Heterogeneity in post-fire thermal responses across Pacific Northwest streams: A multi-site study.

Over the past century, water temperatures in many streams across the Pacific Northwest (PNW) have steadily risen, shrinking endangered salmonid habitats. The warming of PNW stream reaches can be further accelerated by wildfires burning forest stands that provide shade to streams. However, previous research on the effect of wildfires on stream water temperatures has focused on individual streams or burn events, limiting our understanding of the diversity in post-fire thermal responses across PNW streams. To bridge this knowledge gap, we assessed the impact of wildfires on daily summer water temperatures across 31 PNW stream sites, where 10-100% of their riparian area burned. To ensure robustness of our results, we employed multiple approaches to characterize and quantify fire effects on post-fire stream water temperature changes. Averaged across the 31 burned sites, wildfires corresponded to a 0.3 - 1°C increase in daily summer water temperatures over the subsequent three years. Nonetheless, post-fire summer thermal responses displayed extensive heterogeneity across burned sites where the likelihood and rate of a post-fire summer water temperature warming was higher for stream sites with greater proportion of their riparian area burned under high severity. Also, watershed features such as basin area, post-fire weather, bedrock permeability, pre-fire riparian forest cover, and winter snowpack depth were identified as strong predictors of the post-fire summer water temperature responses across burned sites. Our study offers a multi-site perspective on the effect of wildfires on summer stream temperatures in the PNW, providing insights that can inform freshwater management efforts beyond individual streams and basins.

When does a parasite become a disease? eDNA unravels complex host-pathogen dynamics across environmental stress gradients in wild salmonid populations.

Infectious diseases stem from disrupted interactions among hosts, parasites, and the environment. Both abiotic and biotic factors can influence infection outcomes by shaping the abundance of a parasite's infective stages, as well as the host's ability to fight infection. However, disentangling these mechanisms within natural ecosystems remains challenging. Here, combining environmental DNA analysis and niche modelling at a regional scale, we uncovered the biotic and abiotic drivers of an infectious disease of salmonid fish, triggered by the parasite Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae. We found that the occurrence and abundance of the parasite in the water-i.e., the propagule pressure- were mainly correlated to the abundances of its two primary hosts, the bryozoan Fredericella sultana and the fish Salmo trutta, but poorly to local abiotic environmental stressors. In contrast, the occurrence and abundance of parasites within fish hosts-i.e., proxies for disease emergence-were closely linked to environmental stressors (water temperature, agricultural activities, dams), and to a lesser extent to parasite propagule pressure. These results suggest that pathogen distribution alone cannot predict the risk of disease in wildlife, and that local anthropogenic stressors may play a pivotal role in disease emergence among wild host populations, likely by modulating the hosts' immune response. Our study sheds light on the intricate interplay between biotic and abiotic factors in shaping pathogen distribution and raises concerns about the effects of global change on pathogen emergence.

One Health and sex and gender-related perspective in the ecosystem: Interactions among drivers involved in the risk of leptospirosis in Europe. A scoping review.

Leptospirosis has a complex transmission, involving rodents and many species of domestic and wild animals. Carrier animals spread leptospires, contaminating soil and water, the main sources of human infection. The risk of infection is modulated by socio-economic factors, environment and host animals and has changed, historically linked to agriculture but now prevalent in recreational environments. Leptospirosis also reveal gender-specific exposure patterns that determine infection risks. Emphasizing the interconnectedness of humans, animals, and the environment, the One Health approach highlights the ecosystem dynamics through which leptospires interact with hosts and abiotic factors, ensuring their survival and transmission. We advocate for integrating gender considerations into the ecosystem dynamics of complex zoonoses, such as leptospirosis, through a One Health perspective. This approach, yet to be fully explored, may enhance our understanding of the infection and its modulating factors. A scoping review of the literature was conducted across Embase and Pubmed databases to collect information on sex and gender-specific drivers, sources of infections, environmental drivers, and related risks of leptospirosis. Quantitative data were extracted from the articles selected according to a list of criteria, and analyzed to discern sex and gender disparities and identify primary drivers of leptospirosis. We confirmed that the excess of male leptospirosis cases described in many parts of the world is also present in Europe. Furthermore, we identified environmental and sociocultural drivers and hypothesized their interactions between and within human, animal, and environmental sectors. These interactions modulate direct and indirect exposure to Leptospira, heightening infection risks across the ecosystem. Based on our findings, utilizing leptospirosis as a model, we advocate for integrating One Health and gender approaches in public health practices to better plan and implement more effective and timely intervention measures.

