Journal articles on the topic 'Bio-Ecological trait'
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Beeckman, Hans. "WOOD ANATOMY AND TRAIT-BASED ECOLOGY." IAWA Journal 37, no. 2 (July 7, 2016): 127–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22941932-20160127.
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The largest part of forest biomass consists of wood. A global estimate of carbon stored in lignified tissues rises up to 400 Pg. Given these quantities, there is a growing interest of implementing wood research in diagnoses and evaluations of the carrying capacity of the global ecosystem and its forests. The question arises how disciplines like wood anatomy could respond to the increasing demands of a trait-based ecology, understood as a paradigmatic shift in addressing global changes. Dendrochronology and ecological wood anatomy, traditionally operating within the paradigm of species-based ecology, developed robust methods to address ecological questions. However, sampling strategies and database design will likely be different when wood traits are to be used to study individual tree performance, including responses to stress.Aiming at optimally involving wood research in trait-based ecology, some trait concepts are analysed. The value of the IAWA standard lists of wood anatomical features as starting points for trait databases is recognized. A summary of the functionality of wood is given to inform the trait-research community of basic aspects of tree performance. The time dimension is highlighted, as well as the foundations for understanding bio-hydraulics, bio-mechanics and metabolism of wood and relevant traits.Guidelines are given for sampling strategies and database concepts. Prospects of time axis construction and system integration are discussed, as well as the importance of standardizing for size.
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Morais, M., P. Pinto, A. Pedro, T. Battin, S. Gafny, M. Gerino, E. Marti, et al. "Relationships among macroinvertebrate community structure, bio/ecological trait profiles, and environmental descriptors in European human-altered streams." SIL Proceedings, 1922-2010 30, no. 8 (January 2009): 1234–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03680770.2009.11923919.
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Yuan, Chuan, Guangyao Gao, and Bojie Fu. "Comparisons of stemflow and its bio-/abiotic influential factors between two xerophytic shrub species." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 21, no. 3 (March 9, 2017): 1421–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-1421-2017.
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Abstract. Stemflow transports nutrient-enriched precipitation to the rhizosphere and functions as an efficient terrestrial flux in water-stressed ecosystems. However, its ecological significance has generally been underestimated because it is relatively limited in amount, and the biotic mechanisms that affect it have not been thoroughly studied at the leaf scale. This study was conducted during the 2014 and 2015 rainy seasons at the northern Loess Plateau of China. We measured the branch stemflow volume (SFb), shrub stemflow equivalent water depth (SFd), stemflow percentage of incident precipitation (SF %), stemflow productivity (SFP), funnelling ratio (FR), the meteorological characteristics and the plant traits of branches and leaves of C. korshinskii and S. psammophila. This study evaluated stemflow efficiency for the first time with the combined results of SFP and FR, and sought to determine the inter- and intra-specific differences of stemflow yield and efficiency between the two species, as well as the specific bio-/abiotic mechanisms that affected stemflow. The results indicated that C. korshinskii had a greater stemflow yield and efficiency at all precipitation levels than that of S. psammophila. The largest inter-specific difference generally occurred at the 5–10 mm branches during rains of ≤ 2 mm. Precipitation amount was the most influential meteorological characteristic that affected stemflow yield and efficiency in these two endemic shrub species. Branch angle was the most influential plant trait on FR. For SFb, stem biomass and leaf biomass were the most influential plant traits for C. korshinskii and S. psammophila, respectively. For SFP of these two shrub species, leaf traits (the individual leaf area) and branch traits (branch size and biomass allocation pattern) had a great influence during lighter rains ≤ 10 mm and heavier rains > 15 mm, respectively. The lower precipitation threshold to start stemflow allowed C. korshinskii (0.9 mm vs. 2.1 mm for S. psammophila) to employ more rains to harvest water via stemflow. The beneficial leaf traits (e.g., leaf shape, arrangement, area, amount) might partly explain the greater stemflow production of C. korshinskii. Comparison of SFb between the foliated and manually defoliated shrubs during the 2015 rainy season indicated that the newly exposed branch surface at the defoliated period and the resulting rainfall intercepting effects might be an important mechanism affecting stemflow in the dormant season.
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Singh, R., R. Behl, P. Jain, K. Singh, and N. Narula. "Gene effects and mean performance of nitrogen and phosphorus use in wheat after inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi and Azotobacter chroococcum under low input conditions." Acta Agronomica Hungarica 56, no. 4 (December 1, 2008): 455–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1556/aagr.56.2008.4.12.
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The present investigation was conducted to study the impact of bio-inoculants under low input field conditions on the magnitude and direction of gene effects and the mean performance of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) use in wheat. Three wheat cultivars suitable for different agro-ecological conditions, i.e. WH 147 (low mineral input), WH 533 (water deficit), Raj 3077 (high mineral input), and six generations (P 1 , P 2 , F 1 , F 2 , BC 1 and BC 2 ) of three crosses, namely WH 147 × WH 533, WH 533 × Raj 3077 and WH 147 × Raj 3077, were evaluated in a randomized block design with three replications under low input field conditions (80 kg N + 40 kg P + 18 kg ZnSO 4 doses applied in each treatment) with three treatments, i.e. control, inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF, Glomus fasciculatum ) and dual inoculation with AMF and Azotobacter chroococcum ( Azc ). Bioinoculation with AMF and AMF+ Azc had a positive impact on the mean performance of all the wheat crosses. The mean performance of AMF was maximum in the cross WH 147 × WH 533 for N and P response (%), N and P use index (%) and P content (ppm), whereas for N and P uptake it was maximum in the cross WH 147 × Raj 3077. The response and use index for N and P were better in the combined AMF+ Azc treatment in all three crosses. The adequacy of the additive-dominance model for the phosphorus uptake (mg/plant) by all three crosses in all three treatments (i.e. control, AMF, AMF+ Azc ) suggested that additive (d) and dominance (h) gene effects mainly governed the inheritance of this trait. In all cases, digenic interactions were present, where the duplicate type of epistasis prevailed except for the P content in the control in the cross WH 147 × WH 533, where the complementary type of interaction was present. Pedigree selection in crosses WH 147 × WH 533 and WH 147 × Raj 3077 could be effective for breeding pure lines of wheat for sustainable agriculture (low input genotypes responsive to biofertilizers such as AMF and Azotobacter ).
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ABDELHADY, AHMED AWAD, and MOHAMMED MASOUD ABDALLA. "Short Communication: Categorization models as a powerful tool in paleontological data analyses – the Phanerozoic bivalves." Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity 19, no. 5 (September 21, 2018): 1763–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d190525.
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Abdelhady AA, Abdalla MM. 2018. Short Communication: Categorization models as a powerful tool in paleontological data analyses – the Phanerozoic bivalves. Biodiversitas 19: 1769-1776. Predicting biotic responses to current and future global change can be acquired through understanding how biological and environmental traits shaped the past origination, dispersion and extinction patterns. A global dataset encompasses 161,357 taxon occurrences belonging to 2,378 bivalve genera from past and recent environments were analyzed based on the categorization model, a widely-used machine-learning analysis, using MS-SQL and Excel PowerView. The occurrence data was standardized using square-root transformation to downplay the effect of sampling effort. Thus, the examined traits are resulting from reliable ecological interactions. The results indicate that the biotic traits of the bivalve can be determined by the abiotic ones. Moreover, ecological traits such as life habit (i.e., infaunal vs. epifaunal), diet (suspension vs. deposit feeders, herbivores vs. carnivores), composition (aragonite vs. calcite), and locomotion (stationary vs. mobile) all exhibit significant relation to a specific environment. The results demonstrated that decision tree and association rules are primary powerful tools in analyzing huge biological data and in testing many useful bio-ecological hypotheses.
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ARCHAIMBAULT, VIRGINIE, PHILIPPE USSEGLIO-POLATERA, JEANNE GARRIC, JEAN-GABRIEL WASSON, and MARC BABUT. "Assessing pollution of toxic sediment in streams using bio-ecological traits of benthic macroinvertebrates." Freshwater Biology 55, no. 7 (September 9, 2009): 1430–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02281.x.
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Talebi, Seyed Mehdi. "Infra-specific morphological diversity in Phlomis olivieri (Labiatae)." Journal of Bio-Science 22 (October 21, 2016): 59–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbs.v22i0.30010.
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Context: Compare the effect of different ecological conditions on phenotypical traits of Phlomis olivieri.Objective: To observe morphological variation between and within different populations of Phlomis olivieri Benth.Materials and Methods: Morphological characters of eleven populations of Phlomis olivieri were investigated in the both levels: between and within populations. Samples were collected from different parts of Iran and from each population, 3 to 4 samples were elected randomly and sixteen quantitative and qualitative morphological traits from the both vegetative and reproductive organs were examined.Results: Analysis of variance test as well as one-sample test confirmed significant variations for quantitative morphological traits. Morphological features varied between populations, consequently populations were separated from each other in the UPGMA tree and also PCO and PCA plots, among these, populations K, A, D and B placed far from others. Some degrees of polymorphism in morphological traits occurred within populations and individuals of each stand separated from others.Conclusion: This study showed that ecological factors had strong effect on morphological features of different populations of same plant species. This phenomenon was called phenotypic plasticity which created infraspecific variations at both levels interpopulation and intrapopulation or morphological polymorphism among populations.J. bio-sci. 22: 59-67, 2014
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Borkovcová, Marie, and Pavel Veselý. "Pseudomyiasis with connection to organic waste – first case reported in Czech Republic." Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis 56, no. 1 (2008): 19–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.11118/actaun200856010019.
