Interannual variation in competitive interactions from natural and anthropogenic disturbances in a temperate forest tree species: Implications for ecological interpretation

Competition is a major determinant of plant growth and is often used in studies of tree growth and species coexistence. However, these approaches are usually temporally static, i.e., assessed at a single point or period in time. While constantly changing forest conditions due to natural and human-induced disturbances potentially alter competition among individuals, static approaches cannot qualify the temporal variability of competitive interactions. Here we present a longitudinal analysis of competitive interactions among trees and discuss the implication of our results for ecological interpretation.Spatially-explicit tree growth data were obtained from 18 study plots (0.4 ha each) in sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) stands in Quebec, Canada. During the studied period (1980-2003), these stands had been disturbed by insect outbreaks (forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria Hubner) and by commercial partial harvest. We analyzed radial growth rates (outcome of competition) on an annual basis and as a function of tree biology (bole diameter, crown position), competition (above- and belowground competition from neighbours) and environmental conditions (light availability, harvest disturbance).Competitive interactions changed throughout the studied period. Canopy disturbance from partial harvest interacted with defoliators and influenced competition symmetry by favoring smaller trees.Competitive interactions seemed to have switched from below- to above-ground following canopy recovery after harvest. Release from competition due to partial harvest increase neighbourhood size (radius of effective competition) and enhanced the competitive pressure from larger individuals.The temporal variability in parameter estimates may be used for setting confidence intervals on competitive success (growth rates), thereby yielding a more robust basis for ecological interpretation. Our results also show that temporal variability in competitive interactions could contribute to the maintenance of high tree species diversity and structural complexity in some ecosystems by temporally altering species-specific responses to environmental change and disturbance.     

Prospects for the future of pink salmon in three oceans: From the native Pacific to the novel Arctic and Atlantic

While populations of other migratory salmonids suffer in the Anthropocene, pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbusca Salmonidae) are thriving, and their distribution is expanding both within their natural range and in the Atlantic and Arctic following introduction of the species to the White Sea in the 1950s. Pink salmon are now rapidly spreading in Europe and even across the ocean to North America. Large numbers of pink salmon breed in Norwegian rivers and small numbers of individuals have been captured throughout the North Atlantic since 2017. Although little is known about the biology and ecology of the pink salmon in its novel distribution, the impacts of the species' introduction are potentially highly significant for native species and watershed productivity. Contrasts between pink salmon in the native and extended ranges will be key to navigating management strategies for Atlantic nations where the pink salmon is entrenching itself among the fish fauna, posing potential threats to native fish communities. One key conclusion of this paper is that the species' heritable traits are rapidly selected and drive local adaptation and evolution. Within the Atlantic region, this may facilitate further establishment and spread. The invasion of pink salmon in the Atlantic basin is ultimately a massive ecological experiment and one of the first examples of a major faunal change in the North Atlantic Ocean that is already undergoing rapid changes due to other anthropogenic stressors. New research is urgently needed to understand the role and potential future impacts of pink salmon in Atlantic ecosystems.     

Increased genetic differentiation in house sparrows after a strong population decline: From panmixia towards structure in a common bird

A drastic decline in abundance prompts conservation measures, even though a species may still be common, partly because such a decline may be associated with loss of genetic variability. Longitudinal evidence (i.e. repeated measures across time) for loss of genetic diversity is scarce and mostly concerns organisms that have experienced a severe bottleneck. Here, we study the house sparrow in Finland, where a strong (50–86%) reduction in abundance occurred in four decades, starting earlier and resulting steeper decline in the south than in the north. Based on thirteen polymorphic microsatellites, we compared 12 Finnish populations both prior (mid-1980s) and after (2009) the major population decline. There was no evidence of bottlenecks and only little loss of genetic variation, but we found a significant threefold increase in genetic differentiation (F_ST) across the populations. This may reflect a non-equilibrium situation between the rates of change in the genetic diversity and differentiation and indicate future loss of genetic diversity. Our findings indicate that a strong decline in population size in a relatively common species still leaves a noticeable population-genetic imprint and warrants conservation concern.     

Postmortem proteome changes of porcine muscle related to tenderness

Proteome analysis was used to investigate the relation between changes in postmortem proteome of porcine muscle and tenderness development. Muscle samples were taken at slaughter and 72 h postmortem, and the registered changes in the proteome were related to Warner-Bratzler shear force. One hundred and three protein spots were found to change significantly (P < 0.01) over time, and of these the 27 most pronounced changes were identified. Eleven out of the 27 changes were fragments of actin. Other identified myofibril proteins or fragments included myosin heavy chain, titin, myosin light chain I, myosin light II, CapZ, and cofilin. Correlation analysis revealed significant correlations between three of the identified actin fragments and the myosin heavy chain fragment to shear force. Moreover, myosin light chain II and triose phosphate isomerase I were also found to correlate significantly to shear force. The results clearly demonstrate that postmortem degradation of actin and myosin heavy chain is related to meat tenderness.     