Exploring the environmental influences and community assembly processes of bacterioplankton in a subtropical coastal system: Insights from the Beibu Gulf in China.

Due to rapid urbanization, the Beibu Gulf, a semi-closed gulf in the northwestern South China Sea, faces escalating ecological and environmental threats. Understanding the assembly mechanisms and driving factors of bacterioplankton in the Beibu Gulf is crucial for preserving its ecological functions and services. In the present study, we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of bacterioplankton communities and their assembly mechanisms in the Beibu Gulf based on the high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16 S rRNA gene. Results showed significantly higher bacterioplankton diversity during the wet season compared to the dry season. Additionally, distinct seasonal variations in bacterioplankton composition were observed, characterized by an increase in Cyanobacteria and Thermoplasmatota and a decrease in Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota during the wet season. Null model analysis revealed that stochastic processes governed bacterioplankton community assembly in the Beibu Gulf, with drift and homogenizing dispersal dominating during the dry and wet seasons, respectively. Enhanced deterministic assembly of bacterioplankton was also observed during the wet season. Redundancy and random forest model analyses identified the physical properties (e.g., temperature) and nutrient content (e.g., nitrate) of water as primary environmental drivers influencing bacterioplankton dynamics. Moreover, variation partitioning and distance-decay of similarity revealed that environmental filtering played a significant role in shaping bacterioplankton variations in this rapidly developed coastal ecosystem. These findings advance our understanding of bacterioplankton assembly in coastal ecosystems and establish a theoretical basis for effective ecological health management amidst ongoing global changes.

Environmental drivers behind the exceptional increase in cyanobacterial blooms in Okavango Delta, Botswana.

The Okavango Delta region in Botswana experienced exceptionally intense landscape-wide cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) in 2020. In this study, the drivers behind CyanoHABs were determined from thirteen independent environmental variables, including vegetation indices, climate and meteorological parameters, and landscape variables. Annual Land Use Land Cover (LULC) maps were created from 2017 to 2020, with ∼89% accuracy to compute landscape variables such as LULC change. Generalized Additive Models (GAM) and Structural Equation Models (SEM) were used to determine the most important drivers behind the CyanoHABs. Normalized Difference Chlorophyll Index (NDCI) and Green Line Height (GLH) algorithms served as proxies for chlorophyll-a (green algae) and phycocyanin (cyanobacteria) concentrations. GAM models showed that seven out of the thirteen variables explained 89.9% of the variance for GLH. The models showcased that climate variables, including monthly precipitation (8.8%) and Palmer Severity Drought Index- PDSI (3.2%), along with landscape variables such as changes in Wetlands area (7.5%), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) (5.4%) were the determining drivers behind the increased cyanobacterial activity within the Delta. Both PDSI and NDVI showed negative correlations with GLH, indicating that increased drought conditions could have led to large increases in toxic CyanoHAB activity within the region. This study provides new information about environmental drivers which can help monitor and predict regions at risk of future severe CyanoHABs outbreaks in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, and other similar data-scarce and ecologically sensitive areas in Africa. Plain Language Summary: The waters of the Okavango Delta in Northern Botswana experienced an exceptional increase in toxic cyanobacterial activity in recent years. Cyanobacterial blooms have been shown to affect local communities and wildlife in the past. To determine the drivers behind this increased bloom activity, we analyzed the effects of thirteen independent environmental variables using two different statistical models. Within this research, we focused on vegetation indices, meteorological, and landscape variables, as previous studies have shown their effect on cyanobacterial activity in other parts of the world. While driver determination for cyanobacteria has been done before, the environmental conditions most important for cyanobacterial growth can be specific to the geographic setting of a study site. The statistical analysis indicated that the increases in cyanobacterial bloom activity within the region were mainly driven by persistent drier conditions. To our knowledge, this is the first study to determine the driving factors behind cyanobacterial activity in this region of the world. Our findings will help to predict and monitor areas at risk of future severe cyanobacterial blooms in the Okavango Delta and other similar African ecosystems.