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In the April of 2007, pseudomyiasis was detected in alimentary tract of two years old boy from South Moravia (Czech Republic). Contamination was caused by larvae of family Calliphoridae (Diptera), accidentally consummated with half-rotten fruits from bio compost. It is the first recent documented case of pseudomyiasis, and is closely connected with bio waste and ecological waste disposal. Usage of organic waste composting is increasing all around the world, motivated by demand for maximum recycling. While workrooms of bigger compost facilities are usually separated from public, waste containers in front of the houses or small composts in the gardens serving one family are freely accessible to public. These bio composts and waste containers attract many species of insects, especially from order Diptera. so for inhabitants of neighbouring houses this can represent certain health risk. In the location of findings, Dipteras were caught and their species spectrum was evaluated considering their ability to cause myiases or pseudomyiases.
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Kotelnikova, Mariya Gennadevna. "Bio-ecological features of some rare plants fruits in the Samara Region." Samara Journal of Science 6, no. 1 (March 1, 2017): 41–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.17816/snv201761108.
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The paper presents some preliminary results of the monitoring of Fritillaria meleagroides Partin ex Schult. et Schult. fil. and Tulipa biebersteiniana Schult. et Schult. fil. plants (category of rare and endangered plant species). The results of the field study fulfilled in 2012-2016 in two population groups of quarter 80 and cenopopulation of quarter 69 in the Krasnosamarsky forestry (Samara Region) were used to determine morphometric parameters of plant species. The data also helped us to assess the variability level and to make a comparison with plant quantitative traits given in the literature. It has been found that the sample indicators fit into the range of values specified in literature sources, with a significant proportion of large fruit 2,0-3,0 cm in length. The dynamics of the fruit size of Fritillaria meleagroides Partin ex Schult. et Schult. fil. and Tulipa biebersteiniana Schult. et Schult. fil. plants in population groups of quarter 80, as a whole, has general patterns in the difference during some seasons of vegetation. Prevailing values of fruit length of plants in cenopopulations of quarter 69 changed slightly according to year of vegetation, these populations are more resistant and numerous comparing with the populations of quarter 80. As for variability of signs, the values of fruit length and width coefficients of variation does not exceed 25% for Fritillaria meleagroides Partin ex Schult. et Schult. fil. plants and 20% for Tulipa biebersteiniana Schult. et Schult. fil. plants which is optimal for this type of indicators and is consistent with the bioecological specificity of fruit plant. The conditions of ecosystems in 69 and 80 quarters of Krasnosamarsky forestry are favorable for the vegetation of two species plants, the successful preservation and restoration in natural communities can be in the absence of anthropogenic factors limits.
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Boulahia-Kheder, Synda. "Review on major fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in North Africa: Bio-ecological traits and future trends." Crop Protection 140 (February 2021): 105416. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2020.105416.
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Saç, Gülşah. "Bio-Ecological Traits of Western Tubenose Goby Proterorhinus semilunaris (Heckel, 1837): A Key to Understand Its Invasion Success." Water 11, no. 6 (June 14, 2019): 1247. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w11061247.
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This study aims to contribute to the limited knowledge on the bio-ecological traits of the native Western tubenose goby, Proterorhinus semilunaris, which is considered to invade many inland waters in Europe and North America. During monthly sampling surveys from March 2012 to June 2013, the species was collected from the four stations in the Istranca River (Turkey) by electrofishing. The standard length and body weight of 310 samples varied between 1.4–6.1 cm and 0.08–7.09 g, respectively. The sex ratio of female to male was found to be 1.7:1.0, with a significant difference. The values of the exponent b in the length–weight relationship were approximately 3 for females, males, and all individuals, indicating an isometric growth. The size at first sexual maturity was 2.44 cm standard length (SL) for females and 2.29 cm SL for males. Absolute fecundity ranged from 56 to 344 eggs with a mean of 164 eggs. The food composition of the species comprised of 8 major groups: Insecta (Diptera, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Odonata, Trichoptera, Coleoptera), Arachnida, Annelida, Gastropoda, Crustacea, Pisces, plant, and detritus. According to the results of modified index of relative importance (MI) and index of relative importance (IRI), insect and Diptera were the most prevalent prey for this fish. The present study has provided baseline information on the basic biological traits of the fish in its natural habitat for further understanding of this species success of invasion.
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Aarts, Esther, Agnes Akkerman, Mareike Altgassen, Ronald Bartels, Debby Beckers, Kirsten Bevelander, Erik Bijleveld, et al. "Protocol of the Healthy Brain Study: An accessible resource for understanding the human brain and how it dynamically and individually operates in its bio-social context." PLOS ONE 16, no. 12 (December 29, 2021): e0260952. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260952.
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The endeavor to understand the human brain has seen more progress in the last few decades than in the previous two millennia. Still, our understanding of how the human brain relates to behavior in the real world and how this link is modulated by biological, social, and environmental factors is limited. To address this, we designed the Healthy Brain Study (HBS), an interdisciplinary, longitudinal, cohort study based on multidimensional, dynamic assessments in both the laboratory and the real world. Here, we describe the rationale and design of the currently ongoing HBS. The HBS is examining a population-based sample of 1,000 healthy participants (age 30–39) who are thoroughly studied across an entire year. Data are collected through cognitive, affective, behavioral, and physiological testing, neuroimaging, bio-sampling, questionnaires, ecological momentary assessment, and real-world assessments using wearable devices. These data will become an accessible resource for the scientific community enabling the next step in understanding the human brain and how it dynamically and individually operates in its bio-social context. An access procedure to the collected data and bio-samples is in place and published on https://www.healthybrainstudy.nl/en/data-and-methods/access. Trail registration: https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/7955.
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SEMPRUCCI, F., M. MORENO, S. SBROCCA, M. ROCCHI, G. ALBERTELLI, and M. BALSAMO. "The nematode assemblage as a tool for the assessment of marine ecological quality status: a case-study in the Central Adriatic Sea." Mediterranean Marine Science 14, no. 1 (February 20, 2013): 48. http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/mms.366.
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Free-living nematodes are efficiently used as bio-indicators of anthropogenic disturbance in marine ecosystems. Among various criteria, functional traits may represent useful tools for monitoring environmental impact in coastal areas. A study of nematode assemblages was carried out in three locations of the Central Adriatic Sea (Italy), one at the mouth of the Foglia River (Baia Flaminia) and two enclosed in the Monte San Bartolo Natural Park (Monte Brisighella and Fiorenzuola di Focara). Taxonomic composition and the functional traits of the nematode assemblage revealed a possible influence of the organic load of the Foglia River. Biotic data, as well as environmental parameters, suggested a particularly negative impact of the river on the assemblage at Baia Flaminia. Here, the increasing impact of the river led to a rise in the relative abundance of r-strategist genera like Chromadora, Sabatieria and Viscosia. Poor ecological conditions were also present at Brisighella, where the river might exert its influence due to the presence of long shore currents. In contrast, the results revealed that the best ecological quality was at Fiorenzuola di Focara, where the impact of anthropogenic activities was generally irrelevant. This study documents how nematodes can be used as an early warning indicator with which to monitor the health quality of vulnerable littoral areas.
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SUCIU, Vasilena, Teodor RUSU, Camelia URDA, Edward MUNTEAN, Raluca REZI, Adrian NEGREA, Alina SIMON, and Nicolae TRITEAN. "EFFECT OF FERTILIZERS ON YIELD COMPONENT ATTRIBUTES, YIELD AND QUALITY IN SOYBEAN CROP." AgroLife Scientific Journal 11, no. 1 (June 30, 2022): 221–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.17930/agl2022126.
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The paper aimed to present the effects of different types of fertilizers on several soybean quantitative traits (plantheight, first pod height, number of pods per plant, number of grain per plant, grain yield per plant, 1000-grain weightand grain yield) and seeds’ composition (dry matter, protein content, ash content, oil content, total carbohydrates, totalflavonoids, total phenols and total carotenoids content). The experiment was conducted in 2019, in the experimentalfield of Soybean Breeding Laboratory from the Agricultural Research and Development Station Turda (ARDS Turda),and included 15 fertilization trials. An early maturing soybean variety (Caro TD) obtained at ARDS Turda was used forthe experiment. The results showed that increases in yield were obtained with various combinations of the commercialfertilizer. The application of N20P20K0 combined with seed treatment and foliar Bio-fertilizer with 80% amino acids,significantly increased the values for all quantitative traits and also grain yield, while with respect to seed compositionthe best ranked type of treatment was T7(ecological products).
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Sultana, Amena, Nilufar Yasmin Shaikh, Mst Selima Zahan, Md Adil Badshah, Romana Akter, and Mohammad Issak. "Effect of Transplanting Date on Growth and Yield of Advanced Lines of Transplanted Aman Rice." Research in Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries 7, no. 1 (April 26, 2020): 1–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ralf.v7i1.46825.
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This research was conducted in order to investigate the effects of time of planting on the grain yield and yield components of three advanced lines of rice under the Agro Ecological Zone (AEZ), Modhupur Tract. The research was conducted as a split plot using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications in the Aman season of 2016 under the research field of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Gazipur. In this research, the dates 01 August, 16 August, 31 August and 16 September were considered as the main factor in the main plots, and the advanced lines/varieties BR(Bio)9786-BC2-119-1-1, BR(Bio)9786- BC2-132-1-3 and BRRI dhan49 (check variety) were regarded as the secondary factors in the sub plots. The results showed that planting time significantly affected the plant height, the number of panicle per meter square, the number of tillers per meter square, the number of grains per panicle, 1000-grain weight and grain yield. Among the cultivars, the advanced line BR(Bio)9786-BC2-119-1-1 and BR(Bio)9786-BC2-132-1-3 produced significantly higher plant height, the number of panicle, the number of tillers, the number of grains per panicle, 1000- grain weight and grain yield than check variety BRRI dhan49 in all transplanting dates. The advanced line BR(Bio)9786-BC2-119-1-1 and BR(Bio)9786-BC2-132-1-3 produced average 1.02 and 0.57 t ha-1 higher yields respectively over the check variety BRRI dhan49 under the transplanting date 01 August to 31 August. The highest growth duration (130-146 days) was observed for the check variety BRRI dhan49 that followed by BR(Bio)9786-BC2-132-1-3 (132- 141 days) and BR(Bio)9786-BC2-119-1-1 (130-140 days)
Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.7(1): 01-07, April 2020
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Velcheva, Nikolaya, Tsvetelina Stoilova, and Petar Chavdarov. "Enrichment of the local plant gene fund for providing a resource base for priority agro-food systems." Agricultural Sciences 13, no. 29 (June 7, 2021): 85–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.22620/agrisci.2021.29.010.
