Cladoceran diversity dynamics in lakes from a northern mining region: responses to multiple stressors characterized by alpha and beta diversity

The lakes surrounding the iron ore mining region of Schefferville, Quebec, Canada, sit within a landscape of historical disturbances, two of which have been relatively well documented over time: metal contamination and nutrient loading. Based on the analysis of sediment cores, we used cladoceran zooplankton subfossil assemblages from two lakes located in Schefferville to track both alpha and beta diversity over the last 100+ years. We showed that high metal concentrations were correlated with decreased cladoceran diversity, and that the site that experienced both direct wastewater input and atmospheric metal loading (Lake Dauriat) had the greatest declines in cladoceran richness. In both lakes, turnover in cladoceran assemblages was highest in the mining period. During the period of mine closures and improvement of wastewater treatment, some decreases in metal enrichment in the sediments and increases in cladoceran richness were observed in Lake Dauriat. Overall, a combined use of species richness and beta diversity metrics showed alpha and beta diversity are not always congruent, and that there are various ways to interpret scenarios of temporal beta diversity in northern freshwater systems.

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Northern Cerrado Native Vegetation is a Refuge for Birds Under Current Climate Change

10.1101/2021.11.17.468959 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

José Hidasi-Neto ◽

Nicole Mércia Alves Gomes ◽

Nelson Silva Pinto

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Species Richness ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Climate Scenario ◽

Niche Modelling ◽

Alpha And Beta Diversity ◽

Management Actions ◽

Species Invasions ◽

Local Extinctions ◽

Temporal Beta Diversity

Climate Change is already seen as one of the biggest threats to biodiversity in the 21 st century. Not much studies direct attention to its effects on whole communities of threatened hotspots. In the present work, we combine ecological niche modelling (ENM) with a future climate scenario of greenhouse gases emissions to study the future changes in alpha and beta diversity of birds of the Brazilian Cerrado biome, a hotspot of biodiversity with high velocity of climate change and agricultural expansion. In general, we found heterogeneous results for changes in species richness, spatial and temporal taxonomic and functional beta diversity, and mean ecological distinctiveness. Contrary to a previous study on Cerrado mammals, species richness is expected to increase in Northern Cerrado, where homogenization of communities (decreasing spatial turnover) is also expected to occur especially through local invasions. We show that biotic homogenization (which is composed of local extinction of natives and local invasion of exotic species) will occur in two biological groups but through different subprocesses: local extinctions for mammals and local invasions for birds. Distinct conservation management actions should be directed depending on the outcomes of analyzes of alpha and spatial and temporal beta diversity, for example controlling species invasions in Northern Cerrado. Conservation studies should continue evaluating Cerrado in Brazil even under covid pandemic, as environmental situation in the country is not good and incentives for scientific studies are almost nonexistent.

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Scale sensitivity of environmental effects on the temporal beta diversity of fishes in tropical coastal lagoons

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13571 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

E Martins Camara ◽

Tubino Andrade Andrade-Tub ◽

T Pontes Franco ◽

LN dos Santos ◽

AFGN dos Santos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Effects ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Coastal Lagoons ◽

Scale Sensitivity ◽

Temporal Beta Diversity

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Alpha and beta diversity of birds along elevational vegetation zones on the southern slope of Altai Mountains: Implication for conservation

Global Ecology and Conservation ◽

10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00643 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 ◽

pp. e00643 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Na Li ◽

Hongjun Chu ◽

Yingjie Qi ◽

Chunwang Li ◽

Xiaoge Ping ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Beta Diversity ◽

Altai Mountains ◽

Southern Slope ◽

Alpha And Beta Diversity ◽

Vegetation Zones

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Site‐specific impacts of a major hurricane on alpha and beta diversity in tropical forest seedling communities

Ecosphere ◽

10.1002/ecs2.3651 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

Author(s):

Samantha J. Worthy ◽

Vanessa E. Rubio ◽

Kirstin Staiger ◽

Boris Ngouajio ◽

Jie Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tropical Forest ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Site Specific ◽

Alpha And Beta Diversity ◽

Major Hurricane

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Effect of Bovine MFGM and LF in Infant Formula on Gut Microbiome and Metabolome at Four Months of Age

