Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services

Human-dominated marine ecosystems are experiencing accelerating loss of populations and species, with largely unknown consequences. We analyzed local experiments, long-term regional time series, and global fisheries data to test how biodiversity loss affects marine ecosystem services across temporal and spatial scales. Overall, rates of resource collapse increased and recovery potential, stability, and water quality decreased exponentially with declining diversity. Restoration of biodiversity, in contrast, increased productivity fourfold and decreased variability by 21%, on average. We conclude that marine biodiversity loss is increasingly impairing the ocean's capacity to provide food, maintain water quality, and recover from perturbations. Yet available data suggest that at this point, these trends are still reversible.     

Antibody responses of calves to Histophilus somni recombinant IbpA subunits

Histophilus somni causes bovine pneumonia and septicemia, but protective immune responses are not well understood and immunodiagnostic methods are not well defined. We previously showed that antibody to a new virulence factor, IbpA, neutralizes cytotoxicity and immunization with a recombinant IbpA domain protects calves against experimental H. somni pneumonia. To further define immune responses to IbpA, we determined isotypic serum antibody responses to three IbpA domains (IbpA3, an N-terminal coiled coil region; IbpA5, a central region of 200 bp repeats and IbpA DR2, a C-terminal cytotoxic domain). ELISA was used to quantitate IgG1 or IgG2 antibodies to each of the IbpA subunits as well as H. somni whole cells (WCs) or culture supernatant (SUP). Calves experimentally infected with H. somni and monitored for up to 10 weeks had the least "0 time" (background) antibody levels to IbpA5, as well as the earliest and highest responses of greatest duration to the IbpA5 subunit. Responses of these calves were high to WC or SUP antigens but with higher "0 time" (background) antibody levels. We concluded that IbpA5 may be a useful immunodiagnostic antigen. Calves immunized with H. somni WC vaccine had antibody responses to WC antigens, but not to IbpA subunits before challenge. After challenge with H. somni, vaccinated calves had slight anamnestic responses to IbpA3 and IbpA5, but not to IbpA DR2. Since IbpA DR2 is a protective antigen, the data suggest the IbpA DR2 would be a useful addition to H. somni vaccines.     

Nitrogen retention and plant uptake on a highly weathered central Amazonian Ferralsol amended with compost and charcoal

Leaching losses of N are a major limitation of crop production on permeable soils and under heavy rainfalls as in the humid tropics. We established a field trial in the central Amazon (near Manaus, Brazil) in order to study the influence of charcoal and compost on the retention of N. Fifteen months after organic‐matter admixing (0–0.1 m soil depth), we added ¹⁵N‐labeled (NH₄)₂SO₄ (27.5 kg N ha^–1 at 10 atom% excess). The tracer was measured in top soil (0–0.1 m) and plant samples taken at two successive sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) harvests. The N recovery in biomass was significantly higher when the soil contained compost (14.7% of applied N) in comparison to only mineral‐fertilized plots (5.7%) due to significantly higher crop production during the first growth period. After the second harvest, the retention in soil was significantly higher in the charcoal‐amended plots (15.6%) in comparison to only mineral‐fertilized plots (9.7%) due to higher retention in soil. The total N recovery in soil, crop residues, and grains was significantly (p < 0.05) higher on compost (16.5%), charcoal (18.1%), and charcoal‐plus‐compost treatments (17.4%) in comparison to only mineral‐fertilized plots (10.9%). Organic amendments increased the retention of applied fertilizer N. One process in this retention was found to be the recycling of N taken up by the crop. The relevance of immobilization, reduced N leaching, and gaseous losses as well as other potential processes for increasing N retention should be unraveled in future studies.     

Determinants of reproductive success: A comparative study of five endangered river corridor plants in fragmented habitats

River corridor plants in Central Europe have in recent decades become increasingly rare, caused mainly by habitat destruction and change. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of soil quality, but especially of habitat fragmentation in terms of population size and isolation, on seed production and germination of five selected species, all of which being endangered, perennial herbs: Euphorbia palustris, Lathyrus palustris, Pseudolysimachion longifolium, Sanguisorba officinalis, and Senecio paludosus. We sampled totally 58 populations in flood plains in the surroundings of Bremen, North-western Germany.

In all five species, there were positive correlations between the number of seeds (total seed mass) and plant height, as well as between germination and seed mass. Seed traits values and/or germination were negatively affected by small population size, in Euphorbia, Lathyrus and Pseudolysimachion additionally by high population isolation. There were also significant effects of soil quality, but these were less consistent across species. The contribution of population size and isolation, compared to soil quality, to the variance explained in the reproductive components was especially high in Euphorbia and Lathyrus, the only two species depending on insect pollination.

