Heavy rains and hydrogeological disasters on February 18th–19th, 2023, in the city of São Sebastião, São Paulo, Brazil: from meteorological causes to early warnings - Jose A. Marengo; Ana P. Cunha; Marcelo E. Seluchi; Pedro I. Camarinha; Giovanni Dolif; Vinicius B. Sperling; Enner H. Alcântara; Andrea M. Ramos; Marcio M. Andrade; Rodrigo A. Stabile; José Mantovani; Edward Park; et al. (Natural Hazards, 2024)

Damage to tropical forests caused by cyclones is driven by wind speed but mediated by topographical exposure and tree characteristics - Thomas Ibanez; David Bauman; Shin‐ichiro Aiba; Thomas Arsouze; Peter J. Bellingham; Chris Birkinshaw; Philippe Birnbaum; Timothy J. Curran; Saara J. DeWalt; John Dwyer; Thierry Fourcaud; Janet Franklin; et al. (Global Change Biology, 2024)
Each year, an average of 45 tropical cyclones affect coastal areas and potentially impact forests. The proportion of the most intense cyclones has increased over the past four decades and is predicted to continue to do so. Yet, it remains uncertain how topographical exposure and tree characteristics can mediate the damage caused by increasing wind speed. Here, we compiled empirical data on the damage caused by 11 cyclones occurring over the past 40 years, from 74 forest plots representing tropical regions worldwide, encompassing field data for 22,176 trees and 815 species. We reconstructed the wind structure of those tropical cyclones to estimate the maximum sustained wind speed (MSW) and wind direction at the studied plots. Then, we used a causal inference framework combined with Bayesian generalised linear mixed models to understand and quantify the causal effects of MSW, topographical exposure to wind (EXP), tree size (DBH) and species wood density ( ρ ) on the proportion of damaged trees at the community level, and on the probability of snapping or uprooting at the tree level. The probability of snapping or uprooting at the tree level and, hence, the proportion of damaged trees at the community level, increased with increasing MSW, and with increasing EXP accentuating the damaging effects of cyclones, in particular at higher wind speeds. Higher ρ decreased the probability of snapping and to a lesser extent of uprooting. Larger trees tended to have lower probabilities of snapping but increased probabilities of uprooting. Importantly, the effect of ρ decreasing the probabilities of snapping was more marked for smaller than larger trees and was further accentuated at higher MSW. Our work emphasises how local topography, tree size and species wood density together mediate cyclone damage to tropical forests, facilitating better predictions of the impacts of such disturbances in an increasingly windier world.

Echocardiographic characterization of age- and sex-associated differences in cardiac function and morphometry in nonhuman primates - Maria Cristina Florio; Laura Fusini; Gloria Tamborini; Christopher Morrell; Alise McDonald; Michelle Walcott; Kenneth Ridley; Kelli L. Vaughan; Julie A. Mattison; Mauro Pepi; Edward G. Lakatta; Maurizio C. Capogrossi (GeroScience, 2024)

A half-cell reaction approach for pH calculation using a solid-state chloride ion-selective electrode with a hydrogen ion-selective ion-sensitive field effect transistor - S. Fisher Gonski; George W. Luther; Amanda L. Kelley; Todd R. Martz; Elliott G. Roberts; Xinyu Li; Bo Dong; Jordan A. Watson; Taylor S. Wirth; Najid Hussain; Randy J. Feris Serrano; Edward Hale; et al. (Marine Chemistry, 2024)

Primary vs grey: A critical evaluation of literature sources used to assess the impacts of offshore wind farms - Claire L. Szostek; Andrew Edwards-Jones; Nicola J. Beaumont; Stephen C.L. Watson (Environmental Science & Policy, 2024)

Effects of sample preservation techniques on dogs' (Canis familiaris) ability to detect koi carp (Cyprinus rubrofuscus) - Melissa A. Collins; Clare M. Browne; Timothy L. Edwards; Nicholas Ling; Grant W. Tempero (Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2024)

Differential advances in budburst timing among black spruce, white spruce and balsam fir across Canada - Diego S. Podadera; Lorena Balducci; Sergio Rossi; Fabrizio Cartenì; Valérie Néron; Rémi Saint-Amant; Stefano Mazzoleni; Jacques Régnière; Eric R.D. Moise; Joseph J. Bowden; Jean-Noël Candau; Alain Dupont; et al. (Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 2024)

Host and geography impact virus diversity in New Zealand’s longfin and shortfin eels - Stephanie J. Waller; Eimear Egan; Shannan Crow; Anthony Charsley; P. Mark Lokman; Erica K. Williams; Edward C. Holmes; Jemma L. Geoghegan (Archives of Virology, 2024)
The fishing and aquaculture industry is vital for global food security, yet viral diseases can result in mass fish die-off events. Determining the viromes of traditionally understudied species, such as fish, enhances our understanding of the global virosphere and the factors that influence virome composition and disease emergence. Very little is known about the viruses present in New Zealand’s native fish species, including the shortfin eel ( Anguilla australis ) and the longfin eel ( Anguilla dieffenbachii ), both of which are fished culturally by Māori (the indigenous population of New Zealand) and commercially. Through a total RNA metatranscriptomic analysis of longfin and shortfin eels across three different geographic locations in the South Island of New Zealand, we aimed to determine whether viruses had jumped between the two eel species and whether eel virome composition was impacted by life stage, species, and geographic location. We identified nine viral species spanning eight different families, thereby enhancing our understanding of eel virus diversity in New Zealand and the host range of these viral families. Viruses of the family Flaviviridae (genus Hepacivirus ) were widespread and found in both longfin and shortfin eels, indicative of cross-species transmission or virus-host co-divergence. Notably, both host specificity and geographic location appeared to influence eel virome composition, highlighting the complex interaction between viruses, hosts, and their ecosystems. This study broadens our understanding of viromes in aquatic hosts and highlights the importance of gaining baseline knowledge of fish viral abundance and diversity, particularly in aquatic species that are facing population declines.

The distinctive weathering crust habitat of a High Arctic glacier comprises discrete microbial micro‐habitats - Sara M. E. Rassner; Joseph M. Cook; Andrew C. Mitchell; Ian T. Stevens; Tristram D. L. Irvine‐Fynn; Andrew J. Hodson; Arwyn Edwards (Environmental Microbiology, 2024)
Sunlight penetrates the ice surfaces of glaciers and ice sheets, forming a water‐bearing porous ice matrix known as the weathering crust. This crust is home to a significant microbial community. Despite the potential implications of microbial processes in the weathering crust for glacial melting, biogeochemical cycles, and downstream ecosystems, there have been few explorations of its microbial communities. In our study, we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing and shotgun metagenomics of a Svalbard glacier surface catchment to characterise the microbial communities within the weathering crust, their origins and destinies, and the functional potential of the weathering crust metagenome. Our findings reveal that the bacterial community in the weathering crust is distinct from those in upstream and downstream habitats. However, it comprises two separate micro‐habitats, each with different taxa and functional categories. The interstitial porewater is dominated by Polaromonas , influenced by the transfer of snowmelt, and exported via meltwater channels. In contrast, the ice matrix is dominated by Hymenobacter , and its metagenome exhibits a diverse range of functional adaptations. Given that the global weathering crust area and the subsequent release of microbes from it are strongly responsive to climate projections for the rest of the century, our results underscore the pressing need to integrate the microbiome of the weathering crust with other communities and processes in glacial ecosystems.

The global impact of offshore wind farms on ecosystem services - Stephen C.L. Watson; Paul J. Somerfield; Anaëlle J. Lemasson; Antony M. Knights; Andrew Edwards-Jones; Joana Nunes; Christine Pascoe; Caroline Louise McNeill; Michaela Schratzberger; Murray S.A. Thompson; Elena Couce; Claire L. Szostek; et al. (Ocean & Coastal Management, 2024)

Exceptionally low mercury concentrations and fluxes from the 2021 and 2022 eruptions of Fagradalsfjall volcano, Iceland - Brock A. Edwards; Melissa A. Pfeffer; Evgenia Ilyinskaya; Barbara I. Kleine-Marshall; Céline L. Mandon; Adam Cotterill; Alessandro Aiuppa; Peter M. Outridge; Feiyue Wang (Science of The Total Environment, 2024)

Mineral dust optical properties for remote sensing and global modeling: A review - Patricia Castellanos; Peter Colarco; W. Reed Espinosa; Scott D. Guzewich; Robert C. Levy; Ron L. Miller; Mian Chin; Ralph A. Kahn; Osku Kemppinen; Hans Moosmüller; Edward P. Nowottnick; Adriana Rocha-Lima; et al. (Remote Sensing of Environment, 2024)

Microglial inflammation in genome instability: A neurodegenerative perspective - Nina L. Maliar; Emily J. Talbot; Abigail R. Edwards; Svetlana V. Khoronenkova (DNA Repair, 2024)