Baseline Inventory of Benthic Macrofauna in German Marine Protected Areas (2020-2022) before Closure for Bottom-Contact Fishing.

The response of benthic habitats and organisms to bottom-contact fishing intensity is investigated in marine protected areas (MPAs) of the German EEZ in the North and Baltic Seas. We examined the current state of macrofauna biodiversity in 2020-2022. Comparative analysis for macrofauna (in- and epifauna) inhabiting nine Natura 2000 MPAs constitutes a baseline to assess the effects of bottom-contact fishing exclusion in the future. Aspects of spatial and temporal variability are briefly summarized and discussed. We provide a species list for each region, including 481 taxa, of which 79 were found in both regions, 183 only in the North Sea, and 219 only in the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea dataset surprisingly included higher numbers of taxa and revealed more Red List species. The share of major taxonomic groups (polychaetes, bivalves and amphipods) in species richness showed peculiar commonalities between the two regions. In the North Sea, multivariate analysis of community structure revealed significantly higher within-similarity and stronger separation between the considered MPAs compared to the Baltic MPAs. Salinity, temperature and sediment fractions of sand were responsible for over 60% of the variation in the North Sea macrofauna occurrence data. Salinity, mud fraction and bottom-contact fishing were the most important drivers in the Baltic Sea and, together with other considered environmental drivers, were responsible for 53% of the variation. This study identifies aspects of macrofauna occurrence that may be used to assess (causes of) future changes.

Endolithic Fungal Diversity in Antarctic Oligocene Rock Samples Explored Using DNA Metabarcoding.

In this study, we evaluated the fungal diversity present associated with cores of Oligocene rocks using a DNA metabarcoding approach. We detected 940,969 DNA reads grouped into 198 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) representing the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mortierellomycota, Chytridiomycota, Mucoromycota, Rozellomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Zoopagomycota, Aphelidiomycota (Fungi) and the fungal-like Oomycota (Stramenopila), in rank abundance order. Pseudogymnoascus pannorum, Penicillium sp., Aspergillus sp., Cladosporium sp., Aspergillaceae sp. and Diaporthaceae sp. were assessed to be dominant taxa, with 22 fungal ASVs displaying intermediate abundance and 170 being minor components of the assigned fungal diversity. The data obtained displayed high diversity indices, while rarefaction indicated that the majority of the diversity was detected. However, the diversity indices varied between the cores analysed. The endolithic fungal community detected using a metabarcoding approach in the Oligocene rock samples examined contains a rich and complex mycobiome comprising taxa with different lifestyles, comparable with the diversity reported in recent studies of a range of Antarctic habitats. Due to the high fungal diversity detected, our results suggest the necessity of further research to develop strategies to isolate these fungi in culture for evolutionary, physiological, and biogeochemical studies, and to assess their potential role in biotechnological applications.

Spatial distribution of the range-expanding species Seriola fasciata (Bloch, 1793) in Mediterranean Sea: From past to future.

The Mediterranean Sea is a highly susceptible area to climate change, that facilitates the introduction of warm-affinity exotic species, contributing to the expansion of their biogeographical range. One such thermophilic species is the Atlantic fish Seriola fasciata, which has colonised this area over the past three decades. The present study analyzed its spatial distribution in the Mediterranean Sea to identify aggregation areas and dynamics over time, and the environmental predictors influencing its presence. The utilized statistical tools and the Species Distribution Model proved effective in identifying specific spatial and temporal distribution patterns, as well as discerning some environmental variables influencing the species presence, with distinctions recorded between juveniles and adults. S. fasciata was observed to be established in the central Mediterranean, with Fishing Aggregating Devices potentially influencing its presence, particularly of juveniles. Sea floor temperature and habitats emerged as the primary factors driving species distribution. An aggregation area in the Levant Sea, conducive mainly for the adults, was identified and is expected to intensify over time. These findings contribute valuable insights into a relatively understudied species and its presence in the Mediterranean Sea, where climate change is affecting marine biodiversity.

Environmental correlates of the forest carbon distribution in the Central Himalayas.

