Satellite surface reflectance improves habitat distribution mapping: a case study on heath and shrub formations in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain)

Aim We aim to map the distribution of four heath and shrub formations constituting habitats of high conservation priority in Europe, whose occurrence is strongly dependent on human activities. Specifically, we assess whether the use of LANDSAT data in habitat distribution modelling may account for land use management, allowing accurate mapping of real distribution patterns. In particular, we explore whether reflectance values may be a better alternative to other remote sensing data traditionally used in modelling approaches (i.e. spectral vegetation indices and classified land cover maps). Finally, we test whether modelling performance is affected by the ecological traits of the dominant species of the target formations. Location Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain). Methods We generated maps for the four formations (two specialists vs. two generalists) using MaxEnt. First, we ran the models with environmental predictors only (topography, climate, lithology and human disturbances). Then, we compared the advantages of including, in turn, different data derived from LANDSAT imagery: reflectance values (corresponding to different wavelength channels of the multispectral image), a spectral index and a land cover map. We assessed changes in explanatory power and also in the formation’s predicted distribution patterns. Results Formations dominated by specialist species were accurately mapped on a base of environmental variables only, whereas those dominated by generalists were overpredicted. Average mean temperature, southness and distance to urban areas were the variables contributing most in predictions of environmental models. LANDSAT channels increased the accuracy of all models, but mainly those for formations dominated by generalist species. They showed advantages against other remote sensing data traditionally used in modelling approaches. Main conclusions Habitat distribution models allowed accurate mapping of heath and shrub formations. The use of reflectance values as predictors improved the accuracy of the models, particularly for formations dominated by generalist species, supplying environmental information that was otherwise unavailable.     

长江下游水生动物群落生物多样性变动趋势初探

对1990－1999年间长江下游江段生物多样性的变动趋势进行了研究,并就群落稳定性与多样性的关系进行了探讨,结果表明,物种多样性指数量大值为1．1112,最小值为0．0327,反映物种均匀度,丰盛度的指数都有不同程度的下降,而反映优势度的指数却有一定程度的上升,优势度指数最大值为1,最小值为0．34046,优势种前6位分别为杂虾,青虾,餐条,吻Qu,蛇Qu,黄颡,表明长江下游江段的生物多样性正在逐步丧失,经济鱼类数量趋减,小型野杂鱼类数量趋增。     

Genetic differences in fruit-set patterns are determined by differences in fruit sink strength and a source : sink threshold for fruit set

Background and Aims

Fruit set in indeterminate plant species largely depends on the balance between source and sink strength. Plants of these species show fluctuations in fruit set during the growing season. It was tested whether differences in fruit sink strength among the cultivars explained the differences in fruit-set patterns.

Methods

Capsicum was chosen as a model plant. Six cultivars with differences in fruit set, fruit size and plant growth were evaluated in a greenhouse experiment. Fruit-set patterns, generative and vegetative sink strength, source strength and the source : sink ratio at fruit set were determined. Sink strength was quantified as potential growth rate. Fruit set was related to total fruit sink strength and the source : sink ratio. The effect of differences observed in above-mentioned parameters on fruit-set patterns was examined using a simple simulation model.

Key Results

Sink strengths of individual fruits differed greatly among cultivars. Week-to-week fruit set in large-fruited cultivars fluctuated due to large fluctuations in total fruit sink strength, but in small-fruited cultivars, total fruit sink strength and fruit set were relatively constant. Large variations in week-to-week fruit set were correlated with a low fruit-set percentage. The source : sink threshold for fruit set was higher in large-fruited cultivars. Simulations showed that within the range of parameter values found in the experiment, fruit sink strength and source : sink threshold for fruit set had the largest impact on fruit set: an increase in these parameters decreased the average percentage fruit set and increased variation in weekly fruit set. Both were needed to explain the fruit-set patterns observed. The differences observed in the other parameters (e.g. source strength) had a lower effect on fruit set.

Conclusions

Both individual fruit sink strength and the source : sink threshold for fruit set were needed to explain the differences observed between fruit-set patterns of the six cultivars.     

