle stands and adjacent uninvaded mudflats. Ecosystem C stocks of mangrove stands exceeded mudflats by 434 ± 33 Mg C/ha, and mangrove establishment increased average coastal accretion by 460%. Sediment organic C burial increased 10‐fold (to 4.5 Mg C ha^?1 year^?1), double the global mean for old growth mangrove forests, suggesting that C accumulation from younger trees may occur faster than previously thought, with implications for mangrove restoration. Simulations indicate that increased CH₄ emissions from sediments offset ecosystem CO₂ storage by only 2%–4%, equivalent to 30–60 Mg CO₂‐eq/ha over mangrove lifetime (100 year sustained global warming potential). Results highlight the importance of mangroves as novel systems that can rapidly accumulate C, have a net positive atmospheric greenhouse gas removal effect, and support shoreline accretion rates that outpace current sea level rise. Sequestration potential of novel mangrove forests should be taken into account when considering their removal or management, especially in the context of climate mitigation goals.     

Validation of 1,3-butadiene exposure estimates for workers at a synthetic rubber plant

PURPOSE: This investigation assessed the validity of estimates of exposure to 1,3-butadiene (BD) developed for a plant included in a study of mortality among synthetic rubber industry workers. The estimates were developed without using historical measurement data and have not been validated previously. METHODS: Personal BD measurements came from an exposure-monitoring program initiated in 1977. For each job, we computed the year-specific difference between the BD estimate and the mean of BD measurements. We also computed rank correlation coefficients and calculated the mean, across all measurements, of the difference between the estimate and the measurement. RESULTS: The mean BD concentration was 5.2 ppm for 4978 measurements and 4.7 ppm for the corresponding estimates. The mean difference between estimates and measurements was -0.50 ppm (standard deviation, 26.5 ppm) overall and ranged from -227.9 to +27.0 ppm among all 306 job/year combinations. Estimates were correlated with measurements for all 306 combinations (rank correlation coefficient, r=0.45, p<0.0001), for 82 combinations pertaining to jobs that were well-defined by a specific set of tasks and typically found in styrene-BD rubber (SBR) plants (r=0.81, p<0.0001), for 70 combinations pertaining to jobs that were well-defined but not typical (r=0.29, p=0.01) and for 92 combinations pertaining to poorly-defined jobs typically found in SBR plants (r=0.56, <0.0001). Estimates were not correlated with measurements for poorly defined jobs not typically found in SBR plants (r=0.01, p=0.93). For well-defined typical SBR jobs with measurement means that were over 7.0 ppm, estimates were consistently lower than measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Possible reasons for differences between estimates and measurements included faulty assumptions used in developing BD estimates, unstable or nonrepresentive measurements and errors in linking measurement data to the job-exposure matrix. Exposure misclassification may have been more severe for subjects from the validation study plant than for subjects from other plants in the mortality study. BD estimates for typical SBR jobs, which comprise most operations at all but one of the plants in the mortality study, appeared to be useful for ranking workers by cumulative exposure. Uncertainty analyses would enhance the utility of the BD exposure estimates for quantitative risk assessment.     

Binding to intracellular targets of the metastasis-inducing protein, S100A4 (p9Ka)

Experimentally elevated levels of S100A4 induce a metastatic phenotype in benign mammary tumour cells in vivo. In humans, the presence of S100A4 in breast cancer cells correlates strongly with reduced patient survival. Potential interacting binding partners for S100A4 have now been examined using an optical biosensor. There was significant interaction of S100A4 with non-muscle myosin and p53, but not with actin, tropomyosin or tubulin. The results suggest that myosin and p53 are likely to be intracellular targets of S100A4. S100A4 had a greater affinity for wild-type or mutant arg-175-his p53 than for non-muscle myosin. The results suggest that S100A4 might induce metastasis by influencing the function of p53 as well as through its interaction with myosin and that any mechanism is independent of the mutational status of p53.     

Proteolytic degradation and impaired secretion of an apolipoprotein A-I mutant associated with dominantly inherited hypoalphalipoproteinemia

We have devised a combined in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro approach to elucidate the mechanism(s) responsible for the hypoalphalipoproteinemia in heterozygous carriers of a naturally occurring apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) variant (Leu(159) to Arg) known as apoA-I Finland (apoA-I(FIN)). Adenovirus-mediated expression of apoA-I(FIN) decreased apoA-I and high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations in both wild-type C57BL/6J mice and in apoA-I-deficient mice expressing native human apoA-I (hapoA-I). Interestingly, apoA-I(FIN) was degraded in the plasma, and the extent of proteolysis correlated with the most significant reductions in murine apoA-I concentrations. ApoA-I(FIN) had impaired activation of lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase in vitro compared with hapoA-I, but in a mixed lipoprotein preparation consisting of both hapoA-I and apoA-I(FIN) there was only a moderate reduction in the activation of this enzyme. Importantly, secretion of apoA-I was also decreased from primary apoA-I-deficient hepatocytes when hapoA-I was co-expressed with apoA-I(FIN) following infection with recombinant adenoviruses, a condition that mimics secretion in heterozygotes. Thus, this is the first demonstration of an apoA-I point mutation that decreases LCAT activation, impairs hepatocyte secretion of apoA-I, and makes apoA-I susceptible to proteolysis leading to dominantly inherited hypoalphalipoproteinemia.