Red Drum Salinity Tolerance: Comments on Ackerly et al. “Short-Term Salinity Stress During Early Development Impacts the Growth and Survival of Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)” - A. Conway; S. Pauwels; M. Edwards; L. Fontenot; R. Palachek (Estuaries and Coasts, 2024)

Saltwater intrusion and sea level rise threatens U.S. rural coastal landscapes and communities - Kiera L. O’Donnell; Emily S. Bernhardt; Xi Yang; Ryan E. Emanuel; Marcelo Ardón; Manuel T. Lerdau; Alex K. Manda; Anna E. Braswell; Todd K. BenDor; Eric C. Edwards; Elizabeth Frankenberg; Ashley M. Helton; et al. (Anthropocene, 2024)

State of the California Current Ecosystem report in 2022: a tale of two La Niñas - Andrew R. Thompson; Rasmus Swalethorp; Michaela Alksne; Jarrod A. Santora; Elliott L. Hazen; Andrew Leising; Erin Satterthwaite; William J. Sydeman; Clarissa R. Anderson; Toby D. Auth; Simone Baumann-Pickering; Timothy Baumgardner; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2024)
2022 marked the third consecutive La Niña and extended the longest consecutive stretch of negative Oceanic Niño Index since 1998-2001. While physical and biological conditions in winter and spring largely adhered to prior La Niña conditions, summer and fall were very different. Similar to past La Niña events, in winter and spring coastal upwelling was either average or above average, temperature average or below average, salinity generally above average. In summer and fall, however, upwelling and temperature were generally average or slightly below average, salinity was close to average and chlorophyll a was close to average. Again, as during prior La Niña events, biomass of northern/southern copepods was above/below average off Oregon in winter, and body size of North Pacific krill in northern California was above average in winter. By contrast, later in the year the abundance of northern krill dropped off Oregon while southern copepods increased and body sizes of North Pacific krill fell in northern California. Off Oregon and Washington abundances of market squid and Pacific pompano (indicators of warm, non-typical La Niña conditions) were high. In the 20 th century, Northern anchovy recruitment tended to be high during cold conditions, but despite mostly warm conditions from 2015-2021 anchovy populations boomed and remained high in 2022. Resident seabird reproductive success, which tended in the past to increase during productive La Niña conditions was highly variable throughout the system as common murre and pelagic cormorant, experienced complete reproductive failure at Yaquina Head, Oregon while Brandt’s cormorant reproduction was average. At three sampling locations off central California, however, common murre reproduction was close to or above average while both pelagic and Brandt’s cormorant were above average. California sealion reproduction has been above average each year since 2016, and pup weight was also above average in 2022, likely in response not to La Niña or El Niño but continuous high abundance of anchovy. The highly variable and often unpredictable physical and biological conditions in 2022 highlight a growing recognition of disconnects between basin-scale indices and local conditions in the CCE. “July-December 2022 is the biggest outlier from individual “strong” La Niña (events) ever going back to the 50s.” – Nate Mantua

Nitrogen excretion by the lobsters Panulirus ornatus and Thenus australiensis and uptake by the brown algae Sargassum siliquosum: Implications for integrated recirculated aquaculture systems - Grace Edwards; Wouter Visch; Catriona L. Hurd; Greg Smith; Quinn Fitzgibbon (Aquaculture, 2024)

Building social licence to operate: A framework for gaining and maintaining meaningful, trustworthy relationships - Dean C. Stronge; Robyn L. Kannemeyer; Peter Edwards (Resources Policy, 2024)

“Knitted” tetrabenzo-24-crown-8 ether sulfonate as reusable and practical hydrophilic adsorbent for aqueous Cs+ sequestration - John Edward L. Sio; Erwin C. Escobar; Grace M. Nisola; Khino J. Parohinog; Negasi T. Weldesemat; Hern Kim; Wook-Jin Chung (Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 2024)

The Occurrence of Karenia species in mid-Atlantic coastal waters: Data from the Delmarva Peninsula, USA - Jennifer L. Wolny; Edward B. Whereat; Todd A. Egerton; Leah A. Gibala-Smith; John R. McKay; Judith M. O'Neil; Catherine E. Wazniak; Margaret R. Mulholland (Harmful Algae, 2024)

How well do existing surveys track fish community performance measures in the St. Clair-Detroit River System? - Corbin D. Hilling; Megan L. Belore; James Boase; Justin A. Chiotti; Robin L. DeBruyne; Susan E. Doka; Richard Drouin; Christine M. Mayer; Jeff. T. Tyson; Todd Wills; Edward F. Roseman (Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2024)

SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 display limited neuronal infection and lack the ability to transmit within synaptically connected axons in stem cell–derived human neurons - Jasmina M. Luczo; Sarah J. Edwards; Katie Ardipradja; Willy W. Suen; Gough G. Au; Glenn A. Marsh; Nathan Godde; Christina L. Rootes; John Bingham; Vinod Sundaramoorthy (Journal of NeuroVirology, 2024)
Sarbecoviruses such as SARS and SARS-CoV-2 have been responsible for two major outbreaks in humans, the latter resulting in a global pandemic. While sarbecoviruses primarily cause an acute respiratory infection, they have been shown to infect the nervous system. However, mechanisms of sarbecovirus neuroinvasion and neuropathogenesis remain unclear. In this study, we examined the infectivity and trans-synaptic transmission potential of the sarbecoviruses SARS and SARS-CoV-2 in human stem cell–derived neural model systems. We demonstrated limited ability of sarbecoviruses to infect and replicate in human stem cell–derived neurons. Furthermore, we demonstrated an inability of sarbecoviruses to transmit between synaptically connected human stem cell–derived neurons. Finally, we determined an absence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in olfactory neurons in experimentally infected ferrets. Collectively, this study indicates that sarbecoviruses exhibit low potential to infect human stem cell–derived neurons, lack an ability to infect ferret olfactory neurons, and lack an inbuilt molecular mechanism to utilise retrograde axonal trafficking and trans-synaptic transmission to spread within the human nervous system.

A fragment of inherited Archaean lithospheric mantle rules the metallogeny of central Mexico - Erwin Schettino; José María González-Jiménez; Claudio Marchesi; María G. Dávalos-Elizondo; Antoni Camprubí; Vanessa Colás; Edward Saunders; José J. Aranda-Gómez; William L. Griffin (International Geology Review, 2024)

The underwater soundscape of the North Sea - F. Basan; J.-G. Fischer; R. Putland; J. Brinkkemper; C.A.F. de Jong; B. Binnerts; A. Norro; D. Kühnel; L.-A. Ødegaard; M. Andersson; E. Lalander; J. Tougaard; et al. (Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2024)

Canola meal as a supplement for grass-fed beef cattle: Effects on growth rates, carcase and meat quality, and consumer sensory evaluations - Emma E.M. Lynch; Edward H. Clayton; Benjamin W.B. Holman; David L. Hopkins; Rod J. Polkinghorne; Michael A. Campbell (Meat Science, 2024)

Radon decay product particle radioactivity and oxidative stress biomarkers in patients with COPD - Christopher Romero-Gutierrez; Petros Koutrakis; Man Liu; Carolina L. Zilli Vieira; Brent A. Coull; Edward F. Maher; Junfeng (Jim) Zhang; Eric Garshick (Environmental Research, 2024)

Experimental characterization of the low-temperature thermal decomposition of diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP) - Elif Irem Senyurt; Kevin Watson; Andrea C. Zambon; Gregory Feldman; Neeraj Sinha; Vern K. Hoffmann; Mirko Schoenitz; Edward L. Dreizin (Chemical Engineering Journal, 2024)

Fitness costs of pyrethroid resistance in the polyphagous pest mite, Halotydeus destructor, under field conditions - Paul A. Umina; James L. Maino; Owain Edwards; Xuan Cheng; Matthew Binns; Anthony van Rooyen; Sue Vern Song; Andrew Weeks; Aston L. Arthur; Olivia L. Reynolds; Ary A. Hoffmann (Journal of Pest Science, 2024)
The redlegged earth mite, Halotydeus destructor , is an economically important pest of winter field crops and pastures in Australia, and has evolved field resistance to pyrethroid chemicals through a polymorphism in the voltage-gated parasodium channel leading to knockdown resistance ( kdr) . In this study, we quantified the rate of reversion to susceptibility of partially resistant H. destructor populations under field conditions in the absence of pesticide exposure. This was conducted over multiple years at two geographically distant locations with mite populations known to possess pyrethroid resistance. Fitness costs associated with pyrethroid resistance were identified through reductions in the frequency of kdr resistance alleles in the absence of pesticides. This was assessed using an amplicon sequencing approach targeting known resistance alleles. We also found that resistance can increase rapidly in frequency after only a single pyrethroid application in the field. Our results highlight that, once established in H. destructor populations, pyrethroid resistance will not easily be lost even after several years, emphasizing the importance of limiting the evolution of resistance in the first place. This helps to explain why pyrethroid resistance in H. destructor continues to persist at very high frequencies in the field and continues to expand within Australia despite the existence of fitness costs. Understanding field fitness costs associated with pesticide resistance is important when devising resistance management strategies for this pest.