Fecundity determines the extinction threshold in a Canadian assemblage of longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Reproductive rate has been suggested to have a positive effect on the amount of habitat loss a species can tolerate while emigration from habitat patches has been suggested to have both positive and negative effects. Forest fragmentation has been suggested to have negative effects on forest species. We determined the extinction threshold for 12 species of saproxylic (dead wood dependent) longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) using trap catch data from Ontario, Canada. We also determined the maximum egg production of each species and whether they were likely to move outside of forest patches. We found a strong negative relationship between reproductive rate and the minimum habitat amount required for species presence. This relationship is obscured if the scale of investigation is not appropriate for the study organism. As well, species caught moving outside forest habitat had lower extinction thresholds than species not caught moving outside forest but this was not significant after accounting for reproductive rate. Fragmentation did not have an effect on the minimum habitat requirements. These relationships can inform predictions of which species will be most affected by habitat loss.     

Efficiency of variable-intensity and sequential sampling for insect control decisions in cole crops in the Netherlands

A total of 24 commercial fields of cabbages and Brussels sprouts were sampled in a grid fashion with 20–25 equally spaced cells with four plants per cell. Using this data base of 80–100 plants, we conducted computer stimulations to compare the treatment decisions that would be made for the major insect pests using published sequential sampling programs and a newly developed variable-intensity sampling program. Additionally, we compared the number of samples required to make the decision. At low thresholds (10–20%) for both Lepidoptera and cabbage aphids, variable intensity-sampling required a smaller sample size and provided more reliable decisions, while at high thresholds (40–50%) sequential sampling provided more reliable decisions. In both procedures, the occurrence of incorrect decisions was minimal. The number of cases in which a decision would not be reached after a 40-plant sample was lower for variable-intensity sampling. Considering the number of samples required to make a correct decision and the greater need for reliable decisions at lower thresholds, variable-intensity sampling was superior to sequential sampling. Additionally, variable-intensity sampling has the advantage of requiring samples to be taken in a greater area of the field and thus increases the probability of detecting localized infestations. Although variable-intensity sampling was not designed to classify pest populations for treatment decisions but rather to achieve sampling precision around the population mean, our present studies indicate that it can also be an effective method to aid in treatment decisions.     

The function and structural influence of selective relaxed constraint at functional intracellular loop3 of 5-HT(1A) serotonin-1 receptor family

Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are metalloenzymes that represent one important line of defense against reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this paper, two novel SOD genes, MdSOD1 and MdSOD2, which putatively encode 261 and 214 amino acid residues respectively were identified and characterized from the housefly Musca domestica. The high similarity of MdSOD1 and MdSOD2 with SODs from other organisms indicated that they should be two new members of the SOD family. qPCR exhibited a universal expression of MdSOD1 and MdSOD2 detected in various tissues of housefly larva, including the fat body, gut, hemocyte and epidermis. Expression profiling reveals that MdSOD1 and MdSOD2 can be induced significantly via not only heat shock and cadmium (Cd) stress but also Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus challenge. The two genes were cloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pET-28a to obtain the fusion proteins rMdSOD1 and rMdSOD2. Between them, the activity of rMdSOD2 was found by visual assay methods. ESI-LC-MS/MS analysis showed that three peptide fragments of the protein rMdSOD2 were identical to the corresponding sequence of M. domestica MdSOD2. MdSOD1 and MdSOD2 in housefly larvae were abrogated by feeding bacteria expressing dsRNA. High mortalities were observed in the larvae treated with dsRNA of SODs at heat shock, Cd stress and bacterial invasion. This phenomenon indicated that MdSOD1 and MdSOD2 are related to the survival of M. domestica under stress. This may provide new insights into the role of the two SOD genes in protecting M. domestica against both stress and bacterial invasion.     

CO2‐caused change in plant species composition rivals the shift in vegetation between mid‐grass and tallgrass prairies

Atmospheric CO₂ enrichment usually changes the relative contributions of plant species to biomass production of grasslands, but the types of species favored and mechanisms by which change is mediated differ among ecosystems. We measured changes in the contributions of C₃ perennial forbs and C₄ grasses to aboveground biomass production of tallgrass prairie assemblages grown along a field CO₂ gradient (250–500 μmol mol^?1) in central Texas USA. Vegetation was grown on three soil types and irrigated each season with water equivalent to the growing season mean of precipitation for the area. We predicted that CO₂ enrichment would increase the forb contribution to community production, and favor tall‐grasses over mid‐grasses by increasing soil water content and reducing the frequency with which soil water fell below a limitation threshold. CO₂ enrichment favored forbs over grasses on only one of three soil types, a Mollisol. The grass fraction of production increased dramatically across the CO₂ gradient on all soils. Contribution of the tall‐grass Sorghastrum nutans to production increased at elevated CO₂ on the two most coarse‐textured of the soils studied, a clay Mollisol and sandy Alfisol. The CO₂‐caused increase in Sorghastrum was accompanied by an offsetting decline in production of the mid‐grass Bouteloua curtipendula. Increased CO₂ favored the tall‐grass over mid‐grass by increasing soil water content and apparently intensifying competition for light or other resources (Mollisol) or reducing the frequency with which soil water dipped below threshold levels (Alfisol). An increase in CO₂ of 250 μmol mol^?1 above the pre‐industrial level thus led to a shift in the relative production of established species that is similar in magnitude to differences observed between mid‐grass and tallgrass prairies along a precipitation gradient in the central USA. By reducing water limitation to plants, atmospheric CO₂ enrichment may alter the composition and even structure of grassland vegetation.     

