Human appropriated net primary productivity as a metric for land use planning: a case study in the US Great Lakes region

Context

Human appropriation of net primary productivity (HANPP) is employed as a measure of human pressures on biodiversity, though largely at global and national scales rather than landscape to regional scales where many conservation decisions take place. Though gaining in familiarity, HANPP is not widely utilized by conservation professionals.

Objectives

This study, encompassing the US side of the Great Lakes basin, examines how regional distributions of HANPP relate to landscape-based biodiversity proxy metrics used by conservation professionals. Our objectives were (1) to quantify the HANPP of managed lands at the county scale; and (2) to assess spatial patterns of HANPP in comparison to landscape diversity and local habitat connectedness to determine if the metric can provide useful information to conservation professionals.

Methods

We aggregated forest and cropland NPP data between 2005 and 2015 and coupled it with previously published potential vegetation maps to quantify the HANPP of each county in the study region. We mapped the outputs at 500 m resolution to analyze spatial relationships between HANPP and landscape metrics of biodiversity potential.

Results

Area-weighted HANPP across our study region averaged 45% of NPP, down to 4.9% in forest-dominated counties. Greater HANPP correlated with reduced landscape diversity (p?<?0.001, r²?=?0.28) and reduced local habitat connectedness (p?<?0.001, r²?=?0.36).

Conclusion

HANPP could be used as an additional tool for conservation professionals during regional-scale land use planning or conservation decision-making, particularly in mixed-use landscapes that both support important biodiversity and have high levels of primary production harvest.

     

Long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolism in carnivorous marine teleosts: Insight into the profile of endogenous biosynthesis in golden pompano Trachinotus ovatus

Golden pompano Trachinotus ovatus is an important farmed carnivorous marine teleost. Although some enzymes for long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC‐PUFA) biosynthesis have been identified, the ability of T. ovatus for endogenous biosynthesis is unknown. Here, we evaluated in vivo LC‐PUFA synthesis in a 56‐day culture experiment using six diets (D1–D6) formulated with linseed and soybean oils to produce dietary linolenic/linoleic acid (ALA/LA) ratios ranging from 0.14 to 2.20. The control diet (D0) used fish oil as lipid source. The results showed that, compared with the corresponding indices of fish fed D0, the weight gain rate and specific growth rate as well as the contents of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acids in tissues (liver, muscle, brain and eye) of D1–D6 groups were significantly lower (p < .05). These data suggested that T. ovatus could not synthesize LC‐PUFA from C₁₈ PUFA or such ability was very low. However, tissue levels of 20:4n‐3 in fish fed diets D1–D6 were higher than that of D0 fish (p < .05), and positively correlated with dietary ALA/LA ratio, while levels of EPA showed no difference among the D1–D6 groups. These results indicated that Δ5 desaturation, required for the conversion of 20:4n‐3 to EPA, may be lacking or very low, suggesting incomplete LC‐PUFA biosynthesis ability in T. ovatus.     

A KCNJ10 mutation previously identified in the Russell group of terriers also occurs in Smooth-Haired Fox Terriers with hereditary ataxia and in related breeds

Background

Hereditary ataxias with similar phenotypes were reported in the Smooth-Haired Fox Terrier, the Jack Russell Terrier and the Parson Russell Terrier. However, segregation analyses showed differing inheritance modes in these breeds. Recently, molecular genetic studies on the Russell group of terriers found independent mutations in KCNJ10 and CAPN1, each associated with a specific clinical subtype of inherited ataxia. The aim of this study was to clarify whether or not Smooth-Haired Fox Terriers with hereditary ataxia and dogs of other related breeds harbor either of the same mutations. A sub goal was to update the results of KCNJ10 genotyping in Russell group terriers.

Findings

Three Smooth-Haired Fox Terriers with hereditary ataxia and two Toy Fox Terriers with a similar phenotype were all homozygous for the KCNJ10 mutation. The same mutation was also found in a heterozygous state in clinically unaffected Tenterfield Terriers (n = 5) and, in agreement with previous studies, in Jack Russell Terriers, Parson Russell Terriers, and Russell Terriers.

Conclusions

A KCNJ10 mutation, previously associated with an autosomal recessive spinocerebellar ataxia in Jack Russell Terriers, Parson Russell Terriers, and Russell Terriers segregates in at least three more breeds descended from British hunting terriers. Ataxic members of two of these breeds, the Smooth-Haired Fox Terrier and the Toy Fox Terrier, were homozygous for the mutation, strengthening the likelihood that this genetic defect is indeed the causative mutation for the disease known as “hereditary ataxia” in Fox Terriers and “spinocerebellar ataxia with myokymia, seizures or both” in the Russell group of terriers.     