Current Developments in Nutrition ◽

10.1093/cdn/nzab027 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Maciej Chichlowski ◽

Nicholas Bokulich ◽

Cheryl L Harris ◽

Jennifer L Wampler ◽

Fei Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Infant Formula ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Milk Fat ◽

Alpha Diversity ◽

Illumina Miseq ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Term Infants ◽

Linear Discriminant ◽

Alpha And Beta Diversity ◽

Metabolite Profiles

Abstract Background Milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) and lactoferrin (LF) are human milk bioactive components demonstrated to support gastrointestinal (GI) and immune development. Significantly fewer diarrhea and respiratory-associated adverse events through 18 months of age were previously reported in healthy term infants fed a cow's milk-based infant formula with added source of bovine MFGM and bovine LF through 12 months of age. Objectives To compare microbiota and metabolite profiles in a subset of study participants. Methods Stool samples were collected at Baseline (10–14 days of age) and Day 120 (MFGM + LF: 26, Control: 33). Bacterial community profiling was performed via16S rRNA gene sequencing (Illumina MiSeq) and alpha and beta diversity were analyzed (QIIME 2). Differentially abundant taxa were determined using Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LefSE) and visualized (Metacoder). Untargeted stool metabolites were analyzed (HPLC/mass spectroscopy) and expressed as the fold-change between group means (Control: MFGM + LF ratio). Results Alpha diversity increased significantly in both groups from baseline to 4 months. Subtle group differences in beta diversity were demonstrated at 4 months (Jaccard distance; R2 = 0.01, P = 0.042). Specifically, Bacteroides uniformis and Bacteroides plebeius were more abundant in the MFGM + LF group at 4 months. Metabolite profile differences for MFGM + LF vs Control included: lower fecal medium chain fatty acids, deoxycarnitine, and glycochenodeoxycholate, and some higher fecal carbohydrates and steroids (P < 0.05). After applying multiple test correction, the differences in stool metabolomics were not significant. Conclusions Addition of bovine MFGM and LF in infant formula was associated with subtle differences in stool microbiome and metabolome by four months of age, including increased prevalence of Bacteroides species. Stool metabolite profiles may be consistent with altered microbial metabolism. Trial registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02274883).

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Interannual comparison of core taxa and community composition of the blow microbiota from East Australian humpback whales

FEMS Microbiology Ecology ◽

10.1093/femsec/fiz102 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 95 (8) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

C Vendl ◽

B C Ferrari ◽

T Thomas ◽

E Slavich ◽

E Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Multiple Stressors ◽

Physiological State ◽

Temporal Stability ◽

Individual Variability ◽

Habitat Destruction ◽

Humpback Whales ◽

Large Individual ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Alpha And Beta Diversity ◽

Transient Nature

ABSTRACT Cetacean represent vulnerable species impacted by multiple stressors, including reduction in prey species, habitat destruction, whaling and infectious disease. The composition of blow microbiota has been claimed to provide a promising tool for non-invasive health monitoring aiming to inform conservation management. Still, little is known about the temporal stability and composition of blow microbiota in whales. We used East Australian humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) as a model species and collected blow and control samples in August 2016 and 2017 for an interannual comparison. We analysed the blow by barcode tag sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. We found that the microbial communities in 2016 and 2017 were statistically similar regarding alpha and beta diversity but distinct to seawater. Zero-radius operational taxonomic units (zOTUs) shared by both groups accounted for about 50% of all zOTUs present. Still, the large individual variability in the blow microbiota resulted in a small number of core taxa (defined as present in at least 60% of whales). We conclude that the blow microbiota of humpback whales is either generally limited and of transient nature or the reduced airway microbiota is the symptom of a compromised physiological state potentially due to the challenges of the whales‘ annual migration.

