“Arabidobrassica”: Plant-genome engineering by protoplast fusion

After fusion of somatic cells (isolated protoplasts) of Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica campestris, plants could be regenerated in which genetic material from parents of taxonomically different tribes is combined. Between these regenerants asymmetric hybrids have also been obtained, in which one parental genome is represented by reduced chromosome numbers. Results concerning the analysis and genesis of these plants are used to discuss the question whether such monster plants are of any importance.     

Understanding why consumers in China switch between wild,farmed, and synthetic bear bile products

An important rationale for legally farmed and synthetic wildlife products is that they reduce illegal, wild-sourced trade by supplying markets with sustainable alternatives. For this to work, more established illegal-product consumers must switch to legal alternatives than new legal-product consumers switch to illegal wild products. Despite the widespread debate on the magnitude and direction of switching, studies among actual consumers are lacking. We used an anonymous online survey of 1421 traditional Chinese medicine consumers in China to investigate switching among legal farmed, synthetic, and illegal wild bear bile. We examined the past consumption behavior, applied a discrete choice experiment framed within worsening hypothetical disease scenarios, and used latent class models to investigate groups with shared preferences. Bear bile consumers (86% respondents) were wealthier, more likely to have family who consumed bile, and less knowledgeable about bile treatments than nonconsumers. Consumer preferences were heterogenous, but most consumer preferences switched between bile types as disease worsened. We identified five distinct latent classes within our sample: law-abiding consumers (34% respondents), who prefer legal products and were unlikely to switch; two all-natural consumer groups (53%), who dislike synthetics but may switch between farmed and wild; and two nonconsumer groups (12%), who prefer not to buy bile. People with past experience of bile consumption had different preferences than those without. Willingness to switch to wild products was related to believing they were legal, although the likelihood of switching was mediated by preferences for cheaper products sold in legal, familiar places. We found that consumers of wild bile may switch to legal alternatives, given the availability of a range of products, whereas legal-product consumers may switch to illegal products if the barriers to doing so are small. Understanding preferences that promote or impede switching should be a key consideration when attempting to predict consumer behavior in complex wildlife markets.     

A counterfactual approach to measure the impact of wet grassland conservation on U.K. breeding bird populations

Wet grassland populations of wading birds in the United Kingdom have declined severely since 1990. To help mitigate these declines, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has restored and managed lowland wet grassland nature reserves to benefit these and other species. However, the impact of these reserves on bird population trends has not been evaluated experimentally due to a lack of control populations. We compared population trends from 1994 to 2018 among 5 bird species of conservation concern that breed on these nature reserves with counterfactual trends created from matched breeding bird survey observations. We compared reserve trends with 3 different counterfactuals based on different scenarios of how reserve populations could have developed in the absence of conservation. Effects of conservation interventions were positive for all 4 targeted wading bird species: Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), Redshank (Tringa totanus), Curlew (Numenius arquata), and Snipe (Gallinago gallinago). There was no positive effect of conservation interventions on reserves for the passerine, Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava). Our approach using monitoring data to produce valid counterfactual controls is a broadly applicable method allowing large-scale evaluation of conservation impact.     

Large-scale diversity and biogeography of benthic copepods in European waters

A large-scale database concerning benthic copepods from the Arctic, Baltic Sea, North Sea, British Isles, Adriatic Sea and Crete was compiled to assess species richness, biodiversity, communities, ecological range size and biogeographical patterns. The Adriatic showed the highest evenness and the most species-rich communities. Assemblages from the North Sea, British Isles, Baltic and Crete had a lower evenness. The British Isles were characterised by impoverished communities. The ecological specificity of copepod species showed two diverging trends: higher specificity of species in more diverse assemblages was observed in the Adriatic, North Sea and Baltic. A uniformly high species specificity disregarding sample diversity was found on Crete and in the British Isles. Benthic copepod communities showed distinct patterns that clearly fit the predefined geographical regions. Communities were distinguishable and β-diversity was found to be high around Europe, indicating a high species turnover on the scale of this investigation. The British Isles and the North Sea were found to be faunistic links to the Baltic and the Arctic.     

Evidence of nitrification and denitrification in high and low microbial abundance sponges

Aerobic and anaerobic microbial key processes were quantified and compared to microbial numbers and morphological structure in Mediterranean sponges. Direct counts on histological sections stained with DAPI showed that sponges with high microbial abundances (HMA sponges) have a denser morphological structure with a reduced aquiferous system compared to low microbial abundance (LMA) sponges. In Dysidea avara, the LMA sponge, rates of nitrification and denitrification were higher than in the HMA sponge Chondrosia reniformis, while anaerobic ammonium oxidation and sulfate reduction were below detection in both species. This study shows that LMA sponges may host physiologically similar microbes with comparable or even higher metabolic rates than HMA sponges, and that anaerobic processes such as denitrification can be found both in HMA and LMA sponges. A higher concentration of microorganisms in the mesohyl of HMA compared to LMA sponges may indicate a stronger retention of and, hence, a possible benefit from associated microbes.     

A herbivore specific grazing capacity model accounting for spatio-temporal environmental variation: A tool for a more sustainable nature conservation and rangeland management

Grazing with livestock is a common feature of nature and rangeland management. Although both aim at different, seemingly opposing goals, i.e. maintenance of biodiversity values versus maximization of animal production, they nonetheless have a common interest in maintaining the rangeland or natural environment in a state that ensures either the first or the second goal. In order to accomplish an effective and efficient grazing management, in terms of grazer density, grazer composition, grazing seasonality, and to prevent under- and overgrazing, a grazing capacity model (GCM) was developed, that should be applicable in both rangeland and nature conservation management conditions and that takes spatio-temporal environmental variation into account. This spatio-temporally dynamic model considers crucial variables at both the terrain and the grazer level, such as (seasonally) fluctuating forage yield, forage quality, plant palatability, accessibility of the area, soil erosion vulnerability, animal nutritive requirements, animal behaviour and general habitat condition. It predicts the optimal grazer species and density, taking into account the seasonal variation in animal needs and fluctuating terrain characteristics. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to define each parameter's relative impact on the final outcome of the model.We present the GCM outline and illustrate the functionality of this model for Shetland ponies and Highland cattle, grazing in a temperate coastal dune environment. According to the model, seasonal fluctuations in optimal grazer densities occur: the area can support higher densities in summer and autumn than it can during winter and spring. With the current density of grazing animals and the choice for year-round grazing at non-fluctuating animal densities, the model consequently predicts overgrazing in winter and undergrazing in summer and autumn. Both undergrazing and overgrazing scenarios might lead to non-sustainable situations in the future.