Temperature Thresholds for Leaf Damage from Two Extreme Freeze Events (2018 and 2021) Near the Northern Range Limit of Black Mangroves (Avicennia germinans) in Southeastern North America - Simen Kaalstad; Michael J. Osland; Donna J. Devlin; C. Edward Proffitt; Laura C. Feher; Anna R. Armitage; Richard H. Day; Kathleen M. Swanson; Gordon H. Anderson; Brigid Berger; Just Cebrian; Karen L. Cummins; et al. (Estuaries and Coasts, 2024)

Indigenous Peoples' Lands are critical for safeguarding vertebrate diversity across the tropics - Jocelyne S. Sze; Dylan Z. Childs; L. Roman Carrasco; Álvaro Fernández‐Llamazares; Stephen T. Garnett; David P. Edwards (Global Change Biology, 2024)
Indigenous Peoples are long‐term custodians of their lands, but only recently are their contributions to conservation starting to be recognized in biodiversity policy and practice. Tropical forest loss and degradation are lower in Indigenous lands than unprotected areas, yet the role of Indigenous Peoples' Lands (IPL) in biodiversity conservation has not been properly assessed from regional to global scales. Using species distribution ranges of 11,872 tropical forest‐dependent vertebrates to create area of habitat maps, we identified the overlap of these species ranges with IPL and then compared values inside and outside of IPL for species richness, extinction vulnerability, and range‐size rarity. Of assessed vertebrates, at least 76.8% had range overlaps with IPL, on average overlapping ~25% of their ranges; at least 120 species were found only within IPL. Species richness within IPL was highest in South America, while IPL in Southeast Asia had highest extinction vulnerability, and IPL in Dominica and New Caledonia were important for range‐size rarity. Most countries in the Americas had higher species richness within IPL than outside, whereas most countries in Asia had lower extinction vulnerability scores inside IPL and more countries in Africa and Asia had slightly higher range‐size rarity in IPL. Our findings suggest that IPL provide critical support for tropical forest‐dependent vertebrates, highlighting the need for greater inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in conservation target‐setting and program implementation, and stronger upholding of Indigenous Peoples' rights in conservation policy.

Ultra-processed foods and health: a comprehensive review - Yin Zhang; Edward L. Giovannucci (Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2023)

Portion size affects food selection in an immersive virtual reality buffet and is related to measured intake in laboratory meals varying in portion size - John W. Long; Sara J. Pritschet; Kathleen L. Keller; Charissa S.L. Cheah; Lee Boot; Alexander Klippel; Timothy R. Brick; Caitlyn G. Edwards; Barbara J. Rolls; Travis D. Masterson (Appetite, 2023)

A globally integrated structure of taxonomy to support biodiversity science and conservation - Emily L. Sandall; Aurore A. Maureaud; Robert Guralnick; Melodie A. McGeoch; Yanina V. Sica; Matthew S. Rogan; Douglas B. Booher; Robert Edwards; Nico Franz; Kate Ingenloff; Maisha Lucas; Charles J. Marsh; et al. (Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2023)

Low frequency of resistance to thiophanate-methyl in Monilinia fructicola populations from southeastern United States peach orchards - William P. Gura; Jhulia Gelain; Edward J. Sikora; Edgar L. Vinson; Phillip M. Brannen; Guido Schnabel (Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, 2023)

Fungal diversity in homes and asthma morbidity among school-age children in New York City - Samuel J. Cochran; Luis Acosta; Adnan Divjan; Angela R. Lemons; Andrew G. Rundle; Rachel L. Miller; Edward Sobek; Brett J. Green; Matthew S. Perzanowski; Karen C. Dannemiller (Environmental Research, 2023)

Global responses to the COVID-19 pandemic by recreational anglers: considerations for developing more resilient and sustainable fisheries - J. Robert Britton; Adrian C. Pinder; Josep Alós; Robert Arlinghaus; Andy J. Danylchuk; Wendy Edwards; Kátia M. F. Freire; Casper Gundelund; Kieran Hyder; Ivan Jarić; Robert Lennox; Wolf-Christian Lewin; et al. (Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 2023)
The global COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many jurisdictions implementing orders restricting the movements of people to inhibit virus transmission, with recreational angling often either not permitted or access to fisheries and/or related infrastructure being prevented. Following the lifting of restrictions, initial angler surveys and licence sales suggested increased participation and effort, and altered angler demographics, but with evidence remaining limited. Here, we overcome this evidence gap by identifying temporal changes in angling interest, licence sales, and angling effort in world regions by comparing data in the ‘pre-pandemic’ (up to and including 2019); ‘acute pandemic’ (2020) and ‘COVID-acclimated’ (2021) periods. We then identified how changes can inform the development of more resilient and sustainable recreational fisheries. Interest in angling (measured here as angling-related internet search term volumes) increased substantially in all regions during 2020. Patterns in licence sales revealed marked increases in some countries during 2020 but not in others. Where licence sales increased, this was rarely sustained in 2021; where there were declines, these related to fewer tourist anglers due to movement restrictions. Data from most countries indicated a younger demographic of people who participated in angling in 2020, including in urban areas, but this was not sustained in 2021. These short-lived changes in recreational angling indicate efforts to retain younger anglers could increase overall participation levels, where efforts can target education in appropriate angling practices and create more urban angling opportunities. These efforts would then provide recreational fisheries with greater resilience to cope with future global crises, including facilitating the ability of people to access angling opportunities during periods of high societal stress.

Total infectome investigation of diphtheritic stomatitis in yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes) reveals a novel and abundant megrivirus - Janelle R. Wierenga; Rebecca M. Grimwood; Harry S. Taylor; Stuart Hunter; Lisa S. Argilla; Trudi Webster; Lauren Lim; Rebecca French; Hendrik Schultz; Fátima Jorge; Mihnea Bostina; Laura Burga; et al. (Veterinary Microbiology, 2023)

Ecosystem feedbacks constrain the effect of day‐to‐day weather variability on land–atmosphere carbon exchange - Edward B. Rastetter; Kevin L. Griffin; Bonnie L. Kwiatkowski; George W. Kling (Global Change Biology, 2023)
Whole‐ecosystem interactions and feedbacks constrain ecosystem responses to environmental change. The effects of these constraints on responses to climate trends and extreme weather events have been well studied. Here we examine how these constraints respond to changes in day‐to‐day weather variability without changing the long‐term mean weather. Although environmental variability is recognized as a critical factor affecting ecological function, the effects of climate change on day‐to‐day weather variability and the resultant impacts on ecosystem function are still poorly understood. Changes in weather variability can alter the mean rates of individual ecological processes because many processes respond non‐linearly to environmental drivers. We assessed how these individual‐process responses to changes in day‐to‐day weather variability interact with one another at an ecosystem level. We examine responses of arctic tundra to changes in weather variability using stochastic simulations of daily temperature, precipitation, and light to drive a biogeochemical model. Changes in weather variability altered ecosystem carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus stocks and cycling rates in our model. However, responses of some processes (e.g., respiration) were inconsistent with expectations because ecosystem feedbacks can moderate, or even reverse, direct process responses to weather variability. More weather variability led to greater carbon losses from land to atmosphere; less variability led to higher carbon sequestration on land. The magnitude of modeled ecosystem response to weather variability was comparable to that predicted for the effects of climate mean trends by the end of the century.

Icescape‐scale metabolomics reveals cyanobacterial and topographic control of the core metabolism of the cryoconite ecosystem of an Arctic ice cap - Jarishma K. Gokul; Luis A. J. Mur; Andrew J. Hodson; Tristram D. L. Irvine‐Fynn; Aliyah R. Debbonaire; Nozomu Takeuchi; Arwyn Edwards (Environmental Microbiology, 2023)
Glaciers host ecosystems comprised of biodiverse and active microbiota. Among glacial ecosystems, less is known about the ecology of ice caps since most studies focus on valley glaciers or ice sheet margins. Previously we detailed the microbiota of one such high Arctic ice cap, focusing on cryoconite as a microbe‐mineral aggregate formed by cyanobacteria. Here, we employ metabolomics at the scale of an entire ice cap to reveal the major metabolic pathways prevailing in the cryoconite of Foxfonna, central Svalbard. We reveal how geophysical and biotic processes influence the metabolomes of its resident cryoconite microbiota. We observed differences in amino acid, fatty acid, and nucleotide synthesis across the cap reflecting the influence of ice topography and the cyanobacteria within cryoconite. Ice topography influences central carbohydrate metabolism and nitrogen assimilation, whereas bacterial community structure governs lipid, nucleotide, and carotenoid biosynthesis processes. The prominence of polyamine metabolism and nitrogen assimilation highlights the importance of recycling nitrogenous nutrients. To our knowledge, this study represents the first application of metabolomics across an entire ice mass, demonstrating its utility as a tool for revealing the fundamental metabolic processes essential for sustaining life in supraglacial ecosystems experiencing profound change due to Arctic climate change‐driven mass loss.