Understanding the biophysical limitations on forest carbon across diverse ecological regions is crucial for accurately assessing and managing forest carbon stocks. This study investigates the role of climate and disturbance on the spatial variation of two key forest carbon pools: aboveground carbon (AGC) and soil organic carbon (SOC). Using plot-level carbon pool estimates from Nepal's national forest inventory and structural equation modelling, we explore the relationship of forest carbon stocks to broad-scale climatic water and energy availability and fine-scale terrain and disturbance. The forest AGC and SOC models explained 25% and 59% of the observed spatial variation in forest AGC and SOC, respectively. Among the evaluated variables, disturbance exhibited the strongest negative correlation with AGC, while the availability of climatic energy demonstrated the strongest negative correlation with SOC. Disturbances such as selective logging and firewood collection result in immediate forest carbon loss, while soil carbon changes take longer to respond. The lower decomposition rates in the high-elevation region, due to lower temperatures, preserve organic matter and contribute to the high SOC stocks observed there. These results highlight the critical role of climate and disturbance regimes in shaping landscape patterns of forest carbon stocks. Understanding the underlying drivers of these patterns is crucial for forest carbon management and conservation across diverse ecological zones including the Central Himalayas.

Reading tea leaves worldwide: Decoupled drivers of initial litter decomposition mass-loss rate and stabilization.

The breakdown of plant material fuels soil functioning and biodiversity. Currently, process understanding of global decomposition patterns and the drivers of such patterns are hampered by the lack of coherent large-scale datasets. We buried 36,000 individual litterbags (tea bags) worldwide and found an overall negative correlation between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization factors of plant-derived carbon, using the Tea Bag Index (TBI). The stabilization factor quantifies the degree to which easy-to-degrade components accumulate during early-stage decomposition (e.g. by environmental limitations). However, agriculture and an interaction between moisture and temperature led to a decoupling between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization, notably in colder locations. Using TBI improved mass-loss estimates of natural litter compared to models that ignored stabilization. Ignoring the transformation of dead plant material to more recalcitrant substances during early-stage decomposition, and the environmental control of this transformation, could overestimate carbon losses during early decomposition in carbon cycle models.

Vertical variations and environmental heterogeneity drove the symphony of periphytic protozoan fauna in marine ecosystems.

Periphytic protozoa are esteemed icons of microbial fauna, renowned for their sensitivity and role as robust bioindicators, pivotal for assessing ecosystem stress and anthropogenic impacts on water quality. Despite their significance, research exploring the community dynamics of protozoan fauna across diverse water columns and depths in shallow waters has been notably lacking. This is the first study that examines the symphony of protozoan fauna in different water columns at varying depths (1, 2, 3.5 and 5 m), in South China Sea. Our findings reveal that vertical changes and environmental heterogeneity plays pivotal role in shaping the protozoan community structure, with distinct preferences observed in spirotrichea and phyllopharyngea classes at specific depths. Briefly, diversity metrics (i.e., both alpha and beta) showed significantly steady patterns at 2 m and 3.5 m depths as well as high homogeneity in most of the indices was observed. Co-associations between environmental parameters and protozoan communities demonstrated temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, and pH, are significant drivers discriminating species richness and evenness across all water columns. Noteworthy variations of the other environmental parameters such as SiO3-Si, PO4--P, and NO2--N at 1 m and NO3--N, and NH4+-N, at greater depths, signal the crucial role of nutrient dynamics in shaping the protozoan communities. Moreover, highly sensitive species like Anteholosticha pulchara, Apokeronopsis crassa, and Aspidisca steini in varying environmental conditions among vertical columns may serve as eco- indicators of water quality. Collectively, this study contributes a thorough comprehension of the fine-scale structure and dynamics of protozoan fauna within marine ecosystems, providing insightful perspectives for ecological and water quality assessment in ever-changing marine environments.

Global Atlas of Methane Metabolism Marker Genes in Soil.