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Plant genetic resources are a link between environment, agriculture and food systems, so their conservation requires cooperation within the different sectors of bio-economy. The existing diversity in local genetic resources is an initial base in crop breeding corresponding with the new challenges such as climate change, plant health and food quality. As a result from the activities of the National Research Program “Healthy foods for a strong bio-economy and quality of life” 63 accessions from different regions of Southern Bulgaria were collected through several collecting missions. Each accession was described by passport data including: taxonomic description under the nomenclature of the GRIN system, date of registration in the collection, donor, ecological and geographical characteristics of the explored area, biological status, etc., according to the International descriptor of FAO/Bioversity. The greatest diversity of old varieties and local forms has been found in the legumes and vegetable crops. The seeds are usually inherited in families or passed between neighbours and they are intended for household or local market. The collected plant materials were evaluated by morphological and agro-biological characteristics. Evaluation data from accessions of bean showed high variability of morphological traits as height of plants, number of pods and seeds per plant. The results obtained from this study will be useful in breeding programs and interspecific crosses, for selection and introduction of desired traits through pre-breeding programs, for research and direct use of farmers.
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Barca, Sandra, Rufino Vieira-Lanero, David José Nachón, Javier Sánchez-Hernández, María del Carmen Cobo, and Fernando Cobo. "Complexity of the Relationship between Environmental Factors, Interspecific Competition, and Intrinsic Traits of the Species in Explaining the Invasive Success of Gobio lozanoi Doadrio & Madeira, 2004." Water 13, no. 21 (November 1, 2021): 3043. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w13213043.
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The increase of non-native species in rivers is of great concern. To assess the potential impact of a species it is necessary to consider the ecological state of the receiving ecosystem and the biology of the potentially invasive species. In this work we characterize two populations of Gobio lozanoi Doadrio & Madeira, 2004 (bio-metric and demographic parameter) and the invasibility (as a function of habitat quality, competing species, food supply, etc.) of the two rivers that they inhabit. In addition, biomarkers of energy reserve level are analyzed to investigate their role in the invasiveness of the species. The results show differences in energy reserve levels and invasiveness between the two fish populations, and differences in the potential invasibility of the two tributaries. In the river with lower resistance to invasion, the G. lozanoi population is well-structured, and specimens have higher lipid values. On the contrary, in the river with better ecological status (and therefore greater resistance to invasion) we found lower lipid values, higher protein values and low juvenile survival rate. The lipid level is revealed as a good indicator of invasiveness in populations of alien species, under favorable conditions for invasion.
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Mulas, Antonello, Andrea Bellodi, Pierluigi Carbonara, Alessandro Cau, Martina Francesca Marongiu, Paola Pesci, Cristina Porcu, and Maria Cristina Follesa. "Bio-Ecological Features Update on Eleven Rare Cartilaginous Fish in the Central-Western Mediterranean Sea as a Contribution for Their Conservation." Life 11, no. 9 (August 25, 2021): 871. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life11090871.
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Cartilaginous fish are commonly recognized as key species in marine ecosystems for their fundamental ecological role as top predators. Nevertheless, effective management plans for cartilaginous fish are still missing, due to the lack of knowledge on their abundance, distribution or even life-history. In this regard, this paper aims at providing new information on the life-history traits, such as age, maturity, reproductive period, in addition to diet characteristics of eleven rare cartilaginous fish inhabiting the Central-Western Mediterranean Sea belonging to the orders Chimaeriformes (Chimaera monstrosa), Hexanchiformes (Heptranchias perlo and Hexanchus griseus), Myliobatiformes (Aetomylaeus bovinus and Myliobatis aquila), Rajiformes (Dipturus nidarosiensis and Leucoraja circularis), Squaliformes (Centrophorus uyato, Dalatias licha and Oxynotus centrina) and Torpediniformes (Tetronarce nobiliana), useful for their assessment and for future management actions. Particularly, the present paper provides for the first time the age estimation of D. nidarosienis and L. circularis which were both found capable of becoming older than ten years. In addition, the present study updates the sizes of first maturity of C. uyato and D. licha, which appeared to be capable of reproducing earlier than what was previously hypothesized, representing very valuable information for a better understanding of these rare species populations status and, eventually, their conservation. On the basis of the stomach content analysis, it was possible to identify five different predator groups.
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Gentili, Rodolfo, Lara Quaglini, Elisa Cardarelli, Sarah Caronni, Chiara Montagnani, and Sandra Citterio. "Toxic Impact of Soil Microplastics (PVC) on Two Weeds: Changes in Growth, Phenology and Photosynthesis Efficiency." Agronomy 12, no. 5 (May 19, 2022): 1219. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12051219.
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Experimental evidence on the bio-ecological effects of microplastics on terrestrial plants is still lacking. In this study, we hypothesized that soil polluted with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microparticles can negatively influence plant traits, photosynthetic efficiency and phenology of two weeds but with different strength in relation to the species’ life traits. Therefore, we conducted an experiment in a common garden growing the wild species Senecio inaequidens and Centaurea cyanus for about 60 days. The possible toxic effects of soil microplastics (1% of PVC in 100 g of soil medium) were investigated, coupling an analyses on plant traits with an evaluation of the microplastic-induced changes in terms of phenology and photosynthetic efficiency. Overall, results showed that plants in control pots were higher and larger than those in treated ones (C. cyanus plant width: p < 0.05; S. inaequidens—plant height: p < 0.05; plant width: p < 0.05). Moreover, for C. cyanus, photosynthetic efficiency (index Fv/Fm) was significantly lower in the treatment than that in control (p < 0.05). About phenology, the second leaf of S. inaequidens emerged earlier in control than that in treatments (day 12.2 ± 0.25 and 14.3 ± 0.3, respectively; p < 0.001). The obtained results highlight that PVC microparticles may have had negative effects on soil–plant system reducing the performance of plants. Since, up to now, research on the interaction between soil microplastics and terrestrial plants has mainly focused on agricultural plants, this work fills a gap of knowledge regarding wild species (weeds), highlighting the possible future impact of microplastics on biodiversity.
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Sipos, J., J. Hodecek, T. Kuras, and A. Dolny. "Principal determinants of species and functional diversity of carabid beetle assemblages during succession at post-industrial sites." Bulletin of Entomological Research 107, no. 4 (January 31, 2017): 466–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0007485316001085.
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AbstractAlthough ecological succession is one of the principal focuses of recent restoration ecology research, it is still unclear which factors drive this process and positively influence species richness and functional diversity. In this study we sought to elucidate how species traits and functional diversity change during forest succession, and to identify important factors that determine the species in the observed assemblages. We analyzed species richness and functional diversity of ground beetle assemblages in relation to succession on post-industrial localities after habitat deterioration caused by spoil deposition. We selected ground beetles as they are known to be sensitive to landscape changes (with a large range of responses), and their taxonomy and ecology are generally well-known. Ground beetles were sampled on the spoil heaps during the last 30 years when spontaneous succession occurred. To calculate functional diversity, we used traits related to habitat and trophic niche, i.e. food specialization, wing morphology, trophic level, and bio-indication value. Ground beetle species were found to be distributed non-randomly in the assemblages in the late phase of succession. Ordination analyses revealed that the ground beetle assemblage was significantly associated with the proportion of forested area. Environmental heterogeneity generated assemblages that contained over-dispersed species traits. Our findings indicated that environmental conditions at late successional stages supported less mobile carnivorous species. Overall, we conclude that the decline in species richness and functional diversity in the middle of the studied succession gradient indicated that the assemblages of open habitats had been replaced by species typical of forest ecosystems.
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Yalcin, Ozgecan, Nahla V. Bassil, and Nesibe Ebru Kafkas. "Wild Edible Small Fruits in Turkey and their Fruit Characteristics." Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Section B. Natural, Exact, and Applied Sciences. 76, no. 4 (August 1, 2022): 417–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/prolas-2022-0065.
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Abstract Wild fruits are essential genetic resources for fruit breeding and have either been domesticated or used to introgress disease resistance and tolerance to abiotic and biotic stress. Numerous studies have previously described the health benefits of wild berry fruits and reported their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer activity. Turkey has a rich plant biodiversity thanks to its geographic location and encirclement by three seas, leading to a wide variety of climates. The great ecological diversity of the wild berry species in Turkey is a significant bio-gene pool that is vital to human life and can serve as a source of agricultural development in the future. This review aims to introduce some of the wild edible berry species naturally occurring in Turkey such as Morus spp., Hippophae rhamnoides L., Viburnum opulus L., Rubus idaeus L., Rubus fruticosus L., Sambucus nigra L., Vaccinium spp., Arbutus unedo L., Ribes spp., and Fragaria vesca L., and describe their distribution, uses, and fruit characteristics. Conservation of these wild fruit genetic resources is necessary for use in breeding for novel traits.