Extracting spatial information from temporal odor patterns: insights from insects - Paul Szyszka; Thierry Emonet; Timothy L Edwards (Current Opinion in Insect Science, 2023)

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium 2022 Annual Report - Alexandra M. Amaducci; Sharan L. Campleman; Shao Li; Dana L. Karshenas; Meghan B. Spyres; Lynn A. Farrugia; A. Min Kang; Rachel E. Culbreth; Paul M. Wax; Jeffrey Brent; Kim Aldy; Jennifer Acciani; et al. (Journal of Medical Toxicology, 2023)

Enrollment, retention, and inclusivity of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) eco-labelling certifications - Stuart T. Jones; Edward H. Allison; Kailin Kroetz; Yoshitaka Ota; Sunny L. Jardine (Marine Policy, 2023)

Large sardine resource discovered off south-eastern Australia: Potential risks, challenges and benefits of establishing a new fishery - Tim M. Ward; Barrett W. Wolfe; Gretchen L. Grammer; Alex R. Ivey; Edward King; Andreas Schiller; Karlie S. McDonald; Jeffrey M. Dambacher (Marine Policy, 2023)

LP-25: The curious case of Adverse Outcome Pathways: the stressor agnostic approach bridging disciplines by embracing evidence from diverse initiating factors - J. Filipovska; L.-A. Clerbaux; A. Carusi; M.-J. Amorim; P. Nymark; V. Chauhan; M. Sachana; A. Beronius; S.W. Edwards; C. Wittwehr (Toxicology Letters, 2023)

An onshore-offshore interpretation of structures in the Devonian rocks of the Pentland Firth, Scotland using high resolution bathymetry and drone-enabled field observations. - Thomas A.G. Utley; Robert E. Holdsworth; Richard J. Walker; Edward D. Dempsey; Ken J.W. McCaffrey; Anna Dichiarante; Thomas L. Jones (Journal of Structural Geology, 2023)

Adaptation and mitigation capacity of wildland forests in the northeastern United States - Edward K. Faison; Danelle Laflower; Luca L. Morreale; David R. Foster; Brian Hall; Emily Johnson; Jonathan R. Thompson (Forest Ecology and Management, 2023)

Food web structure and energy flux dynamics, but not taxonomic richness, influence microbial ecosystem functions in a Sphagnum-dominated peatland - Vincent E.J. Jassey; Owen L. Petchey; Philippe Binet; Alexandre Buttler; Geneviève Chiapusio; Frédéric Delarue; Fatima Laggoun-Défarge; Daniel Gilbert; Edward A.D. Mitchell; Janna M. Barel (European Journal of Soil Biology, 2023)

Challenges in cybersecurity: Lessons from biological defense systems - Edward Schrom; Ann Kinzig; Stephanie Forrest; Andrea L. Graham; Simon A. Levin; Carl T. Bergstrom; Carlos Castillo-Chavez; James P. Collins; Rob J. de Boer; Adam Doupé; Roya Ensafi; Stuart Feldman; et al. (Mathematical Biosciences, 2023)

Sequence Divergence in Venom Genes Within and Between Montane Pitviper (Viperidae: Crotalinae: Cerrophidion) Species is Driven by Mutation–Drift Equilibrium - Ramses Alejandro Rosales-García; Rhett M. Rautsaw; Erich P. Hofmann; Christoph I. Grünwald; Hector Franz-Chavez; Ivan T. Ahumada-Carrillo; Ricardo Ramirez-Chaparro; Miguel Angel de la Torre-Loranca; Jason L. Strickland; Andrew J. Mason; Matthew L. Holding; Miguel Borja; et al. (Journal of Molecular Evolution, 2023)

Thyroid Cancer Risk Communication in Patients with Thyroid Nodules - Diliara Bagautdinova; Shu Wang; Juan P. Brito; Carma L. Bylund; Catherine Edwards; Natalie Silver; Deepa Danan; Debbie Treise; Spyridoula Maraka; Ian Hargraves; Naykky Singh Ospina (Journal of Cancer Education, 2023)

Marine nutrient subsidies promote biogeochemical hotspots in undisturbed, highly humic estuaries - Chris D. Evans; Stacey L. Felgate; Steffi Carter; Mark Stinchcombe; Edward Mawji; Andrew P. Rees; Inma Lebron; Richard Sanders; Paul Brickle; Daniel J. Mayor (Limnology and Oceanography, 2023)
The land‐ocean dissolved organic carbon (DOC) flux represents a significant term within the global carbon budget, with peatland‐dominated regions representing the most intense sources of terrestrial DOC export. As the interface between freshwater and marine systems, estuaries have the potential to act as a filter of the land‐ocean carbon flux, removing terrestrially derived DOC, which is present at low concentrations in the oceans, via a combination of physicochemical and biological processes. However, the fate of peat‐derived DOC within estuaries remains poorly quantified, partly due to the complicating influences of heterogeneous soils, land‐use, point sources, and upstream modification of organic matter. To minimize these modifying factors, we studied DOC and inorganic nutrients in four small, peat‐dominated, minimally disturbed, and oligotrophic Falkland Island estuaries. Contrary to expectations, we found limited evidence of physicochemical estuarine DOC removal, and instead observed apparent “hot zones” of biogeochemical activity, where terrestrially‐derived silicate mixed with inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus entering the estuaries from the nutrient‐rich marine ecosystem. In two estuaries, this coincided with apparent in situ DOC production. We suggest that the observed phenomena of marine nutrient subsidy of estuarine productivity, and flexible utilization of multiple nutrients within the oligotrophic system, may once have been widespread in temperate estuaries. However, this function has been lost in many ecosystems due to catchment eutrophication by agricultural and urban development. We conclude that the estuaries of the Falkland Islands provide a valuable pre‐disturbance analogue for natural biogeochemical functioning in temperate estuaries receiving high organic matter inputs.

Reconstruction of the palaeo‐sea level of Britain and Ireland arising from empirical constraints of ice extent: implications for regional sea level forecasts and North American ice sheet volume - SARAH L. Bradley; JEREMY C. Ely; CHRIS D. Clark; ROBIN J. Edwards; Ian Shennan (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023)
Reconstructions of palaeo‐sea level are vital for predicting future sea level change and constraining palaeo‐ice sheet reconstructions, as well as being useful for a wide array of applications across Quaternary Science. Previous reconstructions of the palaeo‐sea level of Britain and Ireland relied on a circular tuning of glacio‐isostatic models: input ice sheet thicknesses and extents were iteratively altered to fit relative sea level data. Here we break that circularity by utilizing new data from the BRITICE‐CHRONO project, which constrains the position of the British–Irish ice sheet margin through time, and we compare derived glacio‐isostatic modelling to the rich relative sea level record. We test a combination of plausible ice thickness scenarios which account for the uncertainty of ice margin position over the North Sea, demonstrating the region where regional sea level data could distinguish between different glaciation scenarios. Our optimal reconstruction is then combined with several global‐scale reconstructions. As the signal of the British–Irish Ice Sheet is constrained, we demonstrate how the relative sea level record of Britain and Ireland can be used to test reconstructions of far‐field ice sheets (e.g. Antarctica, Eurasia and the Laurentide). The derived palaeo‐topography data are likely to be useful for multiple disciplines. Finally, our improved method of sea level reconstruction impacts predictions of contemporary vertical land motion.

The phytotoxicity of soil-applied herbicides is enhanced in the first-year post strategic deep tillage - Tom J. Edwards; Stephen L. Davies; Ron J. Yates; Mick Rose; John G. Howieson; Graham O’Hara; Emma J. Steel; David JM Hall (Soil and Tillage Research, 2023)

Internal endpoint temperature (level of cooking doneness) effects on the fatty acid and mineral profiles of grilled lamb m. longissimus lumborum - Benjamin W.B. Holman; Stephanie M. Fowler; Kristy L. Bailes; Richard G. Meyer; David L. Hopkins; Edward H. Clayton (Meat Science, 2023)

Rapidly Changing Range Limits in a Warming World: Critical Data Limitations and Knowledge Gaps for Advancing Understanding of Mangrove Range Dynamics in the Southeastern USA - Rémi Bardou; Michael J. Osland; Steven Scyphers; Christine Shepard; Karen E. Aerni; Jahson B. Alemu I; Robert Crimian; Richard H. Day; Nicholas M. Enwright; Laura C. Feher; Sarah L. Gibbs; Kiera O’Donnell; et al. (Estuaries and Coasts, 2023)
Climate change is altering species’ range limits and transforming ecosystems. For example, warming temperatures are leading to the range expansion of tropical, cold-sensitive species at the expense of their cold-tolerant counterparts. In some temperate and subtropical coastal wetlands, warming winters are enabling mangrove forest encroachment into salt marsh, which is a major regime shift that has significant ecological and societal ramifications. Here, we synthesized existing data and expert knowledge to assess the distribution of mangroves near rapidly changing range limits in the southeastern USA. We used expert elicitation to identify data limitations and highlight knowledge gaps for advancing understanding of past, current, and future range dynamics. Mangroves near poleward range limits are often shorter, wider, and more shrublike compared to their tropical counterparts that grow as tall forests in freeze-free, resource-rich environments. The northern range limits of mangroves in the southeastern USA are particularly dynamic and climate sensitive due to abundance of suitable coastal wetland habitat and the exposure of mangroves to winter temperature extremes that are much colder than comparable range limits on other continents. Thus, there is need for methodological refinements and improved spatiotemporal data regarding changes in mangrove structure and abundance near northern range limits in the southeastern USA. Advancing understanding of rapidly changing range limits is critical for foundation plant species such as mangroves, as it provides a basis for anticipating and preparing for the cascading effects of climate-induced species redistribution on ecosystems and the human communities that depend on their ecosystem services.