Methane, a greenhouse gas, plays a pivotal role in the global carbon cycle, influencing the Earth's climate. Only a limited number of microorganisms control the flux of biologically produced methane in nature, including methane-oxidizing bacteria, anaerobic methanotrophic archaea, and methanogenic archaea. Although previous studies have revealed the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of methane-metabolizing microorganisms in local regions by using the marker genes pmoA or mcrA, their biogeographical patterns and environmental drivers remain largely unknown at a global scale. Here, we used 3419 metagenomes generated from georeferenced soil samples to examine the global patterns of methane metabolism marker gene abundances in soil, which generally represent the global distribution of methane-metabolizing microorganisms. The resulting maps revealed notable latitudinal trends in the abundances of methane-metabolizing microorganisms across global soils, with higher abundances in the sub-Arctic, sub-Antarctic, and tropical rainforest regions than in temperate regions. The variations in global abundances of methane-metabolizing microorganisms were primarily governed by vegetation cover. Our high-resolution global maps of methane-metabolizing microorganisms will provide valuable information for the prediction of biogenic methane emissions under current and future climate scenarios.

High-Resolution Estimates of N2O Emissions from Inland Waters and Wetlands in China.

Inland waters (rivers, lakes, and reservoirs) and wetlands (marshes and coastal wetlands) represent large and continuous sources of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, in view of adequate biomass and anaerobic conditions. Considerable uncertainties remain in quantifying spatially explicit N2O emissions from aquatic systems, attributable to the limitations of models and a lack of comprehensive data sets. Herein, we conducted a synthesis of 1659 observations of N2O emission rates to determine the major environmental drivers across five aquatic systems. A framework for spatially explicit estimates of N2O emissions in China was established, employing a data-driven approach that upscaled from site-specific N2O fluxes to robust multiple-regression models. Results revealed the effectiveness of models incorporating soil organic carbon and water content for marshes and coastal wetlands, as well as water nitrate concentration and dissolved organic carbon for lakes, rivers, and reservoirs for predicting emissions. Total national N2O emissions from inland waters and wetlands were 1.02 × 105 t N2O yr-1, with contributions from marshes (36.33%), rivers (27.77%), lakes (25.27%), reservoirs (6.47%), and coastal wetlands (4.16%). Spatially, larger emissions occurred in the Songliao River Basin and Continental River Basin, primarily due to their substantial terrestrial biomass. This study offers a vital national inventory of N2O emissions from inland waters and wetlands in China, providing paradigms for the inventorying work in other countries and insights to formulate effective mitigation strategies for climate change.

Recent advances on greenhouse gas emissions from wetlands: Mechanism, global warming potential, and environmental drivers.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wetlands have exacerbated global warming, attracting worldwide attention. However, the research process and development trends in this field remain unknown. Herein, 1865 papers related to wetlands GHG emissions published from January 2000 to December 2023 were selected, and CiteSpace and VOSviewer were used for bibliometric analysis to visually analyze the publications distribution, research authors, organizations and countries, core journal and keywords, and discussed the research progress, trends and hotspots in the fields. Over the past 24 years, the research has gone through three phases: the "embryonic" stage (2000-2006), the accumulation stage (2007-2014), and the acceleration stage (2015-2023). China has played a pivotal role in this domain, publishing the most papers and working closely with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and Australia. In addition, this study synthesized 311 field observations from 123 publications to analyze the variability in GHG emissions and their driving factors in four different types of natural wetlands. The results suggested that the average carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes in different wetlands were significantly different. River wetlands exhibited the highest GHG fluxes, while marsh wetlands demonstrated greater global warming potential (GWP). The average CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes were 60.41 mg m-2·h-1, 2.52 mg m-2·h-1 and 0.05 mg m-2·h-1, respectively. The GWP of Chinese natural wetlands was estimated as 648.72 Tg·CO2-eq·yr-1, and CH4 contributed the largest warming effect, accounting for 57.43%. Correlation analysis showed that geographical location, climate factors, and soil conditions collectively regulated GHG emissions from wetlands. The findings provide a new perspective on sustainable wetland management and reducing GHG emissions.

Environmental Drivers of Antimicrobial Resistance in Low and Middle-Income Countries: The Impacts of a Changing World.

This letter highlights the impact of environmental drivers on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to address this global health threat. Key factors, such as agricultural practices, wastewater treatment, and pollution, contribute to the development and spread of resistant pathogens. Utilizing the One Health approach, the paper emphasizes the importance of promoting responsible antimicrobial use, strengthening public health systems, investing in innovative research, and raising public awareness. By understanding and addressing these environmental drivers, we can work toward safeguarding global health and ensuring a sustainable future.