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Aziz, Muhammad Abdul, Zahid Ullah, Mohamed Al-Fatimi, Matteo De Chiara, Renata Sõukand, and Andrea Pieroni. "On the Trail of an Ancient Middle Eastern Ethnobotany: Traditional Wild Food Plants Gathered by Ormuri Speakers in Kaniguram, NW Pakistan." Biology 10, no. 4 (April 6, 2021): 302. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology10040302.
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An ethnobotanical field study focusing on traditional wild food botanical taxa was carried out in Kaniguram, South Waziristan, Pakistan, among Ormur (or Burki or Baraki) peoples, which represent a diasporic minority group, as well as among the surrounding Pashtuns. Through sixty semi-structured interviews, fifty-two wild food plants (taxa) were recorded, and they were primarily used raw as snacks and cooked as vegetables. Comparative analysis found a remarkable overlap of the quoted plant uses between the two studied groups, which may reflect complex socio-cultural adaptations Ormur speakers faced. Ormur people retain a rich knowledge of anthropogenic weeds and the phytonyms reveal important commonalities with Persian and Kurdish phytonyms, which may indicate their possible horticultural-driven human ecological origin from the Middle East. Some novel or rare food uses of Cirsiumarvense, Nannorrhops ritchiana, Periploca aphylla, Perovskia atriplicifolia, Viscum album,Oxalis corniculata and Withania coagulans were documented. Since the Ormuri language represents a moribund language, still spoken by only a few thousand speakers in NW Pakistan and Afghanistan, it is recommended that the traditional bio-cultural and gastronomical heritage of this minority group be appropriately protected and bolstered in future rural development programs.
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Mensah, Ezéchiel J.-P. A., Valentin Kindomihou, Silvère Tovignan, Aliou Saïdou, Davo Simplice Vodouhè, Isaac Aiyelaagbe, and Brice Sinsin. "Agronomic Responses of Cymbopogon schoenanthus L. Spreng., a Sudanese Forage Grass Grown under Compost for a Bio-Ecological Pasture in the Southern Benin." European Journal of Biology and Biotechnology 2, no. 3 (June 9, 2021): 64–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.24018/ejbio.2021.2.3.187.
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Promoting ecological and organic agriculture (including livestock) requires biological resources and alternatives. Cymbopogon schoenanthus is a sudano-sahelian grass species whose crude leaf essential oils, in addition to their antifungal, antimicrobial, antibacterial and acridifuge or acridicide properties, can be an alternative to chemical insecticides in preventing pests and diseases that limit crops productivities. This study tests the agronomic performances of Cymbopogon schoenanthus grown under three doses of compost. Stumps collected from the Park W of Niger were transplanted to the experimental farm of the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences of University of Abomey-Calavi in the Southern Benin. The experimental design was a complete randomized block with treatments (0 ton per hectare (i.e., control), 5 tons per hectare and 10 tons per hectare of compost) in four replicates. Plants responses to the compost application throughout traits such as heights, number of tillers per plant, number of flowering tillers and dry aerial biomass production, were analyzed with a one-way ANOVA using STATISTICA 9.0. The results show significant responses of the aerial organs of C. schoenanthus to organic fertilization (p<0.05) with the best performance under 5 tons of compost per hectare: height growth in magnitude of 12.72%, number of tillers multiplied in 146.06% and aerial dry biomass in 178.32%. However, fertilization did not influence flowers appearance. Further studies are required for assessing foliar, nutritional quality and essential oil responses to the compost application in order to sustainably promote small ruminants’ organic production.
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Kotelnikova, Mariya Gennadevna. "Preliminary results of the monitoring bio-ecological features of plants Fritillaria ruthenica Wikstr. in the model forest habitats of the Krasnosamarsky forest." Samara Journal of Science 5, no. 2 (June 1, 2016): 33–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.17816/snv20162107.
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The article presents some preliminary results of the monitoring of Fritillaria ruthenica Wikstr. plants (category of rare and endangered plant species, included in the Red Books of Russia and Samara Region). By summarizing the available sources of science literature we have compiled a general description of morphological and bio-ecological species characteristics. The results of the field study fulfilled in 2012-2014 in Krasnosamarsky forestry (Samara region) were used to determine morphometric parameters of Fritillaria ruthenica plants. The data also helped us to assess the variability level and to make a comparison with plant quantitative traits given in the literature. It was found that the shoot length of Fritillaria ruthenica plants from model biotope in Krasnosamarsky forest in 2012-2014 varied in the range of 20 ... 70 cm, in 2012 and 2013 individuals with long shoots about 50 cm dominated, in 2014 - with shoot length about 50 and 60 cm. The feature of the shoot length is characterized by plasticity, the highest level of variation was observed in 2013. The lengths of shoots are inside the range specified for the various parts of the area in the literature with a significant proportion of tall plants in the studied population. This may be a sign of good growth conditions for Fritillaria ruthenica that gives an opportunity to the plant conservation in natural communities in the absence of limited anthropogenic factors.
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Bikang, Hugues Bi Ateme, Stephan Ntie, Thibaud Decaëns, and Rodolphe Rougierie. "First Assessment of Nocturnal Lepidopteran Communities in the Forest Savannah Mosaic of the Plateaux Batéké, Southeastern Gabon." European Journal of Biology and Biotechnology 2, no. 6 (December 12, 2021): 20–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.24018/ejbio.2021.2.6.298.
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Lepidopterans are an important component of central African biodiversity. Indeed, they play an important role as plant pollinators, food source, bio-indicators, and even pests for local crops. However, almost nothing is known about these moths in central Africa, while they are being increasingly threatened by significant landscape changes due mainly to infrastructure constructions and climate change. So, the mosaic of forests and savannah in the Plateaux Batéké (southeastern Gabon) constitutes a unique opportunity to study how Lepidopteran communities might evolve along an ecological gradient with upcoming changes in forest cover in the region. A total of 2824 specimens, representing 14 distinct families or subfamilies, were sampled using light-trapping and sorted into morphospecies, while a subset of 95 samples was further investigated using both morphological and molecular methods. Community comparison of nocturnal Lepidopteran showed that there was a significant difference in terms of abundance only between sampling sessions. Indeed, this could be due to food availability between sampling sessions. In May and June in Gabon, most plants have flowers and fruits and moth families such as Geometridae and Sphingidae emerge at that time. The most represented family in our sampled specimens was the Geometridae, which prefers habitats with permanent river courses as is the case in our sampling area. However, a more comprehensive study using various trapping methods, during several seasonal cycles and with more replicates in each habitat type is needed for a better understanding of the community structure and ecological traits that characterize nocturnal Lepidopteran in the Plateaux Batéké of Gabon.
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Kotelnikova, Mariya Gennadevna. "The assessment of bio-ecological features of plants Tulipa biebersteiniana Schult. et Schult. fil. in the model forest habitats of the Krasnosamarsky forest." Samara Journal of Science 5, no. 3 (September 1, 2016): 30–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.17816/snv20163106.
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The paper presents some preliminary results of the monitoring of Tulipa biebersteiniana Schult. et Schult. fil. plants (category of rare and endangered plant species). By summarizing the available sources of science literature we have compiled a general description of morphological and bio-ecological species characteristics. The results of the field study fulfilled in 2012-2015 in two population groups of the Krasnosamarsky forestry (Samara region) were used to determine morphometric parameters of Tulipa biebersteiniana plants. The data also helped us to assess the variability level and to make a comparison with plant quantitative traits given in the literature. It was found that the shoot length of Tulipa biebersteiniana plants varied in the range of 23 50 cm, the maximum average length of 40 cm are presented in plants of population group number two. The distribution of shoot length among individuals of the second population group is more stable, changes depending on the year of vegetation are poorly expressed. The lengths of shoots inside the range specified for the various parts of the area in the literature with a significant proportion of high plants in the population is studied. This may be a sign of good growth conditions for Fritillaria ruthenica that gives an opportunity to the plant conservation in natural communities in the absence of limiting anthropogenic factors.
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Ullah, Rafi, Nasrullah Khan, Kishwar Ali, Muhammad Ezaz Hasan Khan, and David Aaron Jones. "Screening of Xanthium strumarium (IAPS) Growing on Abandoned Habitats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: Perspectives for Phytoremediation." Applied Sciences 11, no. 24 (December 9, 2021): 11704. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app112411704.
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The ecological impacts of invasive alien plant species (IAPS) are well-documented, but a dearth of studies exist concerning its economic, livelihood, biotechnological, and health risk assessment perspectives. IAPS management is currently expanding to ecological indicator and biotechnological aspects. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the phytoremediation potential, biomedical, and bio-safety applications of X. strumarium growing in different abandoned habitats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. In this study, 45 plants and soil samples were gathered from 15 abandoned sites and analyzed for Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn concentrations; bioaccumulation (BA); and translocation factor (TF). The assayed Pb and Cd concentration was higher and above threshold in both soil–plant samples. BAF was found higher in roots than intact plants despite having a significant accumulation of Cd, Pb, and Zn, which shows high metals tolerance of this IAPS. PCA-ordination explained a high cumulative variance (98.9%) and separated roads and densely populated sites with comparatively high metals concentration, indicating the pseudometallophyte nature of X. strumarium. Soil, sand, and plant biomass were shown to be the major determinants affecting the heavy metals concentration and its phytoremediation significantly, which may be due to the soil’s metalliferous nature in the study area. This IAPS exhibited strong translocation and hyperaccumulation capacity in different functional traits with comparatively high Pb, Cd, and Zn (≥1 TF) mobility and, hence, can effectively be used for Pb phytoextraction and phytostabilization of Cd, Cu, and Zn, respectively. Likewise, several other non-spontaneous IAPS growing on such abandoned habitats might be promising for developing a reasonable strategic framework for heavy metals mitigation and health risk implications in this region.
