Global mismatches in aboveground and belowground biodiversity

Human activities are accelerating global biodiversity change and have resulted in severely threatened ecosystem services. A large proportion of terrestrial biodiversity is harbored by soil, but soil biodiversity has been omitted from many global biodiversity assessments and conservation actions, and understanding of global patterns of soil biodiversity remains limited. In particular, the extent to which hotspots and coldspots of aboveground and soil biodiversity overlap is not clear. We examined global patterns of these overlaps by mapping indices of aboveground (mammals, birds, amphibians, vascular plants) and soil (bacteria, fungi, macrofauna) biodiversity that we created using previously published data on species richness. Areas of mismatch between aboveground and soil biodiversity covered 27% of Earth's terrestrial surface. The temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome had the highest proportion of grid cells with high aboveground biodiversity but low soil biodiversity, whereas the boreal and tundra biomes had intermediate soil biodiversity but low aboveground biodiversity. While more data on soil biodiversity are needed, both to cover geographic gaps and to include additional taxa, our results suggest that protecting aboveground biodiversity may not sufficiently reduce threats to soil biodiversity. Given the functional importance of soil biodiversity and the role of soils in human well-being, soil biodiversity should be considered further in policy agendas and conservation actions by adapting management practices to sustain soil biodiversity and considering soil biodiversity when designing protected areas.     

瑞典北部沿海地区驼鹿生境适宜性建模:经验方法与面向过程方法的比较

生境模型可以为大型蹄类动物与森林资源的协调管理提供有效的工具,然而在该类模型对人工林的适用性方面,还没有进行过综合评估.我们使用两种内在不同的方法,就瑞典北部沿海地区冬季对驼鹿(Alces alces)生境的相对适宜性进行了模拟.基于15头雌驼鹿GPS定位数据的经验方法用于详细研究面向过程的概念方法的各种假设和函数结构.概念方法是基于已发表的关于物种对食物和地表覆盖等相关生境因子选择性的各种文献资料建立的.在两种模型方法中,生境都基于卫星图像估计得到的林块特征加以描述.经验模型也包括了与景观地形特征和到景观特征的距离相关的变量.由两种模型得出的计算结果为生境适宜性指数(HSI)的得分值,通过它可以使两种模型相互比较.两种模型得到的不同结果表明,在将来面向过程的概念模型中包括环境变量的明确空间分布特征很有必要.     

Prenatal DNA diagnosis of Noonan syndrome in a fetus with massive hygroma colli,pleural effusion and ascites

Prenatal molecular genetic diagnosis for Noonan syndrome I is reported. Noonan syndrome was suspected because of large cystic hygroma colli, massive pleural effusion and ascites at 23 weeks of gestation and normal karyotype (46,XX). DNA was prepared from amnion cells and screened for mutations in the PTPN11 gene. In exon 8, a missense mutation (S285F) was found. Delivery was induced at 33 weeks of gestation because of silent cardiotocography (CTG). Despite immediate drainage of the hydrothorax, mechanical ventilation was insufficient and the child died 9 h after birth due to severe pulmonary hypoplasia. Pleural punctate was enriched for small lymphocytes and thus was characterized as chylus. Prenatal ultrasound findings in Noonan syndrome usually are unspecific and rarely lead to a diagnosis. However, with the combination of cystic hygroma, pleural effusion, ascites and normal karyotype Noonan syndrome should be considered and DNA testing for PTPN11 mutations may be appropriate. Malformations of lymphatic vessels and/or chylothorax in Noonan syndrome seem to be more frequent than usually anticipated. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ecological benefits of the alley cropping agroforestry system in sensitive regions of Europe

Alley cropping is an agroforestry system that offers a promising land use alternative for the temperate zone. On the same field, the sustainable production of food and biomass is possible, while simultaneously, especially in marginal areas, the ecological function of the landscape can be improved. Thus, alley cropping corresponds with the increasing demand for renewable energy resources and for a specific adaptation to the predicted changes of climatic conditions within Central Europe.However, presently, little knowledge exists regarding the effects of alley cropping on the environment. In this study a literature survey was undertaken to provide an overview of the different ecological benefits arising from alley cropping systems within temperate Europe. Abiotic factors (nutrient cycle, microclimate), biotic factors (biodiversity) and the effects on the carbon cycle are discussed in detail.Summarising, the results showed that alley cropping may be an ecologically advantageous land use system for sustainable food and biomass production in comparison with conventional agricultural practices. As a very flexible, but low-input system, alley cropping can supply biomass resources in a sustainable way and at the same time provide ecological benefits.     

