Impacts of land cover change on plant and bird species diversity in Hainan Island,China

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Impacts of lands cover change on plant and bird species diversity in Hainan Island, China

--Hainan Island, located at the southern end of China, hasless than 0.4% of land area but contains 13% of plant and animalspecies in China. During the last four decades many primary forestshave been converted to shrub land, grassland, and tree planation(e.g., eucalyptus forest). As a result, area of primary tropicalforest has been reduced from 25.8% in the 1950s to 4% in the 1990s.To assess impacts of land conversion on plant and bird speciesdiversity, a series of samples in primary forest and four types ofconverted lands were took. The land conversion had tremendouslyreduced both plant and bird species diversity. Specifically, plantspecies richness per site was 83.7 in primary forest, 28.3 in shrubland, 12.5 in grassland, 14.4 in eucalyptus forest, and 21.4 inAcacia forest. Bird species richness showed a similar trend 22.0in primary forest, 14.5 in shrub land, 2.5 in grassland, 4.9 ineucalyptus forest, and 9.0 in Acacia forest. The Shannon speciesdiversity indices for plants in the five types of land cover were3.69, 1.99, 0.97, 1.47 and 2.07, respectively. Similarly, the Shannon indices for bird species diversity were the highest in primary forest, and lowest in grassland, and intermediate in shrubland and eucalyptus forest.     

Does leaf flushing in the dry season affect leaf traits and herbivory in a tropical dry forest?

We report a small hawk-like diurnal bird from the early Oligocene (30–31 million years ago) of Poland. Aviraptor longicrus, n. gen. et sp. is of a size comparable with the smallest extant Accipitridae. The new species is characterized by very long legs, which, together with the small size, suggest an avivorous (bird-eating) feeding behavior. Overall, the new species resembles extant sparrowhawks (Accipiter spp.) in the length proportions of the major limb bones, even though some features indicate that it convergently acquired an Accipiter-like morphology. Most specialized avivores amongst extant accipitrids belong to the taxon Accipiter and predominantly predate small forest passerines; the smallest Accipiter species also hunts hummingbirds. Occurrence of a possibly avivorous raptor in the early Oligocene of Europe is particularly notable because A. longicrus coexisted with the earliest Northern Hemispheric passerines and modern-type hummingbirds. We therefore hypothesize that the diversification of these birds towards the early Oligocene may have triggered the evolution of small-sized avivorous raptors, and the new fossil may exemplify one of the earliest examples of avian predator/prey coevolution.

     

Does weather shape rodents? Climate related changes in morphology of two heteromyid species

Geographical variation in morphometric characters in heteromyid rodents has often correlated with climate gradients. Here, we used the long-term database of rodents trapped in the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico, USA to test whether significant annual changes in external morphometric characters are observed in a region with large variations in temperature and precipitation. We looked at the relationships between multiple temperature and precipitation variables and a number of morphological traits (body mass, body, tail, hind leg, and ear length) for two heteromyid rodents, Dipodomys merriami and Perognathus flavescens. Because these rodents can live multiple years in the wild, the climate variables for the year of the capture and the previous 2 years were included in the analyses. Using multiple linear regressions, we found that all of our morphometric traits, with the exception of tail length in D. merriami, had a significant relationship with one or more of the climate variables used. Our results demonstrate that effects of climate change on morphological traits occur over short periods, even in noninsular mammal populations. It is unclear, though, whether these changes are the result of morphological plasticity or natural selection.     

Does the mechanism of sex determination constrain the potential for sex manipulation? A test in geckos with contrasting sex-determining systems

The concentration of yolk steroids was suggested to influence offspring gender in oviparous animals subject to both temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) and genotypic sex determination (GSD). However, the proposed mechanisms of steroid effects are thought to differ between TSD and GSD: a direct effect of oestrogens on gonad feminisation in TSD species vs a differential induction of male-producing or female-producing gametes in GSD species. Geckos offer an ideal opportunity for testing these suggested mechanisms. Closely related gecko species differ in their modes of sex determination. They lay clutches of two synchronously formed eggs; both eggs share equal steroid levels. If identical hormonal composition and environment during vitellogenesis, gravidity and incubation determine the sex of the progeny, siblings should share the same gender in both TSD and GSD geckos. We found strong support for this prediction in a TSD gecko species. Among clutches that were incubated at the temperature that produced both sexes, there were no clutches with siblings of the opposite sex. On the other hand, about half of the clutches yielded siblings of the opposite sex in four GSD species. These results suggest that sex-determining systems constrain the ability of the female to produce single-sex siblings and, hence, it seems that the GSD mechanism constrains the opportunities for sex ratio manipulation in geckos via yolk steroid manipulation.     

