Assessing the impacts of international trade on CITES-listed species: Current practices and opportunities for scientific research

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) came into effect in 1975 to protect certain species of wild fauna and flora against over-exploitation through international trade. Determining which trade is detrimental to the survival of species in the wild can be a major difficulty in the implementation of CITES by national authorities, partly due to limited knowledge and understanding of the species’ biology, management, and the impacts of harvesting. Some of this knowledge could be acquired through targeted scientific research. However, to date there exists no general overview of the current use of biological information in determining detriment in CITES to help scientists identify research priorities. For an international meeting in 2008, over 100 scientists and regulators compiled 60 case studies covering a wide range of CITES-listed taxa, outlining how information on the biology, harvesting and management might be used to determine whether international trade is detrimental. We used these case studies, workshop conclusions, and other published literature, to identify 10 potential research directions for the scientific community which, if addressed, could greatly assist in the making of Non-Detriment Findings. We hope that this will encourage more scientists to study CITES-listed species, and foster more collaboration between research scientists, CITES national authorities, CITES technical committees and local communities. The case studies highlight a general need for advice on how to identify and manage levels of risk involved when assessing possible detriment, and for advice on assessing detriment under complex harvesting scenarios such as when multiple species, or parts of individuals, are harvested. Broadly, they highlight an opportunity for scientists to further develop a body of scientific studies that propose, refine and adapt methods for assessing detrimental trade in CITES-listed taxa. Comparisons within life-form groups indicated the potential for the identification of practical advice that could apply to groups of taxa. The case studies highlighted a widespread need for more information gathering studies of CITES-listed taxa such as the broader impacts of harvesting on populations and ecosystems, and the potential long-term evolutionary impacts. The case studies also highlighted the need for practical advice on how to implement adaptive management programmes and for research into enterprises based on the harvesting of CITES-listed species from the wild.     

Patterns and processes of initial terrestrial‐ecosystem development

Ecosystems are characterized as complex systems with abiotic and biotic processes interacting between the various components that have evolved over long‐term periods. Most ecosystem studies so far have been carried out in mature systems. Only limited knowledge exists on the very initial phase of ecosystem development. Concepts on the development of ecosystems are often based on assumptions and extrapolations with respect to structure–process interactions in the initial stage. To characterize the effect of this initial phase on structure and functioning of ecosystems in later stages, it is necessary to disentangle the close interaction of spatial and temporal patterns of ecosystem structural assemblages with processes of ecosystem development. The study of initial, less complex systems could help to better identify and characterize coupled patterns and processes. This paper gives an overview of concepts for the initial development of different ecosystem compartments and identifies open questions and research gaps. The artificial catchment site “Chicken Creek” is introduced as a new research approach to investigate these patterns and processes of initial ecosystem development under defined boundary conditions. This approach allows to integrate the relevant processes with related pattern and structure development over temporal and spatial scales and to derive thresholds and stages in state and functioning of ecosystems at the catchment level.     

X-ray emission spectroscopy evidences a central carbon in the nitrogenase iron-molybdenum cofactor

Nitrogenase is a complex enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of dinitrogen to ammonia. Despite insight from structural and biochemical studies, its structure and mechanism await full characterization. An iron-molybdenum cofactor (FeMoco) is thought to be the site of dinitrogen reduction, but the identity of a central atom in this cofactor remains unknown. Fe Kβ x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) of intact nitrogenase MoFe protein, isolated FeMoco, and the FeMoco-deficient nifB protein indicates that among the candidate atoms oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon, it is carbon that best fits the XES data. The experimental XES is supported by computational efforts, which show that oxidation and spin states do not affect the assignment of the central atom to C(4-). Identification of the central atom will drive further studies on its role in catalysis.     

First isolation and characterisation of Encephalitozoon cuniculi from a free-ranging rat (Rattus norvegicus)

The microsporidian species Encephalitozoon cuniculi can infect a wide variety of mammals including man. It is a common parasite in rabbits and several sporadic infections in laboratory rats have been described. Based on molecular data three E. cuniculi strains have been identified. Here we describe the first in vitro propagation of E. cuniculi, which was isolated from a free-ranging rat (Rattus norvegicus). The rat was one of three seropositive animals among 23 rats captured in the city of Zurich. The new isolate was further characterised as strain II ("mouse"-strain) based on the rDNA internal transcribed spacer sequence. Western blot analysis of this isolate revealed slight differences to other available strain II isolates originating from laboratory mice and farmed blue foxes. The new isolate caused disseminated infection in liver and lung upon oral inoculation of Brown Norway (BN) rats and was transmitted to sentinel rats. This rat-adapted isolate will be valuable to study the pathogenesis of Encephalitozoon infections in the rat model.     

The wheat AMT2 (AMmonium Transporter) family,possible functions in ammonium uptake and pathogenic/symbiotic interactions

Ammonium uptake into wheat roots relies primarily on two AMmonium Transporters of subfamily one, while the wheat genome comprises 4 to 6 AMT2 type transporters. Plant AMT2s generally show functions in root-to-shoot translocation or pathogenic and symbiotic plant–microorganism interactions. We addressed the activity of TaAMT2s in ammonium transport. Nitrogen-dependent expression implicated a physiological function in ammonium uptake for TaAMT2;1 and in ammonium distribution for TaAMT2;2-6.     

Simplified method for quantifying the hydraulic properties of shrinking soils

In general, soils and their pore size systems are assumed to be rigid during the loss of water on drying. In reality, it is not the case for most soils, especially for soils with high quantities of clay or organic matter. As a result of shrinking, there are changes in the bulk density, the porosity, the pore size distribution, and the hydraulic properties of these soils. Currently, only a few methods enable the shrinkage behavior of soil samples to be determined while simultaneously quantifying the corresponding soil hydraulic properties. Either the methods need proprietary software for data processing, the equipment used is expensive or the calculation of the hydraulic properties is executed by inverse modelling. The aim of this study was to develop an alternative, simplified method for the simultaneous and automatic determination of the soil hydraulic properties, taking shrinkage into account. The HYPROP® evaporative device was combined with a circumference meter. A preliminary investigation found that the diameter of the cylindrical samples used for the HYPROP decreased linearly during evaporation from the bottom to the top. To sum up, recording the perimeter change in the middle position of the sample during drying‐out, together with the corresponding tension and water content, was sufficient to determine the hydraulic functions taking shrinkage into account. Measurements are presented for 6 samples which are different in texture and geological origin. The maximum shrinkage (19.5% by vol. between saturation and 5,000 hPa) was measured in the peat samples. The minimum shrinkage was quantified at 0.68% by vol. for the silty loam samples from Chile. The advantages of the method presented are: (1) the water retention curve and the hydraulic conductivity function can be determined simultaneously in the range between saturation and close to the wilting point, at a high resolution and taking into consideration shrinkage; (2) the method and device are simple and robust to use; (3) little time is required for measurement, between 3 and at most 10 d; (4) the functions are described over the whole tension range, using more than 100 user‐defined data points; (5) the evaluation of the volumetric soil water content measurement in shrinking soils is improved; and (6) common data models can be fitted to the hydraulic data as well as to the shrinkage data.     

Agronomic performance and quality of oat (Avena sativa L.) genotypes of worldwide origin produced under Central European growing conditions

One hundred and twenty oat (Avena sativa L.) genotypes of worldwide origin were evaluated for agronomic and grain quality characters in three replicated field experiments in Austria and one in Germany. Panicle emergence, plant height and lodging severity were evaluated under field conditions, and grain yield, thousand kernel weight, hectolitre weight, screenings percentage > 2 mm, and groat percentage were measured after harvesting. Substantial genetic variation and high heritability were observed for all traits. The highest yielding entries were improved cultivars from European breeding programs. Groat yield and grain yield were highly correlated. For agronomic traits such as earliness and plant height, and quality traits such as groat percentage, several of the overseas genotypes, mostly from the USA and Canada, showed better performance than the European cultivars. Selected lines from the North American breeding programs appear to be valuable resources for European oat breeding programs, especially for the improvement of physical grain quality traits.