Vegetation changes over time in Prairie Pothole Region reference wetlands - Christina L. M. Hargiss; Savannah Fritz Metz; Edward S. DeKeyser; Jack Norland; Breanna Kobiela; Deirdre A. Prischmann-Voldseth (Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2023)

Aquatic insect accumulation of uranium at spring outflows in the Grand Canyon region as influenced by aqueous and sediment geochemistry and biological factors: implications for monitoring - Daniel J. Cain; Marie-Noële Croteau; Christopher C. Fuller; Kimberly R. Beisner; Kate M. Campbell; Deborah L. Stoliker; Edward R. Schenk (Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2023)

Fungal symbiont community and absence of detectable mycangia in invasive Euplatypus ambrosia beetles - Andre Rodrigues; Andrew J. Johnson; Ross A. Joseph; You Li; Nemat O. Keyhani; Edward L. Stanley; Benjamin Weiss; Martin Kaltenpoth; Matthew E. Smith; Jiri Hulcr (Symbiosis, 2023)

Differences in the regulatory strategies of marine oligotrophs and copiotrophs reflect differences in motility - Stephen E. Noell; Elizabeth Brennan; Quinn Washburn; Edward W. Davis; Ferdi L. Hellweger; Stephen J. Giovannoni (Environmental Microbiology, 2023)
Aquatic bacteria frequently are divided into lifestyle categories oligotroph or copiotroph . Oligotrophs have proportionately fewer transcriptional regulatory genes than copiotrophs and are generally non‐motile/chemotactic. We hypothesized that the absence of chemotaxis/motility in oligotrophs prevents them from occupying nutrient patches long enough to benefit from transcriptional regulation. We first confirmed that marine oligotrophs are generally reduced in genes for transcriptional regulation and motility/chemotaxis. Next, using a non‐motile oligotroph (Ca. Pelagibacter st. HTCC7211), a motile copiotroph ( Alteromonas macleodii st. HOT1A3), and [ 14 C] l ‐alanine, we confirmed that l ‐alanine catabolism is not transcriptionally regulated in HTCC7211 but is in HOT1A3. We then found that HOT1A3 took 2.5–4 min to initiate l ‐alanine oxidation at patch l ‐alanine concentrations, compared to 4 min for chemotactic/motile cells. Thus, the time necessary for transcriptional regulation to initiate prevents transcriptional regulation from being beneficial for non‐motile oligotrophs. This is supported by a mechanistic model we developed, which predicted that HTCC7211 cells with transcriptional regulation of l ‐alanine metabolism would produce 12% of their standing ATP stock upon encountering an l ‐alanine patch, compared to 880% in HTCC7211 cells without transcriptional regulation.

Evolutionary dynamics and adaptive benefits of deleterious mutations in crop gene pools - Sangam L. Dwivedi; Pat Heslop-Harrison; Charles Spillane; Peter C. McKeown; David Edwards; Irwin Goldman; Rodomiro Ortiz (Trends in Plant Science, 2023)

Recombinant equine FSH superovulation in the mare - Patrick M McCue; Emily M May; Brittany T Middlebrooks; Janet F Roser; Pablo J Ross; Edward L Squires (Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 2023)

Corrigendum to “A functional size-spectrum model of the global marine ecosystem that resolves zooplankton composition”, Ecological Modelling, 2020, 435: 109265 - Ryan F. Heneghan; Jason D. Everett; Patrick Sykes; Sonia D. Batten; Martin Edwards; Kunio Takahashi; Iain M. Suthers; Julia L. Blanchard; Anthony J. Richardson (Ecological Modelling, 2023)

Retaining natural vegetation to safeguard biodiversity and humanity - Jeremy S. Simmonds; Andres Felipe Suarez‐Castro; April E. Reside; James E. M. Watson; James R. Allan; Scott C. Atkinson; Pasquale Borrelli; Nigel Dudley; Stephen Edwards; Richard A. Fuller; Edward T. Game; Simon Linke; et al. (Conservation Biology, 2023)
Global efforts to deliver internationally agreed goals to reduce carbon emissions, halt biodiversity loss, and retain essential ecosystem services have been poorly integrated. These goals rely in part on preserving natural (e.g., native, largely unmodified) and seminatural (e.g., low intensity or sustainable human use) forests, woodlands, and grasslands. To show how to unify these goals, we empirically derived spatially explicit, quantitative, area‐based targets for the retention of natural and seminatural (e.g., native) terrestrial vegetation worldwide. We used a 250‐m‐resolution map of natural and seminatural vegetation cover and, from this, selected areas identified under different international agreements as being important for achieving global biodiversity, carbon, soil, and water targets. At least 67 million km 2 of Earth's terrestrial vegetation (∼79% of the area of vegetation remaining) required retention to contribute to biodiversity, climate, soil, and freshwater conservation objectives under 4 United Nations’ resolutions. This equates to retaining natural and seminatural vegetation across at least 50% of the total terrestrial (excluding Antarctica) surface of Earth. Retention efforts could contribute to multiple goals simultaneously, especially where natural and seminatural vegetation can be managed to achieve cobenefits for biodiversity, carbon storage, and ecosystem service provision. Such management can and should co‐occur and be driven by people who live in and rely on places where natural and sustainably managed vegetation remains in situ and must be complemented by restoration and appropriate management of more human‐modified environments if global goals are to be realized.

Challenging the antiquity of the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa: Geochronological evidence restricts the age of Eurotomys bolti and Parapapio to less than 2.3 Ma at Waypoint 160, Bolt's Farm - Tara R. Edwards; Robyn Pickering; Tom L. Mallett; Andy I.R. Herries (Journal of Human Evolution, 2023)

Uranus ring occultation observations: 1977–2006 - Richard G. French; Colleen A. McGhee-French; Mitchell Gordon; Richard L. Baron; Amanda S. Bosh; Marc W. Buie; Nancy Chanover; Mary Ann Clark; Edward W. Dunham; Linda M. French; Ian S. Glass; Jay D. Goguen; et al. (Icarus, 2023)

Reversibility controls on extreme methane clumped isotope signatures from anaerobic oxidation of methane - Jiarui Liu; Rachel L. Harris; Jeanine L. Ash; James G. Ferry; Sebastian J.E. Krause; Jabrane Labidi; Divya Prakash; Barbara Sherwood Lollar; Tina Treude; Oliver Warr; Edward D. Young (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2023)

Short-term dynamics of nano- and picoplankton production in an embayment of the southern Benguela upwelling region - Nicole R. Dames; Sina Wallschuss; Emma Rocke; Grant Pitcher; Edward Rybicki; Maya Pfaff; Jessica Burger; Sarah E. Fawcett; Coleen L. Moloney (Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2023)

Flow cytometry-based biomarker assay for in vitro identification of microalgal symbionts conferring heat tolerance on corals - Patrick Buerger; Marcin Buler; Heng L. Yeap; Owain R. Edwards; Madeleine J. H. van Oppen; John G. Oakeshott; Leon Court (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2023)
Corals’ tolerance to high temperature stress largely depends on their symbiotic microalgae (Symbiodiniaceae). However, the contributing microalgal traits and their relationships to one another are largely unclear. Here we compare the in vitro cellular profiles of seven Cladocopium C1 acro microalgal strains (derived from the same ancestral strain) during a four-week exposure to 27°C or 31°C. One was an unselected wild-type strain (WT), three were selected at 31°C for nine years and shown to confer thermal tolerance on the coral host (SS+) and three others were similarly selected but did not confer tolerance (SS-). Flow cytometry was used to measure the staining intensities of cells treated with dyes representing the intracellular stress indicators reactive oxygen species (ROS), reduced glutathione (rGSH) and mitochondrial activity, as well as cell size/shape and photosynthetic pigments. Cell densities and photosynthetic efficiency (ϕPSII, F v /F m ) were also measured. WT showed the highest levels of intracellular ROS and mitochondrial activity, lowest rGSH and largest cell sizes at both temperatures. SS+ strains had the lowest ROS and highest rGSH values and a unique pattern of correlations among parameters at 31°C. Our results support previous reports implicating the role of microalgal ROS, mitochondria and rGSH in holobiont thermal tolerance and suggest flow cytometry is a useful screening tool for identifying microalgal strains with enhanced thermal tolerance.

