Changes in woody vegetation abundance and diversity after natural disturbances causing different levels of mortality

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 406-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerardo P. Reyes ◽  
Daniel Kneeshaw ◽  
Louis De Grandpré ◽  
Alain Leduc
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 15364-15369
Author(s):  
Animesh Talukdar ◽  
Bivash Pandav ◽  
Parag Nigam

Interactions between wildlife and livestock have increased over time with increased anthropogenic pressure on limited available natural habitats.  These interactions have resulted in sharing of pathogens between the species resulting in impacting the wild animals’ fitness and reproduction and further influencing their abundance and diversity.  The spatial overlap between Swamp Deer and livestock was studied at Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve (JJCR), Uttarakhand and Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary (KWLS), Uttar Pradesh in India, having different levels of interaction with livestock.  The prevalence, load and commonality of gastro-intestinal parasites in the species was studied through coprological examination. Parasitic ova of Strongyle sp., Trichostrongylus sp., Fasciola sp., and Moniezia sp. Amphistomes were encountered in swamp deer and livestock from both the sites. The parasitic species richness and prevalence however, varied between JJCR and KWLS.  The study recorded significant differences between the parasitic load in Swamp Deer with the eggs per gram of 487.5±46.30 at JJCR and 363.64±49.97 at KWLS at varying levels of livestock interactions.


mSphere ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Girard ◽  
Nicolas Tromas ◽  
Marc Amyot ◽  
B. Jesse Shapiro

ABSTRACT Non-Western populations have been shown to have distinct gut microbial communities shaped by traditional diets. The hitherto-uncharacterized microbiome of the Inuit may help us to better understand health risks specific to this population such as diabetes and obesity, which increase in prevalence as many Inuit transition to a Western diet. Here we show that even Inuit consuming a mostly traditional diet have a broadly Western-like microbiome. This suggests that similarities between the Inuit diet and the Western diet (low fiber, high fat) may lead to a convergence of community structures and diversity. However, certain species and strains of microbes have significantly different levels of abundance and diversity in the Inuit, possibly driven by differences in diet. Furthermore, the Inuit diet provides an exception to the correlation between traditional diets and high microbial diversity, potentially due to their transitioning diet. Knowledge of the Inuit microbiome may provide future resources for interventions and conservation of Inuit heritage. Diet is a major determinant of community composition in the human gut microbiome, and “traditional” diets have been associated with distinct and highly diverse communities, compared to Western diets. However, most traditional diets studied have been those of agrarians and hunter-gatherers consuming fiber-rich diets. In contrast, the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic have been consuming a traditional diet low in carbohydrates and rich in animal fats and protein for thousands of years. We hypothesized that the Inuit diet and lifestyle would be associated with a distinct microbiome. We used deep sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to compare the gut microbiomes of Montrealers with a Western diet to those of the Inuit consuming a range of traditional and Western diets. At the overall microbial community level, the gut microbiomes of Montrealers and Inuit were indistinguishable and contained similar levels of microbial diversity. However, we observed significant differences in the relative abundances of certain microbial taxa down to the subgenus level using oligotyping. For example, Prevotella spp., which have been previously associated with high-fiber diets, were enriched in Montrealers and among the Inuit consuming a Western diet. The gut microbiomes of Inuit consuming a traditional diet also had significantly less genetic diversity within the Prevotella genus, suggesting that a low-fiber diet might not only select against Prevotella but also reduce its diversity. Other microbes, such as Akkermansia, were associated with geography as well as diet, suggesting limited dispersal to the Arctic. Our report provides a snapshot of the Inuit microbiome as Western-like in overall community structure but distinct in the relative abundances and diversity of certain genera and strains. IMPORTANCE Non-Western populations have been shown to have distinct gut microbial communities shaped by traditional diets. The hitherto-uncharacterized microbiome of the Inuit may help us to better understand health risks specific to this population such as diabetes and obesity, which increase in prevalence as many Inuit transition to a Western diet. Here we show that even Inuit consuming a mostly traditional diet have a broadly Western-like microbiome. This suggests that similarities between the Inuit diet and the Western diet (low fiber, high fat) may lead to a convergence of community structures and diversity. However, certain species and strains of microbes have significantly different levels of abundance and diversity in the Inuit, possibly driven by differences in diet. Furthermore, the Inuit diet provides an exception to the correlation between traditional diets and high microbial diversity, potentially due to their transitioning diet. Knowledge of the Inuit microbiome may provide future resources for interventions and conservation of Inuit heritage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (45) ◽  
pp. 9-9
Author(s):  
Alexander Saakian ◽  
◽  