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Martinez, José Maria, Rubilma Tarazona, Bernhard Leo Lohr, and Consuelo Alexandra Narvaez. "Measuring the effect of long-term pitfall trapping on the prevalence of epigeal arthropods: A case study in the Pacific Coast of Colombia." Sociobiology 68, no. 2 (June 11, 2021): 5928. http://dx.doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v68i2.5928.
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Pitfall trapping remains one of the most frequently used methods to assess ground-active arthropods’ diversity and density. Yet, one of its main drawbacks, the possibility that repeated collecting may affect the study objects’ population, has not been formally tested. We studied the effect of a yearlong epigeal pitfall trapping exercise with 22 fortnightly capture events in four differently disturbed areas at the Colombian Pacific coast. A transect of 100 m length with ten equidistant pitfall traps was established in each area, and the traps were operated twice a month for 24 hours. Using count data regression models, we find that trapping did not affect subsequent captures when we analyzed non-ant arthropods. For ants, regression estimates indicate that each subsequent trapping in highly-disturbed environments ended, on average, reducing all ants in between -3.8 and -4.1%, and Ectatomma ruidum between -4.7 and -5.1%. We recommend bio-ecological aspects of the species under study be considered when interpreting results. This is important for future studies that rely on this method to deliver consistent estimates of population sizes or study their dynamics through time. At the same time, it is also a call for scientists to revise more carefully how species’ peculiar traits may limit the reliability of traditional methods.
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Banul, Rafał, Agnieszka Kosewska, and Jakub Borkowski. "Animal occurrence in fragmented forest habitats – important factors at the patch and landscape scale." Forest Research Papers 79, no. 1 (March 1, 2018): 89–100. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/frp-2018-0010.
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Abstract To date, in research, the main determinants influencing animal assemblages in fragmented forests have been considered to be forest island area and degree of isolation. Such a simplistic approach may have detrimental effects on the obtained results and conclusions, since there are a large number of other factors determining animal persistence in forest islands. In order to identify these factors and evaluate their importance, we reviewed the scientific literature on the topic. In addition to the island area, also patch shape, edge effects and local plant community structure are crucial factors affecting animal assemblages at the forest island scale. At the landscape scale, the total number of forest islands and their combined area, matrix permeability, occurrence of wide ecological corridors as well as isolated trees and woodlands appear to be the most significant factors. Our review further indicates that many of these elements also tend to interact. For instance, edge effects may reduce the area of suitable habitat in a forest patch. Furthermore, some fragmentation effects may be masked by species traits e.g. mobility, food preferences or habitat specialisation. The landscape context also plays a crucial role in animal persistence in fragmented forests. We thus conclude that there is a strong need to investigate the above-mentioned components of habitat fragmentation at the local and landscape scale using appropriate bio-indicators.
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Филиппова, A. Filippova, Хачапуридзе, N. Khachapuridze, Соколовская, L. Sokolovskaya, Погорелая, et al. "Protection of Medical and Industrial Personnel from Exposure to Pathogenic Fields by Means of the Matrix Screen." Journal of New Medical Technologies 21, no. 1 (June 4, 2014): 89–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.12737/3322.
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This paper presents the design of the matrix of the electromagnetic screen. This screen refers to the field of medical equipment, devices, ensuring ecological safety. It can be used for protection of the personnel of enterprises and institutions, including medical, from the negative influence of pathogenic fields of technical and natural origin, for neutralization of weak radiation products of the chemical elements and their compounds and alloys, and also for correction of the functional state of operators industrially loaded productions and drivers of electric vehicles. The task of this design is the improvement of devices for energy impact on human organism, in which due to the introduction of new traits and organization of new ties between the features of the high performance is achieved local shielding of a bioobject and increase its restoration and health characteristics. It is shown that the motivation for the creation of such a matrix of the electromagnetic screen is based on several fundamental provisions of the fields and radiation of biophysics and bioinformatics, mainly on emission characteristics of the human body with account of parameters of functioning of the multi-dimensional molecular-genetic structures on morpho-functional characteristics, anthropometric and other bio-constants of the human body, the effects of information-wave interaction of man and objects of the surrounding world. The authors indicate that the screen was clinically tested and has shown high efficiency.
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Gope, Amit, Gautam Chakraborty, Shanowly Mondal Ghosh, Sayan Sau, Krishnendu Mondal, Abhisek Biswas, Sukamal Sarkar, Pijush Kanti Sarkar, and Debashis Roy. "Toxicity and Sublethal Effects of Fluxametamide on the Key Biological Parameters and Life History Traits of Diamondback Moth Plutella xylostella (L.)." Agronomy 12, no. 7 (July 12, 2022): 1656. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12071656.
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Fluxametamide, a novel isoxazoline insecticide, is newly registered for the control of various lepidopteran, coleopteran and thysanopteran insect pests on lethal and sublethal levels. In the present study, the toxicity and sublethal effects of fluxametamide on diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (L.), an invasive lepidopteran foliage feeder of cruciferous vegetables, were assessed to explore its bio-ecological impact on pest populations. The toxicity of fluxametamide to the third instar larvae of P. xylostella was 0.18 mg L−1 (LC50) at 72 h bioassay. After treatment with LC10 and LC30 concentrations of fluxametamide, the fourth instar larval duration, the rate of deformed pupa and adults, and the adult pre-oviposition period were significantly increased, whereas the pupation rate and pupal weight were significantly decreased in the F0 generation. In the F1 generation, sublethal effects of fluxametamide were indicated by a reduced fecundity, rate of pupation and adult emergence, pupal weight, and adult longevity, however a significant increase in eggs and total larval duration, deformed adults rate, and total longevity and pre-oviposition period was observed in the offspring. The intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ) and net reproductive rate (R0) of sublethal treatments were significantly lower than the control. The relative fitness of F1 was 0.68 and 0.64 in LC10 and LC30 treatments, respectively. The LC30 fluxametamide treatment exhibited increased glutathione S-transferase activities (elevated 1.433-fold) in P. xylostella. Our results suggest that in addition to its high lethal toxicity, the sublethal concentrations of fluxametamide might suppress the reproduction, development and survival of the P. xylostella population and its progeny, which can help to optimize integrated pest management program.
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Konôpka, Bohdan, Jozef Pajtík, Vladimír Šebeň, Peter Surový, and Katarína Merganičová. "Woody and Foliage Biomass, Foliage Traits and Growth Efficiency in Young Trees of Four Broadleaved Tree Species in a Temperate Forest." Plants 10, no. 10 (October 11, 2021): 2155. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants10102155.
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The main goal of this study is to analyse and interpret interspecific differences in foliage biomass/area and woody parts biomass as well as the ratio between quantities of foliage and woody components (i.e., branches, stem and roots). The study was principally aimed at determining basic biomass allocation patterns and growth efficiency (GE) of four broadleaved species, specifically common aspen (Populus tremula L.), European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.), silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) in young growth stages. We performed whole-tree sampling at 32 sites located in central and northern parts of Slovakia. We sampled over 700 trees and nearly 4900 leaves to quantify biomass of woody parts and foliage traits at leaf and tree levels. Moreover, we estimated specific leaf area in three parts of the crown, i.e., the upper, middle and lower thirds. We found that hornbeam had the largest foliage biomass and the lowest foliage area of all investigated species, while its biomass of woody parts did not differ from aspen and sycamore. Birch had the lowest biomass of woody parts, although its foliage properties were similar to those of aspen. Intraspecific differences of foliage were related to tree size and to leaf position along the vertical crown profile. Growth efficiency (GE), expressed as woody biomass production per foliage area unit, was evidently larger in hornbeam than in the other three broadleaves. We suggest that future GE modelling should utilize real values of stem diameter increment measured in a current year, bio–sociological position of trees and competition indicators as inputs. Such an approach would elucidate the role of stand structure and tree species mixture for ecological and production properties of forest stands.
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Nikulina, T. M., D. P. Kurunina, and E. S. Maslennikova. "GENETIC SOURCES AND NEW SOURCE MATERIAL FOR BREEDING PUMPKINS IN THE LOWER VOLGA REGION." Vegetable crops of Russia, no. 4 (July 27, 2018): 39–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.18619/2072-9146-2018-4-39-43.
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The results of the research work carried out during the period 2015-2017 are outlined. on the practical selection of pumpkin in the conditions of the Volgograd Transvolga. The results of studying the assortment of pumpkin varieties of domestic and foreign breeding in collection nurseries are presented. The most promising samples adapted to local soil and climatic conditions have high productivity (Sviteny, Chino, Marina di Chioggia, Silber Bell (USA), Kham (Laos), image (Spain), Local (Kazakhstan), Gribovskaya winter, Teshchenka , Zucchini Malchugan, and the quality of the fruit: (Chino, Chirimen nankin (Japan), Cachi JNTA (Argentina), Mantova Uyghur (Kazakhstan), Duchess, Vega F1, Sweetie, Pampushka, Green Warted Habbard (USA). A new hybrid material was obtained, an estimation of its productivity of consumer achestv, stability to bio- and abiotic factors. accessions selected promising superior standards major ecological and morphological and economically valuable traits. The characteristics of the best selected hybrid combinations are given in comparison with the standards. The most productive are hybrid combinations: Marina di Chioggia x Zorka, Zorka x Sweet banana, Silber Bell x Elegant, Sweet x Elegant, Local (Kirghizia) x Zorka, zucchini Mountain Anchor. The yield of these samples exceeds the standards by 13.3-92.2%. The quality of the fruit is distinguished by the hybrids: Marina di Chioggia x Zorka, Zorka x Marina di Chioggia, Pampushka x Elegant, Zorka x Sweet banana, Silber Bell x Elegant, Zaslavia x POOS6-07, Zorka x Oreshek, Altair x Elegant. The content of dry substances in the fruits of these samples is 2.0-8.8% higher than the standards.