Project house water: a novel interdisciplinary framework to assess the environmental and socioeconomic consequences of flood-related impacts

Protecting our water resources in terms of quality and quantity is considered one of the big challenges of the twenty-first century, which requires global and multidisciplinary solutions. A specific threat to water resources, in particular, is the increased occurrence and frequency of flood events due to climate change which has significant environmental and socioeconomic impacts. In addition to climate change, flooding (or subsequent erosion and run-off) may be exacerbated by, or result from, land use activities, obstruction of waterways, or urbanization of floodplains, as well as mining and other anthropogenic activities that alter natural flow regimes. Climate change and other anthropogenic induced flood events threaten the quantity of water as well as the quality of ecosystems and associated aquatic life. The quality of water can be significantly reduced through the unintentional distribution of pollutants, damage of infrastructure, and distribution of sediments and suspended materials during flood events. To understand and predict how flood events and associated distribution of pollutants may impact ecosystem and human health, as well as infrastructure, large-scale interdisciplinary collaborative efforts are required, which involve ecotoxicologists, hydrologists, chemists, geoscientists, water engineers, and socioeconomists. The research network “project house water” consists of a number of experts from a wide range of disciplines and was established to improve our current understanding of flood events and associated societal and environmental impacts. The concept of project house and similar seed fund and boost fund projects was established by the RWTH Aachen University within the framework of the German excellence initiative with support of the German research foundation (DFG) to promote and fund interdisciplinary research projects and provide a platform for scientists to collaborate on innovative, challenging research. Project house water consists of six proof-of-concept studies in very diverse and interdisciplinary areas of research (ecotoxicology, water, and chemical process engineering, geography, sociology, economy). The goal is to promote and foster high-quality research in the areas of water research and flood-risk assessments that combine and build off-laboratory experiments with modeling, monitoring, and surveys, as well as the use of applied methods and techniques across a variety of disciplines.     

Cultivated cells from mid-trimester amniotic fluids. IV. Cell type identification via one and two-dimensional electrophoresis of clonal whole cell homogenates

Clones of cultivated amniotic fluid cells that have distinct morphologic and growth characteristics (F, AF and E-type) were examined by one-dimensional SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and by two-dimensional electrophoresis employing isoelectric focusing and SDS-PAGE (IEF-PAGE). No qualitative differences in band pattern were observed in SDS-PAGE between the various amniotic fluid cell types, but consistent quantitative differences in the ratios of four bands of presumed filamentous proteins provided good distinction between amniotic fluid cells and postnatal skin fibroblast-like cells. By adding separation on the basis of electrical charge to that of molecular size (IEF-PAGE), we observed reproducible qualitative differences in the protein spot patterns between F and both AF and E-type amniotic fluid cells. At least eight discrete proteins appear not to be synthesized by prenatal F-type cells in comparison with their isogenic AF and E counterparts under identical culture conditions. The two-dimensional electrophoretic patterns thus confirm that F and AF amniotic cells, in spite of their morphologic and growth kinetic similarities, are developmentally distinct cell types that retain their differentiated states in culture.     

Importance of sulfate reducing bacteria in mercury methylation and demethylation in periphyton from Bolivian Amazon region

Sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) are important mercury methylators in sediments, but information on mercury methylators in other compartments is ambiguous. To investigate SRB involvement in methylation in Amazonian periphyton, the relationship between Hg methylation potential and SRB (Desulfobacteraceae, Desulfobulbaceae and Desulfovibrionaceae) abundance in Eichhornia crassipes and Polygonum densiflorum root associated periphyton was examined. Periphyton subsamples of each macrophyte were amended with electron donors (lactate, acetate and propionate) or inhibitors (molybdate) of sulfate reduction to create differences in SRB subgroup abundance, which was measured by quantitative real-time PCR with primers specific for the 16S rRNA gene. Mercury methylation and demethylation potentials were determined by a stable isotope tracer technique using ²⁰⁰HgCl and CH₃²⁰²HgCl, respectively. Relative abundance of Desulfobacteraceae (<0.01-12.5%) and Desulfovibrionaceae (0.01-6.8%) were both highly variable among samples and subsamples, but a significant linear relationship (p < 0.05) was found between Desulfobacteraceae abundance and net methylmercury formation among treatments of the same macrophyte periphyton and among all P. densiflorum samples, suggesting that Desulfobacteraceae bacteria are the most important mercury methylators among SRB families. Yet, molybdate only partially inhibited mercury methylation potentials, suggesting the involvement of other microorganisms as well. The response of net methylmercury production to the different electron donors and molybdate was highly variable (3-1104 pg g⁻¹ in 12 h) among samples, as was the net formation in control samples (17-164 pg g⁻¹ in 12 h). This demonstrates the importance of community variability and complexity of microbial interactions for the overall methylmercury production in periphyton and their response to external stimulus.     

The Swedish System for Quality Assessment of Agricultural Soils

Soil quality assessment is based on the concept of soilfunctions. The performances of three soil functions, cropproduction, biological decomposition and matter exchange withthe atmosphere and groundwater, are used as quality criteria.Soil properties that can be used as indicators for the degreeof functional performance were identified. Each soil propertyselected was graded into five classes – from best (class 1) toworst (class 5). Grading was based biological on boundaryconditions as well as on statistical distribution. The systemoutlined can be used to interpret the quality state ofagricultural soils, provides for a relative comparison betweensoils, and may be helpful in an environmental monitoringprogram to assess trends in data.