Does an educational video for aneuploidy screening improve informed choice among pregnant women? A randomised controlled trial

Background

Poor knowledge and the lack of deliberation have been cited as reasons for women making uninformed choices about aneuploidy screening. Adequate pre-test counselling is of particular importance where non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) is being increasingly offered as a primary screening test.

Design

Women attending the antenatal clinic with a singleton pregnancy below 14 weeks were randomised to receive routine counselling or the intervention—a 16-min educational video on aneuploidy screening before their consult. The primary outcome, rate of informed choice, was assessed using an adapted multidimensional measure of informed choice questionnaire, where informed choice was defined as good knowledge and value-consistent behaviour. Secondary outcomes included informed choice with deliberation, decisional conflict and anxiety.

Results

Two hundred and eighty-six women were recruited. 69.8% of women in the intervention group made an informed choice compared with 53.6% in the control group (Risk Ratio [RR] 1.30, p = 0.014). A significantly higher number of women in the intervention group had good knowledge compared to controls (81% vs. 60.9%; RR 1.33, p = 0.001). Decisional conflict did not differ between groups, but women in the intervention group had higher anxiety scores (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The study intervention was effective in helping women make informed choice. Qualitative studies to determine the reason for increased anxiety are needed.

Trial registration

Trial registry: ClinicalTrials.gov ; Identifier: NCT05492981.     

Does a change of irrigation technique impact on groundwater resources? A case study in Northeastern Italy

The Venetian plain is a densely populated area and one of the most economically competitive regions in Europe. Therefore, a sustainable management of the water resources has to be accomplished to preserve both the social and economic value of this area and the regional environment in accordance with the European water policy directives. This paper presents the analysis of hydrologic and hydrogeological water balances of the high alluvial plain (approximately 790 km²) highlighting some important peculiarities that could be crucial for the local water policy. By focusing on the importance of different water budget components, the obtained results indicate in the irrigation the most relevant component of the aquifer recharge. Thus, the irrigation management policy of the Land Reclamation Consortia strongly influences aquifer recharge. Moreover, future scenarios (2071–2100) for the high Venetian plain are performed taking into account the changes of climate and irrigation policy. The inflow of the aquifer suffers a decrease ranging from 18% in the scenario influenced by climate change to 28% in the scenario affected by both the variations. In particular, the irrigation recharge shows the highest reduction due to both an increase in evaporation, owing to an increase in the surface temperature, or the irrigation methods. Therefore, the irrigation management policy adopted by the Land Reclamation Consortia is a fundamental concern. Changes from surface irrigation to spray or drip irrigation could strongly affect the aquifer recharge. The classical technique of surface irrigation is very useful in terms of aquifer recharge in comparison with drip or spray irrigation. However, it also requires a huge volume of water compared with the minimum desirable streamflow of a river and its management policy. Currently in Italy, the transition from conventional irrigation systems to water saving techniques is favored by the Land Reclamation Consortia in response to European and Italian directives. However, the possible reduction of the aquifer recharge could influence the actual social and economic condition of the Venetian plain because the human and industrial water needs are mostly dependent by groundwater exploitation. Therefore, water saving activities should be accompanied by appropriate corrective actions to reduce the environmental and social impact due to the decrease in aquifer recharge.     

How does cell-based non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) perform against chorionic villus sampling and cell-free NIPT in detecting trisomies and copy number variations? A clinical study from Denmark

Objectives

We aimed to compare cell-based NIPT (cbNIPT) to chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and to examine the test characteristics of cbNIPT in the first clinical validation study of cbNIPT compared to cell-free NIPT (cfNIPT).

Material and Methods

Study 1: Women (N = 92) who accepted CVS were recruited for cbNIPT (53 normal and 39 abnormal). Samples were analyzed with chromosomal microarray (CMA). Study 2: Women (N = 282) who accepted cfNIPT were recruited for cbNIPT. cfNIPT was analyzed using sequencing and cbNIPT by CMA.

Results

Study 1: cbNIPT detected all aberrations (32/32) found in CVS: trisomies 13, 18 and 21 (23/23), pathogenic copy number variations (CNVs) (6/6) and sex chromosome aberrations (3/3). cbNIPT detected 3/8 cases of mosaicism in the placenta. Study 2: cbNIPT detected all trisomies found with cfNIPT (6/6) and had no false positive (0/246). One of the three CNVs called by cbNIPT was confirmed by CVS but was undetected by cfNIPT, two were false positives. cbNIPT detected mosaicism in five samples, of which two were not detected by cfNIPT. cbNIPT failed in 7.8% compared to 2.8% in cfNIPT.

Conclusion

Circulating trophoblasts in the maternal circulation provide the potential of screening for aneuploidies and pathogenic CNVs covering the entire fetal genome.