The second-generation curcumin analogue RL71 elicits G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in canine osteosarcoma cells

Canine osteosarcoma is an aggressive cancer, comprising 85% of canine bone neoplasms. Current treatment practices of surgery and chemotherapy increase 1-year survival by only 45%. The curcumin analogue RL71, has demonstrated potent in vitro and in vivo efficacy in several models of human breast cancer through increased apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate efficacy of curcumin analogues in two canine osteosarcoma cell lines. Osteosarcoma cell viability was assessed using the sulforhodamine B assay and mechanisms of action were determined by analysing the levels of cell cycle and apoptotic regulatory proteins via Western blotting. Further evidence was obtained using flow cytometry to detect cell cycle distribution and the number of apoptotic cells. RL71 was the most potent curcumin analogue with EC₅₀ values of 0.64 ± 0.04 and 0.38 ± 0.009 μM (n = 3) in D-17 (commercial) and Gracie canine osteosarcoma cells, respectively. RL71 significantly increased the ratio of cleaved-caspase 3 to pro-caspase 3 and the level of apoptotic cells at the 2× and 5× EC₅₀ concentration (p < 0.001, n = 3). Furthermore, at the same concentration, RL71 significantly increased the number of cells in the G2/M phase. In conclusion, RL71 has potent cytotoxic activity in canine osteosarcoma cells triggering G2/M arrest and apoptosis at concentrations achievable in vivo. Future research should further investigate molecular mechanisms for these changes in other canine osteosarcoma cell lines prior to in vivo investigation.     

Ecology and management of earthworm casting on sports turf

Earthworm activity is beneficial in most natural and agricultural systems, but excessive earthworm casting is a problem on sports fields worldwide. Expulsion of soil‐rich earthworm fecal matter, or casts, as mounds of soil on the turf canopy can muddy the surface, reduce photosynthesis, and lead to thinning, weed invasion and surface softening. Casts affect ball roll on sports fields, cause fouling of maintenance equipment, and dull mower blades. Build‐up of cast material on reel mower units can affect height and quality of cut. Casting activity is dependent on environmental conditions such as soil texture, temperature, moisture, pH, and organic matter. Response to environmental conditions varies by species. Management options are limited, because no pesticides are specifically labeled for earthworm control at this time, and cultural control methods such as soil modification, turfgrass clipping removal, and sand topdressing have limited and inconsistent efficacy. Products containing plant‐derived saponins and irritants show promise for earthworm management. Pest management practices to mitigate excessive earthworm casting will likely need to be species‐specific, but limited knowledge of earthworm identification by end‐users further inhibits the efficacy of control measures. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

Automated detection and tracking of marine mammals: A novel sonar tool for monitoring effects of marine industry

1. Many marine industries may pose acute risks to marine wildlife. For example, tidal turbines have the potential to injure or kill marine mammals through collisions with turbine blades. However, the quantification of collision risk is currently limited by a lack of suitable technologies to collect long‐term data on marine mammal behaviour around tidal turbines.
2. Sonar provides a potential means of tracking marine mammals around tidal turbines. However, its effectiveness for long‐term data collection is hindered by the large data volumes and the need for manual validation of detections. Therefore, the aim here was to develop and test automated classification algorithms for marine mammals in sonar data.
3. Data on the movements of harbour seals were collected in a tidally energetic environment using a high‐frequency multibeam sonar on a custom designed seabed‐mounted platform. The study area was monitored by observers to provide visual validation of seals and other targets detected by the sonar.
4. Sixty‐five confirmed seals and 96 other targets were detected by the sonar. Movement and shape parameters associated with each target were extracted and used to develop a series of classification algorithms. Kernel support vector machines were used to classify targets (seal vs. nonseal) and cross‐validation analyses were carried out to quantify classifier efficiency.
5. The best‐fit kernel support vector machine correctly classified all the confirmed seals but misclassified a small percentage of non‐seal targets (~8%) as seals. Shape and non‐spectral movement parameters were considered to be the most important in achieving successful classification.
6. Results indicate that sonar is an effective method for detecting and tracking seals in tidal environments, and the automated classification approach developed here provides a key tool that could be applied to collecting long‐term behavioural data around anthropogenic activities such as tidal turbines.