Integrated research in the Arctic – Ecosystem linkages and shifts in the northern Bering Sea and eastern and western Chukchi Sea - Matthew R. Baker; Edward V. Farley; Seth L. Danielson; Calvin Mordy; Kathleen M. Stafford; Danielle M.S. Dickson (Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2023)

Updated guidelines for gene nomenclature in wheat - S. A. Boden; R. A. McIntosh; C. Uauy; S. G. Krattinger; J. Dubcovsky; W. J. Rogers; X. C. Xia; E. D. Badaeva; A. R. Bentley; G. Brown-Guedira; M. Caccamo; L. Cattivelli; et al. (Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 2023)
Key message Here, we provide an updated set of guidelines for naming genes in wheat that has been endorsed by the wheat research community. Abstract The last decade has seen a proliferation in genomic resources for wheat, including reference- and pan-genome assemblies with gene annotations, which provide new opportunities to detect, characterise, and describe genes that influence traits of interest. The expansion of genetic information has supported growth of the wheat research community and catalysed strong interest in the genes that control agronomically important traits, such as yield, pathogen resistance, grain quality, and abiotic stress tolerance. To accommodate these developments, we present an updated set of guidelines for gene nomenclature in wheat. These guidelines can be used to describe loci identified based on morphological or phenotypic features or to name genes based on sequence information, such as similarity to genes characterised in other species or the biochemical properties of the encoded protein. The updated guidelines provide a flexible system that is not overly prescriptive but provides structure and a common framework for naming genes in wheat, which may be extended to related cereal species. We propose these guidelines be used henceforth by the wheat research community to facilitate integration of data from independent studies and allow broader and more efficient use of text and data mining approaches, which will ultimately help further accelerate wheat research and breeding.

Cancer survivorship experiences in Utah: an evaluation assessing indicators of survivors’ quality of life, health behaviors, and access to health services - Morgan M. Millar; Kimberly A. Herget; Blessing Ofori-Atta; Rachel R. Codden; Sandra L. Edwards; Marjorie E. Carter; Brad Belnap; Anne C. Kirchhoff; Carol Sweeney (Cancer Causes & Control, 2023)

Community‐based monitoring, assessment and management of data‐limited inland fish stocks in North Rupununi, Guyana - Samuel Shephard; Kevin Edwards; Susan George; Elvis Joseph; Samantha James; Oswin David; Addevi Persaud; L. Cynthia Watson; Nathalie Van Vliet (Fisheries Management and Ecology, 2023)
Inland fisheries are important for food security in communities around the world, especially in developing countries. In North Rupununi, Guyana, the state of exploited stocks is poorly understood, and fishery monitoring and assessment are challenging because diverse fishing gears and target species are distributed across a heterogeneous landscape. This complexity created an opportunity for community‐based monitoring (CBM) to support data‐limited assessment. Standardised CBM was established for the North Rupununi as part of a new inland fisheries management plan initiated by indigenous community groups with support from the government. Quantitative length‐based assessments undertaken for target stocks suggested moderate levels of exploitation consistent with local perception. Our study highlights that local experts and community participants with different levels of training can collect accurate biodiversity data. Further development of CBM is important in North Rupununi. We recommend using local ecological knowledge indicators to track spatial and temporal patterns in exploitation and fish stock status.

Effects of exercise training programmes on fasting gastrointestinal appetite hormones in adults with overweight and obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis - Taibah Almesbehi; Leanne Harris; Arlene McGarty; Sheikha Alqallaf; Sophie Westrop; Christine A. Edwards; James L. Dorling; Dalia Malkova (Appetite, 2023)

The effects of resistance exercise on appetite sensations, appetite related hormones and energy intake in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer survivors - Sarah A. Purcell; Edward L. Melanson; Anosheh Afghahi; Virginia F. Borges; Isabella Sinelli; Marc-Andre Cornier (Appetite, 2023)

Response to: "Are depression and suicidality evolved signals? Evidently, no" - Michael R. Gaffney; Kai H. Adams; Kristen L. Syme; Edward H. Hagen (Evolution and Human Behavior, 2023)

Response to Waters et al. (2022) The Anthropocene is complex. Defining it is not - Dorothy Merritts; Lucy E. Edwards; Erle Ellis; Michael Walker; Stanley Finney; Philip Gibbard; Jacquelyn L. Gill; Mark Maslin; Andrew Bauer; Matthew Edgeworth; William Ruddiman (Earth-Science Reviews, 2023)

Freshwater Flow Affects Subsidies of a Copepod (Pseudodiaptomus forbesi) to Low-Salinity Food Webs in the Upper San Francisco Estuary - Jason L. Hassrick; Josh Korman; Wim J. Kimmerer; Edward S. Gross; Lenny F. Grimaldo; Calvin Lee; Andrew A. Schultz (Estuaries and Coasts, 2023)
Productivity of the food web supporting small pelagic fishes in the upper San Francisco Estuary is chronically low, and some of the native fish species are in a long-term decline. The low-salinity (oligohaline) zone (LSZ) is particularly depauperate in phytoplankton and zooplankton. Based on prior empirical studies, it is hypothesized that freshwater flow increases the subsidy of a key copepod prey species ( Pseudodiaptomus forbesi ) from its freshwater population center into the LSZ. We combined hydrodynamic and particle-tracking modeling with Bayesian analysis in a box-model approach to estimate the magnitude of this subsidy and its dependence on freshwater flow rates. Net gains of P. forbesi into the LSZ came mostly from freshwater, landward regions of higher copepod abundance. The subsidy increased with freshwater flow, a finding that supports previous empirical analyses. However, in the context of persistent drought and ongoing climate change, the levels required to achieve a detectable net gain may be difficult and costly to achieve.

Survival of epithelial ovarian cancer in Black women: a society to cell approach in the African American cancer epidemiology study (AACES) - Joellen M. Schildkraut; Courtney Johnson; Lauren F. Dempsey; Bo Qin; Paul Terry; Maxwell Akonde; Edward S. Peters; Hannah Mandle; Michele L. Cote; Lauren Peres; Patricia Moorman; Ann G. Schwartz; et al. (Cancer Causes & Control, 2023)
Purpose The causes for the survival disparity among Black women with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) are likely multi-factorial. Here we describe the African American Cancer Epidemiology Study (AACES), the largest cohort of Black women with EOC. Methods AACES phase 2 (enrolled 2020 onward) is a multi-site, population-based study focused on overall survival (OS) of EOC. Rapid case ascertainment is used in ongoing patient recruitment in eight U.S. states, both northern and southern. Data collection is composed of a survey, biospecimens, and medical record abstraction. Results characterizing the survival experience of the phase 1 study population (enrolled 2010–2015) are presented. Results Thus far, ~ 650 patients with EOC have been enrolled in the AACES. The five-year OS of AACES participants approximates those of Black women in the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registry who survive at least 10-month past diagnosis and is worse compared to white women in SEER, 49 vs. 60%, respectively. A high proportion of women in AACES have low levels of household income (45% < $25,000 annually), education (51% ≤ high school education), and insurance coverage (32% uninsured or Medicaid). Those followed annually differ from those without follow-up with higher levels of localized disease (28 vs 24%) and higher levels of optimal debulking status (73 vs 67%). Conclusion AACES is well positioned to evaluate the contribution of social determinants of health to the poor survival of Black women with EOC and advance understanding of the multi-factorial causes of the ovarian cancer survival disparity in Black women.

Plant phenology drives seasonal changes in shear stress partitioning in a semi-arid rangeland - Nancy P. Ziegler; Nicholas P. Webb; John A. Gillies; Brandon L. Edwards; George Nikolich; Justin W. Van Zee; Brad F. Cooper; Dawn M. Browning; Ericha M. Courtright; Sandra L. LeGrand (Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 2023)

Vulnerability to climate change of managed stocks in the California Current large marine ecosystem - Michelle M. McClure; Melissa A. Haltuch; Ellen Willis-Norton; David D. Huff; Elliott L. Hazen; Lisa G. Crozier; Michael G. Jacox; Mark W. Nelson; Kelly S. Andrews; Lewis A.K. Barnett; Aaron M. Berger; Sabrina Beyer; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2023)
Introduction Understanding how abundance, productivity and distribution of individual species may respond to climate change is a critical first step towards anticipating alterations in marine ecosystem structure and function, as well as developing strategies to adapt to the full range of potential changes. Methods This study applies the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Fisheries Climate Vulnerability Assessment method to 64 federally-managed species in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem to assess their vulnerability to climate change, where vulnerability is a function of a species’ exposure to environmental change and its biological sensitivity to a set of environmental conditions, which includes components of its resiliency and adaptive capacity to respond to these new conditions. Results Overall, two-thirds of the species were judged to have Moderate or greater vulnerability to climate change, and only one species was anticipated to have a positive response. Species classified as Highly or Very Highly vulnerable share one or more characteristics including: 1) having complex life histories that utilize a wide range of freshwater and marine habitats; 2) having habitat specialization, particularly for areas that are likely to experience increased hypoxia; 3) having long lifespans and low population growth rates; and/or 4) being of high commercial value combined with impacts from non-climate stressors such as anthropogenic habitat degradation. Species with Low or Moderate vulnerability are either habitat generalists, occupy deep-water habitats or are highly mobile and likely to shift their ranges. Discussion As climate-related changes intensify, this work provides key information for both scientists and managers as they address the long-term sustainability of fisheries in the region. This information can inform near-term advice for prioritizing species-level data collection and research on climate impacts, help managers to determine when and where a precautionary approach might be warranted, in harvest or other management decisions, and help identify habitats or life history stages that might be especially effective to protect or restore.