Dynamic high-resolution 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopy and 1H T2 measurements in postmortem rabbit muscles using slow magic angle spinning

Postmortem changes in rabbit muscle tissue with different glycogen status (normal vs low) were followed continuously from 13 min postmortem until 8 h postmortem and again 20 h postmortem using simultaneous magic angle spinning (1)H and (31)P NMR spectroscopy together with measurement of the transverse relaxation time, T(2), of the muscle water. The (1)H metabolite spectra were measured using the phase-altered spinning sidebands (PASS) technique at a spinning rate of 40 Hz. pH values calculated from the (31)P NMR spectra using the chemical shifts of the C-6 line of histidine in the (1)H spectra and the chemical shifts of inorganic phosphate in the (31)P spectra confirmed the different muscle glycogen status in the tissues. High-resolution (1)H spectra obtained from the PASS technique revealed the presence of a new resonance line at approximately 6.8 ppm during the postmortem period, which were absent in muscles with low muscle glycogen content. This new resonance line may originate from the aminoprotons in creatine, and its appearance may be a result of a pH effect on the exchange rate between the amino and the water protons and thereby the NMR visibility. Alternatively, the new resonance line may originate from the aromatic protons in tyrosine, and its appearance may be a result of a pH-induced protein unfolding exposing hydrophobic amino acid residues to the aqueous environment. Further studies are needed to evaluate these hypotheses. Finally, distributed analysis of the water T(2) relaxation data revealed three relaxation populations and an increase in the population believed to reflect extramyofibrillar water through the postmortem period. This increase was significantly reduced (p < 0.0001) in samples from animals with low muscle glycogen content, indicating that the pH is controlling the extent of postmortem expulsion of water from myofibrillar structures. The significance of the postmortem increase in the amount extramyofibrillar water on the water-holding capacity was verified by centrifugation, which showed a reduced centrifugation loss in muscles with low preslaughter glycogen status (0.9 vs 1.9%, p = 0.07).     

Bycatches of common guillemot (Uria aalge) in the Baltic Sea gillnet fishery

Bycatch of common guillemots (Uria aalge) appears to be the single most serious threat to the population, and the proportion of recoveries of ringed birds in fishing gear, compared with other finding circumstances, has significantly increased during a 28 year period (P<0.01). Out of 1952 ringed common guillemots reported found between 1972 and 1999 in the Baltic Sea, 980 (50.2%) were caught in fishing gear. The bycatch in set gillnets for cod (Gadus morhua) constituted 22.3%, drift gillnets for salmon (Salmo salar) 65.5%, and other fishing gear 12.2%. The proportion of recoveries in cod gillnets has significantly increased during the study period (P<0.05), while no clear trend was observed in the recoveries in salmon gillnets. The Swedish fishing effort follows a similar pattern for cod but has decreased for salmon. The observed increased use of cod gillnets in the Baltic Sea may have contributed to the observed decrease in adult survival rate, and we provide two different estimates suggesting that significant proportions of the guillemot population are caught annually in the Baltic Sea gillnet fishery. We suggest several available techniques to reduce bycatch in the Baltic Sea fishery.     

A quantitative method for evaluating the importance of marine areas for conservation of birds

Objective criteria are needed for ranking marine sites when examining candidate areas for protection measures. We suggest a Marine Classification Criterion (MCC) which allows the application of the widely used Ramsar 1% criterion for wetlands for seabirds with clustered distribution in offshore habitats. The maximum size of an area considered to be internationally important has not been defined by the Ramsar Convention. Terrestrial and coastal sites generally have obvious hydrological or physical boundaries, whereas such boundaries are less obvious at sea. The smallest unit which would pass the demands set by the MCC is 1% of the bio-geographic population of a particular species concentrated in an area (site) supporting a density exceeding a value equivalent of four times the average density of the species in the investigated regional sea. The effect of choosing smaller or larger reference densities is tested. The results indicate that the chosen threshold density is a suitable requirement for the inclusion of the most important areas for seabird species with at least 25% of their bio-geographic population occurring in the studied regions of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The test cases indicate that provided the MCC is based on geo-statistical analyses of un-biased survey data the boundaries of areas holding large concentrations of seabirds can be estimated with confidence. The MCC could be used to identify concentrations of seabirds and other marine animals of conservation priority and to rank marine areas by their cumulative importance to different species.     