Testing for concordance between predicted species richness, past prioritization, and marine protected area designations in the western Indian Ocean.

Scientific advances in environmental data coverage and machine learning algorithms have improved the ability to make large-scale predictions where data are missing. These advances allowed us to develop a spatially resolved proxy for predicting numbers of tropical nearshore marine taxa. A diverse marine environmental spatial database was used to model numbers of taxa from ∼1000 field sites, and the predictions were applied to all 7039 6.25-km2 reef cells in 9 ecoregions and 11 nations of the western Indian Ocean. Our proxy for total numbers of taxa was based on the positive correlation (r2 = 0.24) of numbers of taxa of hard corals and 5 highly diverse reef fish families. Environmental relationships indicated that the number of fish species was largely influenced by biomass, nearness to people, governance, connectivity, and productivity and that coral taxa were influenced mostly by physicochemical environmental variability. At spatial delineations of province, ecoregion, nation, and strength of spatial clustering, we compared areas of conservation priority based on our total species proxy with those identified in 3 previous priority-setting reports and with the protected area database. Our method identified 119 locations that fit 3 numbers of taxa (hard coral, fish, and their combination) and 4 spatial delineations (nation, ecoregion, province, and reef clustering) criteria. Previous publications on priority setting identified 91 priority locations of which 6 were identified by all reports. We identified 12 locations that fit our 12 criteria and corresponded with 3 previously identified locations, 65 that aligned with at least 1 past report, and 28 that were new locations. Only 34% of the 208 marine protected areas in this province overlapped with identified locations with high numbers of predicted taxa. Differences occurred because past priorities were frequently based on unquantified perceptions of remoteness and preselected priority taxa. Our environment-species proxy and modeling approach can be considered among other important criteria for making conservation decisions.

Evaluación de la concordancia entre la riqueza de especies pronosticada, priorizaciones pasadas y la designación de áreas marinas protegidas en el oeste del Océano Índico Resumen Los avances científicos en la cobertura de datos ambientales y los algoritmos de aprendizaje automatizado han mejorado la capacidad de predecir a gran escala cuando hacen falta datos. Estos avances nos permiten desarrollar un representante con resolución espacial para predecir la cantidad de taxones marinos en las costas tropicales. Usamos una base de datos espaciales de diversos ambientes marinos para modelar la cantidad de taxones a partir de ∼1000 sitios de campo y aplicamos las predicciones a las 7039 celdas arrecifales de 6.25­km2 en nueve ecorregiones y once países del oeste del Océano Índico. Nuestro representante para la cantidad total de taxones se basó en la correlación positiva (r2=0.24) de la cantidad de taxones de corales duros y cinco familias de peces arrecifales con diversidad alta. Las relaciones ambientales indicaron que el número de especies de peces estuvo influenciado principalmente por la biomasa, la cercanía a las personas, la gestión, la conectividad y la productividad y que los taxones de coral estuvieron influenciados principalmente por la variabilidad ambiental fisicoquímica. Comparamos la prioridad de las áreas de conservación a nivel de las delimitaciones espaciales de provincia, ecorregión, nación y fuerza del agrupamiento espacial basado en nuestro total de especies representantes con aquellas especies identificadas en tres reportes previos de establecimiento de prioridades y con la base de datos de áreas protegidas. Con nuestro método identificamos 119 localidades aptas para tres cantidades de taxones (corales duros, peces y su combinación) y cuatro criterios de delimitación espacial (nación, ecorregión, provincia y grupo de arrecifes). Las publicaciones previas sobre el establecimiento de prioridades identificaron 91 localidades prioritarias de las cuales seis fueron identificadas por todos los reportes. Identificamos doce localidades que se ajustan a nuestros doce criterios y se correspondieron con tres localidades identificadas previamente, 65 que se alinearon con al menos un reporte anterior y 28 que eran nuevas localidades. Sólo 34% de las 208 áreas marinas protegidas en esta provincia se traslaparon con localidades identificadas con un gran número de taxones pronosticados. Hubo diferencias porque en el pasado se priorizaba frecuentemente con base en las percepciones no cuantificadas de lo remoto y prioritario de los taxones preseleccionados. Nuestra especie representante del ambiente y nuestra estrategia de modelo pueden considerarse entre otros criterios importantes para tomar decisiones de conservación.