The morphology, functionality, and longevity of a novel all human hepatic cell-based tri-culture system - Jessica R. Weaver; Justin J. Odanga; Kristina K. Wolf; Stephanie Piekos; Mercedes Biven; Mitchell Taub; Jessica LaRocca; Cody Thomas; Alexander Byer-Alcorace; Jingsong Chen; Jung Bok Lee; Edward L. LeCluyse (Toxicology in Vitro, 2023)

Removal of diisopropyl methyl phosphonate (DIMP) from heated metal oxide surfaces - Ashvin Vasudevan; Elif Irem Senyurt; Mirko Schoenitz; Edward L. Dreizin (Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2023)

Correction to: Partial body cryotherapy exposure drives acute redistribution of circulating lymphocytes: preliminary findings - Catriona L. Rose; Helen McGuire; Kenneth Graham; Jason Siegler; Barbara Fazekas de St Groth; Corinne Caillaud; Kate M. Edwards (European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2023)

Partial body cryotherapy exposure drives acute redistribution of circulating lymphocytes: preliminary findings - Catriona L. Rose; Helen McGuire; Kenneth Graham; Jason Siegler; Barbara Fazekas de St Groth; Corinne Caillaud; Kate M. Edwards (European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2023)
Partial body cryotherapy (PBC) is proposed to alleviate symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) by reducing associated inflammation. No studies have assessed acute PBC exposure on peripheral blood mononuclear cell mobilisation or compared these with cold water immersion (CWI), which may inform how PBC impacts inflammatory processes. This trial examined the impact of a single PBC exposure on circulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells compared to CWI or a control. 26 males were randomised into either PBC (3 min at − 110 to − 140 °C), CWI (3 min at 9 °C), or control (3 min at 24 °C), with blood samples, heart rate, and blood pressure taken before and after exposure. Cytometric analysis determined that CD8 + T-cell populations were significantly elevated after treatments, with PBC increasing CD8 + T cells to a greater degree than either CWI or CON. Natural killer cell counts were also elevated after PBC, with the increase attributed specifically to the CD56 lo CD16 + cytotoxic subset. This provides the first evidence for the effect of PBC exposure on redistribution of immune cells. An increase in circulating leukocyte subsets such as CD8 + T cells and CD56 lo CD16 + natural killer cells suggests that PBC may induce a transient mobilisation of lymphocytes. PBC may thus enable a more efficient trafficking of these cells from the circulation to the site of initial cellular insult from exercise, potentially accelerating the process of cellular recovery. This provides novel evidence on the use of PBC as a recovery treatment and may also have applicability in other clinical settings involving the recovery of damaged skeletal muscle.

Evolving insights into the epidemiology of Moraxella species bloodstream infection from two decades of surveillance in Queensland, Australia - Jessica Schults; Felicity Edwards; Karina Charles; Adam D. Irwin; Claire M. Rickard; Patrick N. A. Harris; David L. Paterson; Kevin Laupland (European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, 2023)

Nutrient function over form: Organic and inorganic nitrogen additions have similar effects on lake phytoplankton nutrient limitation - Sabrina N. Volponi; Heather L. Wander; David C. Richardson; Clayton J. Williams; Denise A. Bruesewitz; Shelley Arnott; Jennifer A. Brentrup; Hailee L. Edwards; Holly A. Ewing; Kristen Holeck; Lauren Johnson; Brian S. Kim; et al. (Limnology and Oceanography, 2023)
The concentration of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) is increasing in many northern hemisphere lakes, yet its use by phytoplankton and fate in the environment seldom have been quantified. We conducted 1 week, in situ, microcosm incubations across 25 lakes in northeastern North America to understand how DON, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (P) affected phytoplankton biomass. In addition, we tested whether lakes were limited by single macronutrients (N or P) or colimited by both. Phytoplankton biomass in 80% of lakes responded similarly to DON and DIN additions. Of the lakes where N form produced differential responses, the majority of phytoplankton communities exhibited greater biomass accumulation with DON than DIN. Colimitation was the most common type of nutrient limitation among the study lakes, followed by P limitation. Limitation type shifted with N form in 40% of the study lakes, but without consistent patterns explaining how shifts occurred. Regardless of N form, lakes with watersheds more dominated by agriculture and higher total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) tended to show P‐limited phytoplankton responses, while lakes with less agricultural watersheds and lower TDN tended to show colimited phytoplankton responses. Finally, ambient TDN and total phosphorus (TP) nutrient concentrations were stronger predictors of limitation type than ambient TDN : TP ratios. The different contributions of DON and DIN to phytoplankton biomass in some of our study lakes suggest that DON loading from surrounding watersheds may be an overlooked component in predicting phytoplankton productivity and nutrient limitation dynamics in freshwater ecosystems.

Development and Validation of Accumulation Term (Distributed and/or Point Source) in a Finite Element Hydrodynamic Model - Kendra M. Dresback; Christine M. Szpilka; Randall L. Kolar; Saeed Moghimi; Edward P. Myers (Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 2023)
During tropical storms, precipitation and associated rainfall-runoff can lead to significant flooding, in both the upland and coastal areas. Flooding in coastal areas is compounded by the storm surge. Several hurricanes in recent history have exhibited the destructive force of compound flooding due to precipitation, rainfall-runoff, storm surge and waves. In previous work, various coupled modeling systems have been developed to model total water levels (defined as tides, waves, surge, and rainfall-runoff) for tropical storms. The existing coupled system utilizes a hydrologic model in the upland areas of the domain to capture the precipitation and rainfall-runoff associated with the storms; however, in the coastal areas the precipitation and rainfall-runoff is not captured. Herein a source/sink term is incorporated within the hydrodynamic model itself to capture precipitation and rainfall-runoff over the already inundated coastal areas. The new algorithm is verified for several idealized test cases, and then it is applied to Hurricane Irene. Validation indicates that the new methodology is comparable to the existing river flux forcing under most conditions and allows for the addition of streamflows due to overland runoff, as well as the actual precipitation itself.

Detection of numerous phycotoxins in young bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) collected from an estuary of national significance - Michelle L. Edwards; Adam M. Schaefer; Malcolm McFarland; Spencer Fire; Christopher R. Perkins; Matthew J. Ajemian (Science of The Total Environment, 2023)

CRISPR-knockout of β-kafirin in sorghum does not recapitulate the grain quality of natural mutants - Karen Massel; Jessica Hintzsche; Jemma Restall; Edward D. Kerr; Benjamin L. Schulz; Ian D. Godwin (Planta, 2023)

Cre-mediated autoexcision of selectable marker genes in soybean, cotton, canola and maize transgenic plants - Xudong Ye; Zarir Vaghchhipawala; Edward J. Williams; Changlin Fu; Jinyuan Liu; Fengming Lu; Erin L. Hall; Shirley X. Guo; LaRee Frank; Larry A. Gilbertson (Plant Cell Reports, 2023)

Decade long upsurge in mutations associated with pyrethroid resistance in bed bug populations in the USA - Cari D. Lewis; Brenna A. Levine; Coby Schal; Edward L. Vargo; Warren Booth (Journal of Pest Science, 2023)

Dissolved Organic Carbon Mobilization Across a Climate Transect of Mesic Boreal Forests Is Explained by Air Temperature and Snowpack Duration - Keri L. Bowering; Kate A. Edwards; Yolanda F. Wiersma; Sharon A. Billings; Jamie Warren; Andrea Skinner; Susan E. Ziegler (Ecosystems, 2023)

Are exposure-disease relationships assessed in cohorts of health professionals generalizable?: a comparative analysis based on WCRF/AICR systematic literature reviews - Peilu Wang; Edward L. Giovannucci (Cancer Causes & Control, 2023)

The conversion of rubber to oil palm and other landcover types in Southeast Asia - H Manjari Jayathilake; Johanness Jamaludin; Jose Don T. De Alban; Edward L. Webb; L. Roman Carrasco (Applied Geography, 2023)

