The microbial diversity and structure in peatland forest in Indonesia

The microbial community structure and function under forest in tropical peatlands are poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the microbial community structure and diversity in natural peat swamp forest soil, disturbed peat soil and mineral soil in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, using 454 pyrosequencing. The results showed that the natural peat soil had the greatest fungal species richness (Chao1), which was significantly (p < .05) larger than that in the other two soils. Community structure of both fungi and bacteria in natural peat soil differed significantly from that in the disturbed peat soil (p = .039 and p = .045, respectively). Ascomycota (40.5%) was the most abundant phylum across the three soils followed by Basidiomycota (18.8%), Zygomycota (<0.1%) and Glomeromycota (<0.1%). The linear discriminant analysis with effect size (LEfSe) showed that Ascomycota (p < .05) and genus Gliocephalotrichum (p < .05) dominated in natural peat soil. Functionally, pathotrophs were more abundant in disturbed peat soil (p < .05). Proteobacteria (43.8%) were the most abundant phylum followed by Acidobacteria (32.6%), Actinobacteria (9.8%), Planctomycetes (1.7%). Methylocystis, Telmatospirillum, Syntrophobacter, Sorangium and Opitutus were the more abundant genera in disturbed peat soil, whereas Nevskia and Schlesneria were more abundant in mineral soil and natural peat soil, respectively. The natural peat forest soil supported a more diverse microbiology; however, the land use of such a soil can change its microbial community structure. The results provide evidence that the disturbance of tropical peat land could lead to the introduction and spread of a large number of fungal diseases     

Soil saturation effects on forest dynamics: scaling across a southern boreal/northern hardwood landscape

Patch modeling can be used to scale-up processes to portray landscape-level dynamics. Via direct extrapolation, a heterogeneous landscape is divided into its constituent patches; dynamics are simulated on each representative patch and are weighted and aggregated to formulate the higher level response. Further extrapolation may be attained by coarsening the resolution of or lumping environmental data (e.g., climatic, edaphic, hydrologic, topographic) used to delimit a patch.Forest patterns at the southern boreal/northern hardwood transition zone are often defined by soil heterogeneity, determined primarily by the extent and duration of soil saturation. To determine how landscape-level dynamics predicted from direct extrapolation compare when coarsening soil parameters, we simulated forest dynamics for soil series representing a range of drainage classes from east- central Maine. Responses were aggregated according to the distribution of soil associations comprising a 600 ha area based on local- (1:12,000), county- (1:120,000) and state- (1:250,000) scale soil maps. At the patch level, simulated aboveground biomass accumulated more slowly in poorer draining soils. Different soil series yielded different communities comprised of species with various tolerances for soil saturation. When aggregated, removal of waterlogging caused a 20–60% increase in biomass accumulation during the first 50 years of simulation. However, this early successional increase and the maximum level of biomass accumulation over a 200 year period varied by as much as 40% depending on the geospatial data. This marked discrepancy suggests caution when extrapolating with forest patch models by coarsening parameters and demonstrates how rules used to rescale environmental data need to be evaluated for consistency.     

Theory of mind is independent of episodic memory

Theory of mind (ToM) to infer other people's current mental states and episodic memory of personal happenings have been assumed to be closely related. We report two participants with severely impaired episodic memory who perform indistinguishably from healthy controls on objective ToM tests. These results suggest that ToM can function independently of episodic memory.     

Review and analysis of the potential for glyphosate to interact with the estrogen,androgen and thyroid pathways

Glyphosate was recently evaluated for its potential to interact with the estrogen, androgen and thyroid (EAT) hormone pathways, including steroidogenesis, under the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP), then by Germany, the rapporteur Member State who led the European Annex 1 renewal for glyphosate, and then by the European Food Protection Agency (EFSA) also as part of the Annex 1 renewal for glyphosate. Under the EDSP, 11 Tier 1 assays were run following the USEPA's validated 890‐series test guidelines and included five in vitro and six in vivo assays to evaluate the EAT pathways. Steroidogenesis was evaluated as part of the estrogen and androgen pathways. An up‐to‐date critical review has been conducted that considered results from the EDSP Tier 1 battery, guideline regulatory studies and an in‐depth analysis of the literature studies that informed an endocrine assessment. A strength of this evaluation was that it included data across multiple levels of biological organization, and mammalian and nonmammalian test systems. There was strong agreement across the in vitro and in vivo Tier 1 battery, guideline studies and relevant literature studies, demonstrating that glyphosate does not interact with EAT pathways including steroidogenesis. Based on an analysis of the comprehensive toxicology database for glyphosate and the literature, this review has concluded that glyphosate does not have endocrine‐disrupting properties through estrogen, androgen, thyroid and steroidogenic modes of action. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry