Caution needed with the EU forest plantation strategy for offsetting carbon emissions

As part of the 2015 Paris climate agreement and under its Green Deal, the EU proposes to strongly rely on forests for offsetting its carbon footprint. However, planting trees should be avoided in wildfire prone and drought prone habitats, which are expanding significantly as climate warms across Europe. In favorable habitats, tree planting remains a controversial solution and the risk of using inappropriate material is high in the absence of long-term planning, unfortunately typical of the forest seed and nursery sector. The EU forest tree planting strategy should pay close attention to local land-use issues, to within- and among-species genetic diversity and should adopt relevant, pluri-annual funding schemes and planting contracts rather than letting market opportunities govern the future of forest tree plantations.

     

Factors controlling nitrate concentrations in surface waters of an artificially drained agricultural watershed

Land managers need to clearly identify the main natural factors controlling nitrate attenuation from upstream to downstream in agricultural watersheds. All interfaces between surface waters and groundwaters such as riparian zones could be identified as retention zones in the watershed. However, in highly human-influenced agricultural landscapes, retention zones could be shortcut, abandoned and sometimes erased. Starting from this situation, this paper aims to underline the role of hydrological and biogeochemical retention processes in the determination of nitrate concentration in an artificially drained agricultural watershed. The Orgeval watershed (East part of Paris, France, belonging to a long-term environmental observatory network) is 80 % covered by drained agricultural plots, 17 % forest and 3 % urban areas and roads, covering a surface area of 104 km². The watershed is split into several nested sub-basins from 1 to 100 km². Two levels of monitoring were carried out in the 2007–2008 hydrological year: long-term at six monitoring stations (measuring nitrate concentration and discharge) and 20 points throughout the watershed (measuring discharge, chloride, nitrate, sulphate, calcium concentration and nitrogen isotopic composition) for three different dates (10/18/2007, 01/23/2008, 04/10/2008). Artificial drainage generates modified water transfer and thus nitrate transformation processes during the wet drainage season in winter. Dilution processes provided by forested areas seem to be one of the main factor determining global water quality. A threshold of 34 % forested cover maintains the nitrate concentration below the drinking-water limit (11.3 mgN L^?1). Nevertheless, statistical analysis, isotopic measurements and the analysis of the nitrate versus chloride ratio showed that retention processes also influence water quality during the dry season.     

Climatic significance of glacier retreat and rockglaciers re-assessed in the light of cosmogenic dating and weathering rind thickness in Clarée valley (Briançonnais,French Alps)

Recent advances in geochronology provide opportunities to identify the glacial and periglacial sequences in mountain area. In this paper, we focus on the Upper Durance catchment (Southern French Alps), in the Clarée valley, where no absolute chronological benchmark was defined. Glacial remnants and periglacial features were investigated, integrated within a chronological scenario thanks to relative (weathering rind thickness) and absolute (CRE technique) dates. We find evidence of the existence of a Late-Glacial valley glacier, that has never been reported before. Then the upper valleys became ice-free during a period corresponding to the Early-Holocene Climate Optimum, whereas two sequences of cirque glaciation are identified during the second half of the Holocene. We also show evidence of three main generations of rockglaciers, which also mainly developed during the second half of the Holocene, probably at the end of the Subboreal period. The location and the altitudes of rockglaciers are strongly dependent on the geomorphic setting (especially the location of the sediment sources), hence complicating their palaeo-climatic interpretations.     

A potent and broad neutralizing antibody recognizes and penetrates the HIV glycan shield

The HIV envelope (Env) protein gp120 is protected from antibody recognition by a dense glycan shield. However, several of the recently identified PGT broadly neutralizing antibodies appear to interact directly with the HIV glycan coat. Crystal structures of antigen-binding fragments (Fabs) PGT 127 and 128 with Man(9) at 1.65 and 1.29 angstrom resolution, respectively, and glycan binding data delineate a specific high mannose-binding site. Fab PGT 128 complexed with a fully glycosylated gp120 outer domain at 3.25 angstroms reveals that the antibody penetrates the glycan shield and recognizes two conserved glycans as well as a short β-strand segment of the gp120 V3 loop, accounting for its high binding affinity and broad specificity. Furthermore, our data suggest that the high neutralization potency of PGT 127 and 128 immunoglobulin Gs may be mediated by cross-linking Env trimers on the viral surface.     

The original features of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genetic diversity and the importance of within-variety diversity in the highlands of Madagascar build a strong case for in situ conservation

In situ conservation of crop genetic resources is widely recommended but, as yet, no methods have been developed to rank the genetic entities to preserve and the social organisations to involve. The highlands of Madagascar have been identified as a key site for rice, Oryza sativa, genetic diversity. To define conservation strategies, we performed multidisciplinary analysis of rice genetic diversity and factors shaping its distribution in the target region. Along with the indica and japonica rice subspecies of O. sativa, we confirmed the presence of an atypical rice group with a preferential habitat of 1,250–1,750 m. Spatial distribution of genetic diversity was uneven. The most determining factor of this unevenness was the altitude authorising or not the presence of different rice cropping systems and the associated types of varieties. Village and individual farmer’s wealth also had a determining role on the amount of rice diversity they hosted. While molecular variance between villages in a given interval of altitude represented 16 % of the total variance, within-village variance represented more than 75 % of the total, and within-farm variance 70 % of within-village variance. This hierarchical distribution of molecular variance suggests that a small number of samples per scale (altitude interval, village and farm) could allow to capture most of the genetic diversity observed. However, within-variety diversity was also important making ex situ conservation strategies impractical and costly. Implications of the within-variety diversity are discussed in terms of adaptive advantages, evolutionary processes, and need for in situ conservation.