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Zharkov, Mikhail S., Jian-Guo Huang, Bao Yang, Elena A. Babushkina, Liliana V. Belokopytova, Eugene A. Vaganov, Dina F. Zhirnova, Victor A. Ilyin, Margarita I. Popkova, and Vladimir V. Shishov. "Tracheidogram’s Classification as a New Potential Proxy in High-Resolution Dendroclimatic Reconstructions." Forests 13, no. 7 (June 21, 2022): 970. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f13070970.
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Quantitative wood anatomy (QWA) is widely used to resolve a fundamental problem of tree responses to past, ongoing and forecasted climate changes. Potentially, QWA data can be considered as a new proxy source for long-term climate reconstruction with higher temporal resolution than traditional dendroclimatic data. In this paper, we considered a tracheidogram as a set of two interconnected variables describing the dynamics of seasonal variability in the radial cell size and cell wall thickness in conifer trees. We used 1386 cell profiles (tracheidograms) obtained for seven Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) trees growing in the cold semiarid conditions of Southern Siberia over the years 1813–2018. We developed a “deviation tracheidogram” approach for adequately describing the traits of tree-ring formation in different climate conditions over a long-term time span. Based on the NbClust approach and K-means method, the deviation tracheidograms were reliably split into four clusters (classes) with clear bio-ecological interpretations (from the most favorable growth conditions to worse ones) over the years 1813–2018. It has been shown that the obtained classes of tracheidograms can be directly associated with different levels of water deficit, for both the current and previous growing seasons. The tracheidogram cluster reconstruction shows that the entire 19th century was characterized by considerable water deficit, which has not been revealed by the climate-sensitive tree-ring chronology of the study site. Therefore, the proposed research offers new perspectives for better understanding how tree radial growth responds to changing seasonal climate and a new independent proxy for developing long-term detailed climatic reconstructions through the detailed analysis of long-term archives of QWA data for different conifer species and various forest ecosystems in future research.
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Plaza, Maria Pilar, Franziska Kolek, Vivien Leier-Wirtz, Jens Otto Brunner, Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann, and Athanasios Damialis. "Detecting Airborne Pollen Using an Automatic, Real-Time Monitoring System: Evidence from Two Sites." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 4 (February 21, 2022): 2471. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042471.
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Airborne pollen monitoring has been an arduous task, making ecological applications and allergy management virtually disconnected from everyday practice. Over the last decade, intensive research has been conducted worldwide to automate this task and to obtain real-time measurements. The aim of this study was to evaluate such an automated biomonitoring system vs. the conventional ‘gold-standard’ Hirst-type technique, attempting to assess which may more accurately provide the genuine exposure to airborne pollen. Airborne pollen was monitored in Augsburg since 2015 with two different methods, a novel automatic Bio-Aerosol Analyser, and with the conventional 7-day recording Hirst-type volumetric trap, in two different sites. The reliability, performance, accuracy, and comparability of the BAA500 Pollen Monitor (PoMo) vs. the conventional device were investigated, by use of approximately 2.5 million particles sampled during the study period. The observations made by the automated PoMo showed an average accuracy of approximately 85%. However, it also exhibited reliability problems, with information gaps within the main pollen season of between 17 to 19 days. The PoMo automated algorithm had identification issues, mainly confusing the taxa of Populus, Salix and Tilia. Hirst-type measurements consistently exhibited lower pollen abundances (median of annual pollen integral: 2080), however, seasonal traits were more comparable, with the PoMo pollen season starting slightly later (median: 3 days), peaking later (median: 5 days) but also ending later (median: 14 days). Daily pollen concentrations reported by Hirst-type traps vs. PoMo were significantly, but not closely, correlated (r = 0.53–0.55), even after manual classification. Automatic pollen monitoring has already shown signs of efficiency and accuracy, despite its young age; here it is suggested that automatic pollen monitoring systems may be more effective in capturing a larger proportion of the airborne pollen diversity. Even though reliability issues still exist, we expect that this new generation of automated bioaerosol monitoring will eventually change the aerobiological era, as known for almost 70 years now.
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Anwar, Md Parvez, A. K. M. Mominul Islam, Sabina Yeasmin, Md Harun Rashid, Abdul Shukor Juraimi, Sharif Ahmed, and Anil Shrestha. "Weeds and Their Responses to Management Efforts in A Changing Climate." Agronomy 11, no. 10 (September 25, 2021): 1921. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11101921.
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Crop production is a constant battle with weeds, in which weeds, generally, are victorious. Therefore, rather than channeling our efforts into the development of a “silver bullet” to control weeds, the focus should be on sustainable weed management in both natural- and agro-ecosystems. However, sustainable weed management can be a challenge in the context of global climate change. Over the past few decades, global climate change, mostly indicated by phenomena such as increased atmospheric temperature and elevated CO2 levels, is evident due to human activities and natural events. These phenomena also affect regional/local climate, resulting in significant influences on the agricultural systems of a particular region. Rising CO2 levels may give comparative advantages to C3 plants through increased photosynthesis, biomass production and yield, compared to C4 plants. Plants with C4 photosynthetic pathways, on the other hand, are likely to benefit more from rising global temperatures than C3 plants. Thus, the differential responses of C3 and C4 plants to climate change may alter crop–weed interactions and competition outcomes, most likely at the expense of the crop. Climate change will likely cause shifts in weed community compositions, their population dynamics, life cycle, phenology, and infestation pressure. Some weed species may go extinct, while some others may become more aggressive invaders. Weeds are, generally, colonizers and have some unique biological traits and ecological amplitudes that enable them to successfully dominate crops in a habitat with changed environmental conditions. Moreover, climate shifts, especially erratic rainfall and drought, may affect herbicide selectivity and efficacy or the success of bio-control agents resulting in an establishment of a mixed and complex population of C3 and C4 weed species adding to the complexity of weed management. Although elevated CO2 levels will stimulate the productivity of major C3 crops, most troublesome agricultural weeds will likely be more responsive to a rise in CO2 than crops, and thus may dominate the agro-ecosystem. It is predicted that, as temperature rises, the majority of the C4 weeds will flourish and will pose serious crop yield losses. Understanding and assessment of the impact of simultaneous changes in multiple climate factors and their complex interactions on crops and weeds are therefore necessary to formulate an adaptive weed management approach and build resilience. Moreover, strategic policies and strong actions need to be taken to reduce the root causes of CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions to minimize the impact of climate change on weed biology and management.
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Ghosh, Moumita, and Sumit Mandal. "Disentangling the Effect of Seasonal Dynamics on Meiobenthic Community Structure From River Matla of Sundarbans Estuarine System, India." Frontiers in Marine Science 8 (June 1, 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.671372.
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In estuarine sediment, meiobenthos serve as an excellent candidate to perform a range of ecosystem services. However, even though the taxonomic sufficiency of meiobenthos in detecting spatiotemporal gradients is well recognized, very little is known about their functional attributes in response to environmental descriptors. To bridge this knowledge gap, the taxonomic structure and trait-based functional diversity patterns of meiobenthic assemblage, focusing on nematode species composition, were assessed for the first time from the unexplored central sector of Sundarbans Estuarine System (SES). Sediment samples were collected seasonally (monsoon, winter, spring, and summer) selecting a total of eight stations across River Matla (the widest and longest river of SES). Distinct seasonal successional patterns had been observed in meiobenthic abundance modulated by seasonal alteration in the sedimentary environment (PERMANOVA, p < 0.05). Our study revealed a strong preponderance of meiobenthic density in spring (2978 ± 689.98 ind. 10 cm–2) and lowest during monsoon (405 ± 51.22 ind. 10 cm–2). A total of 11 meiobenthic taxa were identified with the dominance of nematodes. Altogether, 79 species of nematode belonging to 22 families had been identified across the entire study area and nematode assemblage was dominated by Sabatieria praedatrix, Sphaerolaimus balticus, Desmodora communis, Dorylaimopsis punctata, and Daptonema hirsutum. Principal component analysis depicted a distinct separation of seasons with reference to environmental variables. Distance-based redundancy analysis delineated that meiobenthic communities were mainly structured by organic matter, salinity, and dissolved oxygen concentration. Biological trait analyses of nematode assemblages were applied to gather the ecological information based on morphological and ecological characteristics. The most common morphotypes were slender body shape, clavate tail shape, striated cuticle pattern, and non-selective deposit feeders with colonizing abilities of 2–3 (c–p score in a scale from 1 to 5). Results from BIO-ENV showed that sediment organic matter and dissolved oxygen played overriding roles in shaping the functional compositions of nematodes. Thus, the characterization of meiobenthos and nematode assemblages in the context of taxonomic as well as functional attributes represents a first step toward building of baseline data which could help to evaluate the ecological status of SES and direct future research priorities concurrently.
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Beck, Miriam, Elise Billoir, Vincent Felten, Albin Meyer, Philippe Usseglio‐Polatera, and Michael Danger. "Lessons from linking bio‐ and ecological traits to stoichiometric traits in stream macroinvertebrates." Ecology and Evolution 12, no. 12 (December 2022). http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9605.
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Andersson, Erik, Dagmar Haase, Pippin Anderson, Chiara Cortinovis, Julie Goodness, Dave Kendal, Angela Lausch, Timon McPhearson, Daria Sikorska, and Thilo Wellmann. "What are the traits of a social-ecological system: towards a framework in support of urban sustainability." npj Urban Sustainability 1, no. 1 (March 25, 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42949-020-00008-4.