The results indicate that the five species are likely to decline as a consequence of decreased plant fitness in small and/or isolated populations, probably caused by pollen limitation. The studied species may be representative for the group of river corridor plants as a whole that are often restricted to isolated remnants of near-natural flood plain vegetation in a matrix of heavily used agricultural land.     

A landscape model for quantifying the trade-off between conservation needs and economic constraints in the management of a semi-natural grassland community

We present a landscape model to investigate the ecological consequences and costs of different management regimes in semi-natural grasslands. The model integrates dynamic abiotic conditions, management (i.e. disturbance) regime and response of more than 50 characteristic plant and insect species by modelling the dynamics of relevant niche parameters as predictors for species distribution models. We compare our results for exemplary scenarios differing in spatial and temporal scales and exemplary species belonging to different functional groups through several steps of aggregation.Our analysis aims at the question whether an infrequent massive disturbance by rototilling can serve as a less expensive alternative to annual mowing for preserving the characteristic species composition of open dry grasslands in Southern Germany. Rototilling results in a shifting mosaic determining the habitat quality for plant and animal species that may reduce the survival of local or regional populations.For some meadow species as well as the encroaching shrub species, rototilling has a detrimental effect on regional habitat quality. Other species, e.g. weeds and annual pioneers, strongly benefit or show only negligible reaction. Since this is a multi-objective problem, there is a no magic bullet in selecting an optimum scenario of measures. But by visualising the trade-off between ecological consequences and costs, our model is a valuable tool for conservation managers providing a sound scientific basis for management decisions relying on available ecological knowledge. It is also an interesting example for a model describing complex communities in a relatively simple way, simultaneously considering the main driving factors.     

Cellular pathogenesis in prion diseases

Prion diseases are characterised by neuronal loss, vacuolation (spongiosis), reactive astrocytosis, microgliosis and in most cases by the accumulation in the central nervous system of the abnormal prion protein, named PrP(Sc). In this review on the "cellular pathogenesis in prion diseases", we have chosen to highlight the main mechanisms underlying the impact of PrP(C)/PrP(Sc) on neurons: the neuronal dysfunction, the neuronal cell death and its relation with PrP(Sc) accumulation, as well as the role of PrP(Sc) in the microglial and astrocytic reaction.     

Genetic variation of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas L.) cultivated in Chile determined by RAPDs

RAPD (randomly amplified polymorphic DNA) technology was applied to analyze the genetic variability of sweet potato germplasm existing in Chile and elsewhere. Analysis of 28 cultivars from all over the world showed polymorphic bands with all 18 primers tested. A total of 124 RAPD bands were scored with an average of 6.9 polymorphic bands per primer. These results confirm that sweet potato exhibits high genetic variation. Two groups were distinguished: one containing Peruvian cultivars, and another containing cultivars from the rest of the world. Analysis of 14 accessions from Central Chile and one from Northern Chile showed polymorphic bands with 24 of 26 primers tested, but almost all of the 140 polymorphic bands merely showed the distinctness of the Northern accession. The almost complete uniformity of the other 14 accessions shows that sweet potato germplasm collected in Central Chile has very little genetic variability and may be derived from a single cultivar. Based on these results and on historical records, some hypotheses are proposed to explain the origin of sweet potatoes cultivated in Chile. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Nitrogen uptake of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) from tree mulch and mineral fertilizer under high leaching conditions estimated by nitrogen-15 enrichment

 The effects of applying either inorganic fertilizer or leaf mulch of Acacia saligna (Labill.) H.L. Wend. on yields of Sorghum bicolor (L.) were compared with an unfertilized control under the high leaching conditions of runoff irrigation in a dry tropical environment. The N use efficiency and transfer from ¹⁵N-labelled (NH₄)₂SO₄ or acacia leaves to the sorghum differed in quantity and quality. Only 6% of the applied mulch N was retrieved in the crop, in contrast to 21% of the fertilizer N. The proportions of N in the crop derived from the fertilizers were small, amounting to 7% and 28%, respectively, in the mineral fertilizer and mulch treatments. However, the application of inorganic fertilizer and mulch significantly increased crop grain yield (P<0.05 and P<0.1, respectively), biomass production and foliar N contents (P<0.05). The inorganic fertilizer improved crop yields to a larger extent than mulching. At the same time, more N was lost by applying (NH₄)₂ SO₄ than leaf mulch: only 37% of the N of applied (NH₄)₂ SO₄ was found in the crop and the soil (0–0.3 m), but 99% of the mulched N. High NO₃ ^– contents in the topsoil of the inorganic fertilized sorghum treatments indicated the risk of N leaching. However, more important may have been gaseous N losses of surface-applied NH₄ ⁺. From a nutrient conservation point of view, mulches should be given preferance to inorganic fertilizers under high soil pH and leaching conditions, but larger improvements of crop yields could be achieved with mineral fertilizers. Received: 29 July 1998