Combined high-field 13C CP MAS NMR and low-field NMR relaxation measurements on post mortem porcine muscles

Changes in postmortem muscle characteristics are investigated in muscles from eight pigs exposed to different combinations of preslaughter stress (exercise on treadmill) and stunning method (CO(2) vs electrical stunning). Solid-state (13)C cross-polarization (CP) magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR experiments are carried out on a total of 16 rapidly frozen M. longissimus muscle biopsies taken in vivo the day before slaughter and at 45 min postmortem. Simultaneously, low-field NMR T(2) relaxation time measurements are carried out on samples from M. longissimus. Glycogen and lactate are estimated from the (13)C CP MAS spectra, and correlations of r = 0.89 and r = 0.70, respectively, to subsequent biochemical determinations using partial least squares regression (PLSR) are established. Moreover, PLSR reveals that, besides the 72 ppm signal (carbons in glycogen), a signal around 38 ppm, which increases concomitantly with lactate, is also significantly correlated to changes in glycogen/lactate. With the assumption that the 38 ppm signal reflects CH(2) in phosphocreatine/creatine, altered mobility of creatine as a result of dephosphorylation is indicated. Finally, PLSR on the 45 min (13)C CP MAS spectra also reveals correlation (r = 0.54) to the slowest relaxing T(2) population (50 min postmortem), known to reflect extra-myofibrillar water. Subsequently, evaluation of the loading plot in the PLSR analysis reveals that the correlation exclusively is associated to the 52 ppm resonance intensity. With the assumption that this resonance reflects methyl groups in choline/phosphatidyl choline, the intensity changes in the 52 ppm resonance imply alterations in membrane properties. Accordingly, the data indicate a relationship between membrane properties and the amount of water being expelled from muscle cells postmortem, which supports the hypothesis that disruption of membranes is implicated in the postmortem mobilization of muscle water.     

pH Dependence of the progression in NMR T(2) relaxation times in post-mortem muscle

Continuous NMR T(2) relaxation measurements were carried out on seven rabbit longissimus muscle samples in the period from 25 min to 28 h post-mortem at 200 MHz for (1)H. To display differences in post-mortem pH progress and extent of changes in water characteristics during conversion of muscle to meat, three of the seven animals were pre-slaughter injected with adrenaline (0.5 mg/kg live weight 4 h before sacrifice) to differentiate muscle glycogen stores at the time of slaughter. Distributed analysis of T(2) data displayed clear differences in the characteristics of the various transverse relaxation components dependent on progress in pH, as did the water-holding capacity of samples 24 h post-mortem. This reveals a pronounced effect of the progressive change in pH on the subsequent development in physical/chemical states of water during the conversion of muscle to meat. Finally, the relaxation characteristics are discussed in relation to supposed post-mortem processes of protein denaturation.     

Hemostatic biomarkers in dogs with chronic congestive heart failure

BACKGROUND: Chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) in humans is associated with abnormal hemostasis, and abnormalities in hemostatic biomarkers carry a poor prognosis. Alterations in hemostatic pathways can be involved in the pathogenesis of CHF in dogs, and microthrombosis in the myocardium could contribute to increased mortality. HYPOTHESIS: That plasma concentration or activity of hemostatic biomarkers is altered in dogs with CHF and that these factors predict mortality. ANIMALS: Thirty-four dogs with CHF caused by either dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM, n=14) or degenerative valvular disease (CDVD, n=20) compared with 23 healthy age-matched control dogs were included in this study. Dogs with CHF were recruited from 2 referral cardiology clinics, and control dogs were owned by friends or colleagues of the investigators. METHODS: Clinical examination and echocardiography were performed in all dogs. Plasma fibrinogen and D-dimer concentrations, antithrombin and protein C activity, and thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT) were measured in all dogs. RESULTS: Dogs with CHF had significantly higher fibrinogen (P = .04), D-dimer (P = .002), and TAT concentration (P < .0001), lower antithrombin (P < .0001) and protein C activity (P < .001) compared with control dogs. None of the hemostatic biomarkers were associated with risk of death. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: There is evidence of a procoagulant state in dogs with CHF. The lack of predictive value for survival might be due to the small number of dogs examined. Further studies are necessary to investigate the presence and importance of microthrombosis in dogs with CHF.