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AbstractTo ensure that cities and urban ecosystems support human wellbeing and overall quality of life we need conceptual frameworks that can connect different scientific disciplines as well as research and practice. In this perspective, we explore the potential of a traits framework for understanding social-ecological patterns, dynamics, interactions, and tipping points in complex urban systems. To do so, we discuss what kind of framing, and what research, that would allow traits to (1) link the sensitivity of a given environmental entity to different globally relevant pressures, such as land conversion or climate change to its social-ecological consequences; (2) connect to human appraisal and diverse bio-cultural sense-making through the different cues and characteristics people use to detect change or articulate value narratives, and (3) examine how and under what conditions this new approach may trigger, inform, and support decision making in land/resources management at different scales.
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Liu, Yujing, Hairong Wu, Congyan Wang, Jiliang Cheng, and Sheng Qiang. "A comparative study reveals the key biological traits causing bioinvasion difference among four alien species of genus Veronica in China." Journal of Plant Ecology, June 15, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtac068.
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Abstract The four alien farmland weeds of genus Veronica (i.e., V. arvensis, V. didyma, V. hederifolia, and V. persica) have successfully colonized in China, but caused different ecological consequences in the colonized habitats. However, the key biological traits conferring to bio-invasion differences under different light conditions among the four alien species of Veronica remain unknown. A comprehensive contrastive analysis experiment was conducted to assess the contribution intensity of photosynthetic and sexual and asexual reproductive traits of the four alien Veronica weeds to their invasion level in both field trial and laboratory. The field survey results showed that V. persica had the highest invasion level, V. didyma, V. hederifolia and V. arvensis in turn. Their invasiveness were mainly attributed to photosynthetic-related parameters (LMA) and asexual reproduction traits (the ratio of adventitious root) out of all the 22 tested indexes. The photosynthetic-related and some asexual reproduction indexes from separated determinations under both sun and shade conditions showed that V. persica was able to adapt strong illumination but more tolerant to the shade than the other species. This adaptive differentiation to illumination conferred the four alien Veronica weeds to different competitiveness to crops through allocating resource to the biomass of each organ in farmland. It may conclude that the adaptability to illumination conditions and the asexual reproduction traits may endow their successful invasion and become different important farmland weeds.
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Vargová, Viktória, Monika Balogová, Mária Figurová, Andrej Bočkay, Natália Pipová, Peter Kaňuch, and Marcel Uhrin. "Skeletal morphology and fluctuating asymmetry of the European green toad, Bufotes viridis, in contrasting habitats." Amphibia-Reptilia, October 25, 2022, 1–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15685381-bja10111.
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Abstract Current environment changes and global amphibian decline suggest specific responses assuming urbanisation potential of the species. Amphibians are generally considered to be suitable bio-indicators of environmental health due to their ecological requirements. Therefore, fluctuating asymmetry (FA), a measure of small random deviations from bilateral symmetry is used for assessing morphological disruptions and parallelly the environment health. We measured the snout-vent length and lengths of five skeletal traits of limbs (humerus, radioulna, femur, tibiofibula, calcaneus) among the five European green toad populations from two contrasting habitats (urban and rural). We did not confirm our hypothesis that urban populations would exhibit higher level of FA as an indicator of higher environmental stress comparing to rural populations. However, asymmetry measured on forelimb bones was significantly larger than on hindlimbs. In addition, one urban population had significantly longer limbs comparing to the other sites.
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Nnolim, Nonso E., Chibuike C. Udenigwe, Anthony I. Okoh, and Uchechukwu U. Nwodo. "Microbial Keratinase: Next Generation Green Catalyst and Prospective Applications." Frontiers in Microbiology 11 (December 18, 2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.580164.
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The search for novel renewable products over synthetics hallmarked this decade and those of the recent past. Most economies that are prospecting on biodiversity for improved bio-economy favor renewable resources over synthetics for the potential opportunity they hold. However, this field is still nascent as the bulk of the available resources are non-renewable based. Microbial metabolites, emphasis on secondary metabolites, are viable alternatives; nonetheless, vast microbial resources remain under-exploited; thus, the need for a continuum in the search for new products or bio-modifying existing products for novel functions through an efficient approach. Environmental distress syndrome has been identified as a factor that influences the emergence of genetic diversity in prokaryotes. Still, the process of how the change comes about is poorly understood. The emergence of new traits may present a high prospect for the industrially viable organism. Microbial enzymes have prominence in the bio-economic space, and proteases account for about sixty percent of all enzyme market. Microbial keratinases are versatile proteases which are continuously gaining momentum in biotechnology owing to their effective bio-conversion of recalcitrant keratin-rich wastes and sustainable implementation of cleaner production. Keratinase-assisted biodegradation of keratinous materials has revitalized the prospects for the utilization of cost-effective agro-industrial wastes, as readily available substrates, for the production of high-value products including amino acids and bioactive peptides. This review presented an overview of keratin structural complexity, the potential mechanism of keratin biodegradation, and the environmental impact of keratinous wastes. Equally, it discussed microbial keratinase; vis-à-vis sources, production, and functional properties with considerable emphasis on the ecological implication of microbial producers and catalytic tendency improvement strategies. Keratinase applications and prospective high-end use, including animal hide processing, detergent formulation, cosmetics, livestock feed, and organic fertilizer production, were also articulated.
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Nwachukwu, Blessing Chidinma, and Olubukola Oluranti Babalola. "Metagenomics: A Tool for Exploring Key Microbiome With the Potentials for Improving Sustainable Agriculture." Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 6 (June 17, 2022). http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.886987.
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Microorganisms are immense in nature and exist in every imaginable ecological niche, performing a wide range of metabolic processes. Unfortunately, using traditional microbiological methods, most microorganisms remain unculturable. The emergence of metagenomics has resolved the challenge of capturing the entire microbial community in an environmental sample by enabling the analysis of whole genomes without requiring culturing. Metagenomics as a non-culture approach encompasses a greater amount of genetic information than traditional approaches. The plant root-associated microbial community is essential for plant growth and development, hence the interactions between microorganisms, soil, and plants is essential to understand and improve crop yields in rural and urban agriculture. Although some of these microorganisms are currently unculturable in the laboratory, metagenomic techniques may nevertheless be used to identify the microorganisms and their functional traits. A detailed understanding of these organisms and their interactions should facilitate an improvement of plant growth and sustainable crop production in soil and soilless agriculture. Therefore, the objective of this review is to provide insights into metagenomic techniques to study plant root-associated microbiota and microbial ecology. In addition, the different DNA-based techniques and their role in elaborating plant microbiomes are discussed. As an understanding of these microorganisms and their biotechnological potentials are unlocked through metagenomics, they can be used to develop new, useful and unique bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides that are not harmful to the environment.
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Falcini, Federico, Raffaele Corrado, Marco Torri, Maria Cristina Mangano, Rafik Zarrad, Antonio Di Cintio, Luigi Palatella, et al. "Seascape connectivity of European anchovy in the Central Mediterranean Sea revealed by weighted Lagrangian backtracking and bio-energetic modelling." Scientific Reports 10, no. 1 (October 29, 2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75680-8.
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Abstract Ecological connectivity is one of the most important processes that shape marine populations and ecosystems, determining their distribution, persistence, and productivity. Here we use the synergy of Lagrangian back-trajectories, otolith-derived ages of larvae, and satellite-based chlorophyll-a to identify spawning areas of European anchovy from ichthyoplanktonic data, collected in the Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean Sea), i.e., the crucial channel in between the European and African continents. We obtain new evidence of ecosystem connectivity between North Africa and recruitment regions off the southern European coasts. We assess this result by using bio-energetic modeling, which predicts species-specific responses to environmental changes by producing quantitative information on functional traits. Our work gives support to a collaborative and harmonized use of Geographical Sub-Areas, currently identified by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. It also confirms the need to incorporate climate and environmental variability effects into future marine resources management plans, strategies, and directives.
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Almeida de Oliveira, Bruna, and Francisco Nataniel Batista Albuquerque. "GEOCONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AT GEOPARK ARARIPE (CEARÁ) THROUGH DIDACTIC WORKSHOPS AND FIELD CLASSES." International Journal Semiarid 4, no. 4 (January 2, 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.56346/ijsa.v4i4.91.
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Environmental Education can be developed from the perspective of the diversity of experiences, and commitments, which have in common the transformation of society through education. In this process of environmental awareness, it is developed in the school space, or outside it, which is contemplated as determined entities, as in geoparks, it proves to be decisive for the understanding of the individuals or environments that surround them. Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze and work on non-school environmental education as a strategy in the process of geoconservation of geosites in the Araripe Geopark. Among the results, we can see that the geopark, mainly through the interpretation and environmental education centers, develop activities such as workshops for replicas of fossils, bio-jewels, puppet theater and cloth book, in addition to ecological trail and holiday camp. Many are extraordinarily important actions for regional geoconservation, as they are not public actions in important actions still carried out for the geopark conservation area
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Brahmbhatt, J. H., S. K. Acharya, G. S. Patel, Chirag Thakar, and N. R. Solanki. "Effect of Organic Nutrient Management on Growth and Yield of Cluster Bean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.)." LEGUME RESEARCH - AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Of (March 31, 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.18805/lr-4556.