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The Fecal Bacterial Microbiota in Horses with Equine Recurrent Uveitis

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11030745 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 745

Author(s):

Michelle Martin de Bustamante ◽

Diego Gomez ◽

Jennifer MacNicol ◽

Ralph Hamor ◽

Caryn Plummer

Keyword(s):

Beta Diversity ◽

High Throughput Sequencing ◽

Illumina Miseq ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Linear Discriminant ◽

Alpha And Beta Diversity ◽

Bacterial Microbiota ◽

Healthy Control ◽

Equine Recurrent Uveitis

The objective of this study was to describe and compare the fecal bacterial microbiota of horses with equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) and healthy horses using next-generation sequencing techniques. Fecal samples were collected from 15 client-owned horses previously diagnosed with ERU on complete ophthalmic examination. For each fecal sample obtained from a horse with ERU, a sample was collected from an environmentally matched healthy control with no evidence of ocular disease. The Illumina MiSeq sequencer was used for high-throughput sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. The relative abundance of predominant taxa, and alpha and beta diversity indices were calculated and compared between groups. The phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, and Proteobacteria predominated in both ERU and control horses, accounting for greater than 60% of sequences. Based on linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe), no taxa were found to be enriched in either group. No significant differences were observed in alpha and beta diversity indices between groups (p > 0.05 for all tests). Equine recurrent uveitis is not associated with alteration of the gastrointestinal bacterial microbiota when compared with healthy controls.

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Partitioning tree diversity patterns to prioritize conservation investments

Environmental Conservation ◽

10.1017/s0376892921000060 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Patrick F McKenzie ◽

Gwenllian D Iacona ◽

Eric R Larson ◽

Paul R Armsworth

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Predictive Models ◽

Tree Species ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Distribution Data ◽

Gamma Diversity ◽

Conservation Practice ◽

Alpha And Beta Diversity ◽

Community Turnover ◽

Data Limitations

Summary The available tools and approaches to inform conservation decisions commonly assume detailed distribution data. We examine how well-established ecological concepts about patterns in local richness and community turnover can help overcome data limitations when planning future protected areas. To inform our analyses, we surveyed tree species in protected areas in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the eastern USA. We used the survey data to construct predictive models for alpha and beta diversity based on readily observed biophysical variables and combined them to create a heuristic that could predict among-site richness in trees (gamma diversity). The predictive models suggest that site elevation and latitude in this montane system explain much of the variation in alpha and beta diversity in tree species. We tested how well resulting protected areas would represent species if a conservation planner lacking detailed species inventories for candidate sites were to rely only on our alpha, beta and gamma diversity predictions. Our approach selected sites that, when aggregated, covered a large proportion of the overall species pool. The combined gamma diversity models performed even better when we also accounted for the cost of protecting sites. Our results demonstrate that classic community biogeography concepts remain highly relevant to conservation practice today.

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Gut Microbiome in Psoriasis: An Updated Review

Pathogens ◽

10.3390/pathogens9060463 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (6) ◽

pp. 463

Author(s):

Mariusz Sikora ◽

Albert Stec ◽

Magdalena Chrabaszcz ◽

Aleksandra Knot ◽

Anna Waskiel-Burnat ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gut Microbiome ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Large Scale ◽

Skin Diseases ◽

Intestinal Barrier ◽

Alpha Diversity ◽

Current Data ◽

Intestinal Microbiome ◽

Microbial Composition ◽

Alpha And Beta Diversity

(1) Background: A growing body of evidence highlights that intestinal dysbiosis is associated with the development of psoriasis. The gut–skin axis is the novel concept of the interaction between skin diseases and microbiome through inflammatory mediators, metabolites and the intestinal barrier. The objective of this study was to synthesize current data on the gut microbial composition in psoriasis. (2) Methods: We conducted a systematic review of studies investigating intestinal microbiome in psoriasis, using the PRISMA checklist. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases for relevant published articles (2000–2020). (3) Results: All of the 10 retrieved studies reported alterations in the gut microbiome in patients with psoriasis. Eight studies assessed alpha- and beta-diversity. Four of them reported a lack of change in alpha-diversity, but all confirmed significant changes in beta-diversity. At the phylum-level, at least two or more studies reported a lower relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, and higher Firmicutes in psoriasis patients versus healthy controls. (4) Conclusions: There is a significant association between alterations in gut microbial composition and psoriasis; however, there is high heterogeneity between studies. More unified methodological standards in large-scale studies are needed to understand microbiota’s contribution to psoriasis pathogenesis and its modulation as a potential therapeutic strategy.

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