Role of the Protective Antigen Octamer in the Molecular Mechanism of Anthrax Lethal Toxin Stabilization in Plasma

Anthrax is caused by strains of Bacillus anthracis that produce two key virulence factors, anthrax toxin (Atx) and a poly-γ-D-glutamic acid capsule. Atx is comprised of three proteins: protective antigen (PA) and two enzymes, lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF). To disrupt cell function, these components must assemble into holotoxin complexes, which contain either a ring-shaped homooctameric or homoheptameric PA oligomer bound to multiple copies of LF and/or EF, producing lethal toxin (LT), edema toxin, or mixtures thereof. Once a host cell endocytoses these complexes, PA converts into a membrane-inserted channel that translocates LF and EF into the cytosol. LT can assemble on host cell surfaces or extracellularly in plasma. We show that, under physiological conditions in bovine plasma, LT complexes containing heptameric PA aggregate and inactivate more readily than LT complexes containing octameric PA. LT complexes containing octameric PA possess enhanced stability, channel-forming activity, and macrophage cytotoxicity relative to those containing heptameric PA. Under physiological conditions, multiple biophysical probes reveal that heptameric PA can prematurely adopt the channel conformation, but octameric PA complexes remain in their soluble prechannel configuration, which allows them to resist aggregation and inactivation. We conclude that PA may form an octameric oligomeric state as a means to produce a more stable and active LT complex that could circulate freely in the blood.     

Effects of temperature on the development and reproduction of sugarcane top borer Scirpophaga excerptalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

To determine the effects of temperature on the development and reproduction of top borer Scirpophaga excerptalis Walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), the durations of different developmental stages and reproductive capacity of S. excerptalis were measured at 20, 23, 26, 29 and 32℃. The results showed that the average durations of various developmental stages of S. excerptalis shortened with increasing temperatures from 20 to 32℃. The durations to complete one life cycle were 113.17 days at 20℃, and 39.50 days at 32℃. The developmental rate of each stage and generation was positively correlated with the temperature, which was consistent with the Logistic regression model. The temperature thresholds for egg, larval, pupal and preoviposition stages and the total cycle were 13.73, 14.73, 13.91, 13.66 and 14.10℃, respectively. The effective accumulative temperature was 112.62, 370.01, 188.17, 23.82 and 718.07 degree-days (DD), respectively. The adult longevity shortened with increasing temperatures, and the highest number of eggs laid per female was 204.74 eggs at 29℃. The survival rates of eggs, larvae and the whole generation were the highest at 26℃, which were 87.25%, 56.67% and 37.21%, respectively while the highest survival rate of the pupa was 76.69% at 29℃. There was no significant difference for the total cycle at 23-29℃. The results indicated that temperature was the key factor affecting the development and reproduction of S. excerptalis, and the optimum temperature for development and reproduction ranged from 23 to 29℃.     

Intrinsic motions in the N-terminal domain of an ionotropic glutamate receptor detected by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) mediate excitatory neurotransmission in the central nervous system and play key roles in brain development and disease. iGluRs have two distinct extracellular domains, but the functional role of the distal N-terminal domain (NTD) is poorly understood. Crystal structures of the NTD from some non-N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) iGluRs are consistent with a rigid body that facilitates receptor assembly but suggest an additional dynamic role that could modulate signaling. Here, we moved beyond spatial and temporal limitations of conventional protein single-molecule spectroscopy by employing correlation analysis of extrinsic oxazine fluorescence fluctuations. We observed nanosecond (ns)-to-microsecond (μs) motions of loop segments and helices within a region of an AMPA-type iGluR NTD, which has been identified previously to be structurally variable. Our data reveal that the AMPA receptor NTD undergoes rapid conformational fluctuations, suggesting an inherent allosteric capacity for this domain in addition to its established assembly function.