The old cemeteries of Rostov-on-Don are important territories - refugia for flora and fauna. Studies carried out in June 2020 showed that the herpetobionts of the Bratsk and Jewish-Tatar cemeteries of Rostov-on-Don have differences in abundance and diversity. The differences are associated with different levels of anthropogenic impact in mowing grass and cleaning plant residues during maintenance work on the territory of cemeteries. The abundance of herpetobionts is comparable and even exceeds the values in the virgin areas of the zonal steppes. This occurs as a result of the abundant growth in cemeteries of a variety of aboriginal and adventive flora from trees, grasses and shrubs, which form a special microclimate favorable for biota and biological activity of soils. The dominant species in both cemeteries in Rostov-on-Don is Staphylinus caesareus. The common herpetobiont species in the two cemeteries were Amara similata, Microlestes, Blaps lethifera, and Polydrusus inustus. Opatrum sabulosum is a eurytopic herpetobiont for cemeteries, parks of Rostov-on-Don, protected areas "Persianovskaya Steppe" and "Priazovskaya Steppe". Keywords: MESOFAUNA, BIOINDICATORS, BIODIAGNOSTICS, ANTHROPOGENIC EFFECTS


Author(s):  
J. E. Doherty ◽  
A. F. Giamei ◽  
B. H. Kear ◽  
C. W. Steinke

Recently we have been investigating a class of nickel-base superalloys which possess substantial room temperature ductility. This improvement in ductility is directly related to improvements in grain boundary strength due to increased boundary cohesion through control of detrimental impurities and improved boundary shear strength by controlled grain boundary micros true tures.For these investigations an experimental nickel-base superalloy was doped with different levels of sulphur impurity. The micros tructure after a heat treatment of 1360°C for 2 hr, 1200°C for 16 hr consists of coherent precipitates of γ’ Ni3(Al,X) in a nickel solid solution matrix.


Author(s):  
M. Kraemer ◽  
J. Foucrier ◽  
J. Vassy ◽  
M.T. Chalumeau

Some authors using immunofluorescent techniques had already suggested that some hepatocytes are able to synthetize several plasma proteins. In vitro studies on normal cells or on cells issued of murine hepatomas raise the same conclusion. These works could be indications of an hepatocyte functionnal non-specialization, meanwhile the authors never give direct topographic proofs suitable with this hypothesis.The use of immunoenzymatic techniques after obtention of monospecific antisera had seemed to us useful to bring forward a better knowledge of this problem. We have studied three carrier proteins (transferrin = Tf, hemopexin = Hx, albumin = Alb) operating at different levels in iron metabolism by demonstrating and localizing the adult rat hepatocytes involved in their synthesis.Immunological, histological and ultrastructural methods have been described in a previous work.


2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 304-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars-Göran Nilsson

This paper presents four domains of markers that have been found to predict later cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative disease. These four domains are (1) data patterns of memory performance, (2) cardiovascular factors, (3) genetic markers, and (4) brain activity. The critical features of each domain are illustrated with data from the longitudinal Betula Study on memory, aging, and health ( Nilsson et al., 1997 ; Nilsson et al., 2004 ). Up to now, early signs regarding these domains have been examined one by one and it has been found that they are associated with later cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative disease. However, it was also found that each marker accounts for only a very small part of the total variance, implying that single markers should not be used as predictors for cognitive decline or neurodegenerative disease. It is discussed whether modeling and simulations should be used as tools to combine markers at different levels to increase the amount of explained variance.


Methodology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 142-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pere J. Ferrando

In the IRT person-fluctuation model, the individual trait levels fluctuate within a single test administration whereas the items have fixed locations. This article studies the relations between the person and item parameters of this model and two central properties of item and test scores: temporal stability and external validity. For temporal stability, formulas are derived for predicting and interpreting item response changes in a test-retest situation on the basis of the individual fluctuations. As for validity, formulas are derived for obtaining disattenuated estimates and for predicting changes in validity in groups with different levels of fluctuation. These latter formulas are related to previous research in the person-fit domain. The results obtained and the relations discussed are illustrated with an empirical example.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silke Astrid Eisenbeiß ◽  
Steffen R. Giessner

The present paper gives a review of empirical research on ethical leadership and shows that still little is known known about the contextual antecedents of ethical leadership. To address this important issue, a conceptual framework is developed that analyzes the embeddedness of organizational ethical leadership. This framework identifies manifest and latent contextual factors on three different levels of analysis – society, industry, and organization – which can affect the development and maintenance of ethical leadership. In particular, propositions are offered about how (1) societal characteristics, notably the implementation and the spirit of human rights in a society and societal cultural values of responsibility, justice, humanity, and transparency; (2) industry characteristics such as environmental complexity, the content of the organizational mandate, and the interests of stakeholder networks; and (3) intra-organizational characteristics, including the organizational ethical infrastructure and the ethical leadership behavior of a leader’s peer group, influence the development and maintenance of ethical leadership in organizations. This list of factors is not exhaustive, but illustrates how the three levels may impact ethical leadership. Implications for managerial practice and future research are discussed.


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