The large-scale expansion of rubber plantations in southern India: major impacts and the changing nature of drivers.

This study investigates the major environmental and socio-economic impacts of an increase in the area of rubber plantations and the changing patterns of drivers of land use changes. Using a combination of geospatial techniques and socio-economic methods, we mainly analyzed the rate of increase in area under rubber plantations, the major impacts of land use changes, and the changing drivers of land use changes. Our results show that the area under rubber plantations has increased significantly within the study area, with the area under rubber plantations increasing from 30 to 74% of the total area within five decades. Impact assessment of land use changes based on household surveys showed significant improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the farmers, however, at the expense of severe environmental degradation. Our results also indicate that while areas under rubber plantations continue to increase, the drivers of land use changes have changed over time. Furthermore, it has been observed that in the past, many interventions prioritized social and economic development and placed less emphasis on the ecological stability of the region. Perceptions of farmers revealed that the effects of ecological fragility already affected the economic robustness of the whole area. Therefore, we conclude that government interventions to support additional rubber cultivation should also focus on ecosystem stabilization in order to minimize the risk of an ecological catastrophe that would significantly affect the economic prosperity of the region.

Nonlinear life table response experiment analysis: Decomposing nonlinear and nonadditive population growth responses to changes in environmental drivers.

Life table response experiments (LTREs) decompose differences in population growth rate between environments into separate contributions from each underlying demographic rate. However, most LTRE analyses make the unrealistic assumption that the relationships between demographic rates and environmental drivers are linear and independent, which may result in diminished accuracy when these assumptions are violated. We extend regression LTREs to incorporate nonlinear (second-order) terms and compare the accuracy of both approaches for three previously published demographic datasets. We show that the second-order approach equals or outperforms the linear approach for all three case studies, even when all of the underlying vital rate functions are linear. Nonlinear vital rate responses to driver changes contributed most to population growth rate responses, but life history changes also made substantial contributions. Our results suggest that moving from linear to second-order LTRE analyses could improve our understanding of population responses to changing environments.

Dryland microbiomes reveal community adaptations to desertification and climate change.

Drylands account for 45% of the Earth's land area, supporting ~40% of the global population. These regions support some of the most extreme environments on Earth, characterized by extreme temperatures, low and variable rainfall, and low soil fertility. In these biomes, microorganisms provide vital ecosystem services and have evolved distinctive adaptation strategies to endure and flourish in the extreme. However, dryland microbiomes and the ecosystem services they provide are under threat due to intensifying desertification and climate change. In this review, we provide a synthesis of our current understanding of microbial life in drylands, emphasizing the remarkable diversity and adaptations of these communities. We then discuss anthropogenic threats, including the influence of climate change on dryland microbiomes and outline current knowledge gaps. Finally, we propose research priorities to address those gaps and safeguard the sustainability of these fragile biomes.

Environmental drivers of biogeography and community structure in a Mid-Atlantic estuary.

Estuaries include some of the most productive yet anthropogenically impacted marine ecosystems on the planet, and provide critical habitat to many ecologically and economically important marine species. In order to elucidate ecological function in estuaries, we must understand what factors drive community dynamics. Delaware Bay is the third largest estuary in the United States and hosts over 200 species of migrant and resident fishes and invertebrates. The Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife has conducted two long-term trawl surveys at monthly intervals in Delaware Bay since 1966. The two surveys collect data on environmental conditions, species composition, and number of fishes and macroinvertebrates across different size classes and life histories. Using a suite of multivariate approaches including hierarchical cluster analysis, canonical correlation analysis, and permutational multivariate analysis of variance, we characterized the fish and macroinvertebrate community in Delaware Bay and found that community composition and environmental conditions varied across spatial and seasonal scales. We identified four distinct biogeographic regions, based on environmental conditions and community composition, which were consistent across surveys. We found that the community was driven primarily by gradients in temperature and salinity and that abundant, frequently occurring species in the Bay have well-defined environmental associations. Our work represents the first attempt to use an existing historical survey to better understand how environmental parameters influence diversity and distribution of macrofauna within Delaware Bay, providing insight into how abiotic variables, influenced by climate, may impact the Delaware Bay ecosystem and similar estuarine ecosystems worldwide.