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Background: Organic production of cluster bean is to contribute to the enhancement of production sustainability along with ecology. Sustainability in organic farming must therefore be seen in a holistic sense, which includes ecological, economic and social aspects. A synergistic effectof bio fertilizer with crop increases the crop productivity and sustainability also. Bio fertilizers are low cost, effective and renewable sources of plant nutrients to supplement chemical fertilizers. Therfore to overcome the ill effect of chemical based farming, organic system is becoming the emerging need of the society.Methods: A field experiment ’’was carried out in Pusa Navbahar variety of clusterbean during summer season (February to May) of 2019 at College farm, College of Horticulture, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Jagudan, Dist. Mehsana, Gujarat, India. Sixteen treatments having various combinations of organic sources of nutrients (FYM, vermicompost, and neem cake), bio fertilizers (Rhizobium + PSB + KSM) along with RDF (20/40/0 kg/ha) as a control. They were replicated thrice in a randomized block design having a plot size of 3.0 m × 2.0 m with a spacing of 60 cm × 20 cm. Standard practices were followed during the entire course of the investigation.Result: It showed highly significant differences among different treatments for majority of the growth and yield attributing traits, but treatment T6 (75% N through FYM + Rhizobium + PSB + KSM) was rated as the best treatment for characters like days taken for germination, number of root nodules per plant, plant height at 60 DAS (cm), number of pod per cluster, number of cluster per plant, green pod yield per plant (g), green pod yield per plot (kg) and green pod yield per hectare (kg) as compared to other treatment. It can be concluded that the organic nutrient management in cluster bean with the application of 75% N through FYM + Rhizobium + PSB + KSM is beneficial for obtaining a higher yield.
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Janati, Walid, Bouchra Benmrid, Wissal Elhaissoufi, Youssef Zeroual, Joshua Nasielski, and Adnane Bargaz. "Will Phosphate Bio-Solubilization Stimulate Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Grain Legumes?" Frontiers in Agronomy 3 (March 11, 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fagro.2021.637196.
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Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) refers to a bacterially mediated process by which atmospheric N2 is reduced, either symbiotically or non-symbiotically, into ammonia (NH3) in the presence of the enzyme complex nitrogenase. In N2-fixing grain legumes, BNF is often hampered under low phosphorus (P) availability. The P status of legumes, particularly nodules, as well as P availability in the rhizosphere, play a vital role in regulating BNF. Aside from increasing P availability via fertilization, other plant traits (i.e., extensive rooting system and their spatial distribution, hyper-nodulation, root exudates, rhizosphere acidification, and heterogeneity) contribute to greater P uptake and hence more effective BNF. The positive interaction between P availability and BNF can be exploited through beneficial soil P solubilizing microorganisms (PSM). These microorganisms can increase plant-available P by modifying either rhizosphere soil processes or promoting plant traits, which lead to increased P uptake by the production of plant growth-promoting substances, both of which could indirectly influence the efficiency of BNF in legumes. In this review, we report on the importance of microbial P bio-solubilization as a pathway for improving BNF in grain legumes via PSM and P solubilizing bacteria (PSB). Because BNF in legumes is a P-requiring agro-ecological process, the ability of soil PSB to synergize with the rhizobial strains is likely a key belowground process worth investigating for advanced research aiming to improve rhizosphere biological functions necessary for sustainable legume-based cropping systems.
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Carlucci, Roberto, Giulia Cipriano, Daniela Cascione, Maurizio Ingrosso, Tommaso Russo, Alice Sbrana, Carmelo Fanizza, and Pasquale Ricci. "Application of a multi-species bio-economic modelling approach to explore fishing traits within eligible cetacean conservation areas in the Northern Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean Sea)." Frontiers in Marine Science 9 (October 17, 2022). http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1005649.
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The assessment of the spatial overlap between eligible cetacean conservation areas (CCAs) and fishing grounds could be a strategic element in the implementation of effective conservation measures in the pelagic offshore areas. A multi-species bio-economic modelling approach has been applied to estimate the fishing traits in eligible CCAs in the Northern Ionian Sea (NIS, Central Mediterranean Sea) between 10-800 m of depth, adopting the Spatial MAnagement of demersal Resources for Trawl fisheries model (SMART). Four possible CCAs were defined according to the distribution of cetacean species, their bio-ecological needs, as well as socio-economic needs of human activities, identifying a Blue, Red, Orange and Green CCAs in the NIS. SMART spatial domain was a grid with 500 square cells (15×15 NM). The analysis was conducted for the period 2016-2019, considering the Otter Trawl Bottom (OTB) fleet activities in the study areas through the Vessel Monitoring System. The spatial extension of fishing activities, hourly fishing effort (h), landings (tons) and economic value (euros) for each CCA and the NIS were estimated as yearly median values. Fishing activities were absent in the Blue CCA, where the presence of the submarine canyon head does not offer accessible fishing grounds. The hourly fishing effort in the Green area accounted for about 22% (3443 h) of the total hourly effort of the NIS, while the Orange and Red areas were about 8% (1226 h) and 2% (295 h), respectively. The Green CCA corresponded to about 14% (36 tons) of the total landings in the NIS, whereas the Orange and Red areas represented about 9% (22 tons) and 6% (16 tons), respectively. The Green CCA accounted for about 13% (156 thousand euros) of the total economic value of the NIS, while the Orange and Red areas represented about 6% (69 thousand euros) and 4% (44thousand euros), respectively. Results showed no or negligible negative effects on trawl activities by potential spatial restrictions due to the establishment of CCAs highlighting the importance to consider spatially integrated information during the establishment process of conservation areas for cetacean biodiversity according to the principles of Ecosystem Based Management.
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Smith, Meaghan K., Bronwyn A. Rotgans, Tomas Lang, Ryan Johnston, Tianfang Wang, Saowaros Suwansa-ard, Utpal Bose, et al. "Structure and proteomic analysis of the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster sp.) radial nerve cord." Scientific Reports 13, no. 1 (February 27, 2023). http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30425-1.
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AbstractThe nervous system of the Asteroidea (starfish or seastar) consists of radial nerve cords (RNCs) that interconnect with a ring nerve. Despite its relative simplicity, it facilitates the movement of multiple arms and numerous tube feet, as well as regeneration of damaged limbs. Here, we investigated the RNC ultrastructure and its molecular components within the of Pacific crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS; Acanthaster sp.), a well-known coral predator that in high-density outbreaks has major ecological impacts on coral reefs. We describe the presence of an array of unique small bulbous bulbs (40–100 μm diameter) that project from the ectoneural region of the adult RNC. Each comprise large secretory-like cells and prominent cilia. In contrast, juvenile COTS and its congener Acanthaster brevispinus lack these features, both of which are non-corallivorous. Proteomic analysis of the RNC (and isolated neural bulbs) provides the first comprehensive echinoderm protein database for neural tissue, including numerous secreted proteins associated with signalling, transport and defence. The neural bulbs contained several neuropeptides (e.g., bombyxin-type, starfish myorelaxant peptide, secretogranin 7B2-like, Ap15a-like, and ApNp35) and Deleted in Malignant Brain Tumor 1-like proteins. In summary, this study provides a new insight into the novel traits of COTS, a major pest on coral reefs, and a proteomics resource that can be used to develop (bio)control strategies and understand molecular mechanisms of regeneration.
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Berza, Belay, Jegan Sekar, Prabavathy Vaiyapuri, Marcela C. Pagano, and Fassil Assefa. "Evaluation of inorganic phosphate solubilizing efficiency and multiple plant growth promoting properties of endophytic bacteria isolated from root nodules Erythrina brucei." BMC Microbiology 22, no. 1 (November 19, 2022). http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12866-022-02688-7.
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Abstract Background In soils, phosphorous (P) mostly exists in fixed/insoluble form and unavailable for plants use in soil solution, hence it is in scarcity. P is fixed in the form of aluminium, iron and manganese phosphates in acidic soils and calcium phosphate in alkaline soils. Phosphate solubilizing bacteria, the ecological engineers play a pivotal role in the mobilization of fixed forms of P by using different mechanisms. The objectives of this study were to evaluate inorganic phosphate solubilizing efficiency and other multiple plant growth promoting traits of Erythrina brucei root nodule endophytic bacteria and to investigate effects of the selected endophytic bacteria on the growth of wheat plant under phosphorous deficient sand culture at greenhouse conditions. Results Among a total of 304 passenger endophytic bacteria, 119 (39%) exhibited tricalcium phosphate (TCP) solubilization; however, none of them were formed clear halos on solid medium supplemented with aluminum phosphate (Al-P) or iron phosphate (Fe–P). Among 119 isolates, 40% exhibited IAA production. The selected nine potential isolates also exhibited potentials of IAA, HCN, NH3 and/or hydrolytic enzymes production. All the selected isolates were potential solubilizers of the three inorganic phosphates (Al-P, Fe–P and TCP) included in liquid medium. The highest values of solubilized TCP were recorded by isolates AU4 and RG6 (A. soli), 108.96 mg L−1 and 107.48 mg L−1, respectively at sampling day3 and 120.36 mg L−1 and 112.82 mg L−1, respectively at day 6. The highest values of solubilized Al-P and Fe–P were recorded by isolate RG6, 102.14 mg L−1 and 96.07 mg L−1, respectively at sampling days 3 and 6, respectively. The highest IAA, 313.61 µg mL−1 was recorded by isolate DM17 (Bacillus thuringiensis). Inoculation of wheat with AU4, RG6 and RG5 (Acinetobacter soli) increased shoot length by 11, 17.4 and 14.6%, respectively compared to the negative control. Similarly, 76.9, 69.2 and 53.8% increment in shoot dry weight is recorded by inoculation with RG6, AU4 and RG5, respectively. These nine potential endophytic isolates are identified to Gluconobacter cerinus (4), Acinetobacter soli (3), Achromobacter xylosoxidans (1) and Bacillus thuringiensis (1). Conclusion AU4, RG6 and RG5 can be potential bio-inoculants candidates as low cost agricultural inputs in acidic and/or alkaline soils for sustainable crop production.