Streptomyces spiramenti sp. nov., isolated from a deep-sea microbial mat - Rachel M. Loughran; Caitlin M. Diefendorf; Jassmine R. Reill-VanSise; Edward A. Mitchell; Oliver B. Vining; David A. Gallegos; Gregory Miller; Marc J. Koyack; David K. Oline; Orion S. Rivers; Blake Ushijima; Jimmy H. Saw; et al. (Archives of Microbiology, 2022)

Riverine drift communities during larval fish dispersal over multiple recruitment years - Joseph P. Receveur; Alberto Doretto; Edward A. Baker; Douglas L. Larson; John M. Bauman; Ryan Walquist; M. Eric Benbow; Kim T. Scribner (Hydrobiologia, 2022)

Uterine fibroid polygenic risk score (PRS) associates and predicts risk for uterine fibroid - Jacqueline A. Piekos; Jacklyn N. Hellwege; Yanfei Zhang; Eric S. Torstenson; Gail P. Jarvik; Ozan Dikilitas; Iftikhar J. Kullo; Daniel J. Schaid; David R. Crosslin; Sarah A. Pendergrass; Ming Ta Michael Lee; Dan Roden; et al. (Human Genetics, 2022)

Determinants and outcomes of bloodstream infections related to obesity - Felicity Edwards; Kate Glen; Patrick N. A. Harris; David L. Paterson; Kevin B. Laupland (European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, 2022)
Although obesity is a major healthcare problem that is increasing in many populations worldwide, there are limited studies that have examined its contribution to infectious diseases morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to examine the clinical determinants and outcomes of bloodstream infections among patients with obesity. All adults within the publicly funded healthcare system in Queensland, Australia, identified with a BSI during 2017–2019 were included and the presence of obesity was based on discharge International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes. Clinical features, microbiology, and outcomes were compared among obese and non-obese subjects. A total of 24,602 incident BSI were identified among 21,613 Queensland residents; of which 4,579 (21.2%) and 17,034 (78.8%) were classified as obese or non-obese, respectively. Obese patients were less likely to have community associated infections and were more likely to be younger, female, have higher comorbidity scores, and have bone and joint or soft tissue infections as compared to non-obese subjects. Obese patients had a lower proportion of Escherichia coli BSI and higher proportions of b-haemolytic streptococci. Although obese patients had longer hospital admissions and more repeat incident BSI within 1 year, they had lower overall case fatality. In a logistic regression model, obesity was associated with a lower risk for 30-day case fatality (adjusted odds ratio 0.51, 95% confidence interval 0.45–0.58). Obesity is associated with significant differences in the determinants and outcome of BSI. Increasing rates of obesity is likely to influence the epidemiology of BSI in populations.

Acute exposure of early-life stage zebrafish (Danio rerio) to Deepwater Horizon crude oil impairs glomerular filtration and renal fluid clearance capacity - Fabrizio Bonatesta; Victoria L. Messerschmidt; Leah Schneider; Juhyun Lee; Amie K. Lund; Edward M. Mager (Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2022)

More than a whistle: Automated detection of marine sound sources with a convolutional neural network - Ellen L. White; Paul R. White; Jonathan M. Bull; Denise Risch; Suzanne Beck; Ewan W. J. Edwards (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2022)
The effective analysis of Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) data has the potential to determine spatial and temporal variations in ecosystem health and species presence if automated detection and classification algorithms are capable of discrimination between marine species and the presence of anthropogenic and environmental noise. Extracting more than a single sound source or call type will enrich our understanding of the interaction between biological, anthropogenic and geophonic soundscape components in the marine environment. Advances in extracting ecologically valuable cues from the marine environment, embedded within the soundscape, are limited by the time required for manual analyses and the accuracy of existing algorithms when applied to large PAM datasets. In this work, a deep learning model is trained for multi-class marine sound source detection using cloud computing to explore its utility for extracting sound sources for use in marine mammal conservation and ecosystem monitoring. A training set is developed comprising existing datasets amalgamated across geographic, temporal and spatial scales, collected across a range of acoustic platforms. Transfer learning is used to fine-tune an open-source state-of-the-art ‘small-scale’ convolutional neural network (CNN) to detect odontocete tonal and broadband call types and vessel noise (from 0 to 48 kHz). The developed CNN architecture uses a custom image input to exploit the differences in temporal and frequency characteristics between each sound source. Each sound source is identified with high accuracy across various test conditions, including variable signal-to-noise-ratio. We evaluate the effect of ambient noise on detector performance, outlining the importance of understanding the variability of the regional soundscape for which it will be deployed. Our work provides a computationally low-cost, efficient framework for mining big marine acoustic data, for information on temporal scales relevant to the management of marine protected areas and the conservation of vulnerable species.

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium Case Registry—the 2021 Annual Report - Jennifer S. Love; Dana L. Karshenas; Meghan B. Spyres; Lynn A. Farrugia; A. Min Kang; HoanVu Nguyen; Sharan L. Campleman; Shao Li; Paul M. Wax; Jeffery Brent; Kim Aldy; Michael Abesamis; et al. (Journal of Medical Toxicology, 2022)

Cancer clinical trials in the Philippines - Michelle Ann B. Eala; Patricia Anne S. Basilio; Edward Christopher Dee; Reno Eufemon P. Cereno; Christian Daniel Ang; Nikko J. Magsanoc; Frederic Ivan L. Ting; Dennis L. Sacdalan (Cancer Causes & Control, 2022)

Reduced structural integrity of the uncinate fasciculus in incarcerated women scoring high on psychopathy - J. Michael Maurer; Subhadip Paul; Bethany G. Edwards; Nathaniel E. Anderson; Prashanth K. Nyalakanti; Carla L. Harenski; Jean Decety; Kent A. Kiehl (Brain Imaging and Behavior, 2022)

The Anthropocene serves science better as an event, rather than an epoch - Lucy E. Edwards; Andrew Bauer; Matthew Edgeworth; Erle Ellis; Stanley Finney; Philip Gibbard; Jacquelyn L. Gill; Mark Maslin; Dorothy Merritts; William Ruddiman; Michael Walker (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)

State of the California Current Ecosystem in 2021: Winter is coming? - Andrew R. Thompson; Eric P. Bjorkstedt; Steven J. Bograd; Jennifer L. Fisher; Elliott L. Hazen; Andrew Leising; Jarrod A. Santora; Erin V. Satterthwaite; William J. Sydeman; Michaela Alksne; Toby D. Auth; Simone Baumann-Pickering; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2022)
In late 2020, models predicted that a strong La Niña would take place for the first time since 2013, and we assessed whether physical and biological indicators in 2021 were similar to past La Niñas in the California Current Ecosystem (CCE). The Pacific Decadal Oscillation and Oceanic Niño Index indeed remained negative throughout 2021; the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation Index, however, remained strongly negative. The seventh largest marine heatwave on record was unexpectedly present from April to the end of 2021; however, similar to past La Niñas, this mass of warm water mostly remained seaward of the continental shelf. As expected from past La Niñas, upwelling and chlorophyll were mostly high and sea surface temperature was low throughout the CCE; however, values were close to average south of Point Conception. Similar to past La Niñas, abundances of lipid-rich, northern copepods off Oregon increased. In northern California, unlike past La Niñas, the body size of North Pacific krill ( Euphausia pacifica ) was close to average. Predictably, overall krill abundance was above average in far northern California but, unexpectedly, below average south of Cape Mendocino. Off Oregon, similar to past La Niñas, larval abundances of three of six coastal species rose, while five of six southern/offshore taxa decreased in 2021. Off California, as expected based on 2020, Northern Anchovy ( Engraulis mordax ) were very abundant, while Pacific Sardine ( Sardinops sagax ) were low. Similar to past La Niñas, market squid ( Doryteuthis opalescens ) and young of the year (YOY) Pacific Hake ( Merluccius pacificus ), YOY sanddabs ( Citharichthys spp.), and YOY rockfishes ( Sebastes spp.) increased. Southern mesopelagic (e.g., Panama lightfish Vinciguerria lucetia , Mexican lampfish Triphoturus mexicanus ) larvae decreased as expected but were still well above average, while northern mesopelagic (e.g., northern lampfish Stenobrachius leucopsarus ) larvae increased but were still below average. In line with predictions, most monitored bird species had above-average reproduction in Oregon and California. California sea lion ( Zalophus californianus ) pup count, growth, and weight were high given the abundant Anchovy forage. The CCE entered an enduring La Niña in 2021, and assessing the responses of various ecosystem components helped articulate aspects of the system that are well understood and those that need further study.

Genomic regions associated with resistance to soybean rust (Phakopsora pachyrhizi) under field conditions in soybean germplasm accessions from Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam - David R. Walker; Samuel C. McDonald; Donna K. Harris; H. Roger Boerma; James W. Buck; Edward J. Sikora; David B. Weaver; David L. Wright; James J. Marois; Zenglu Li (Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 2022)
Key message Eight soybean genomic regions, including six never before reported, were found to be associated with resistance to soybean rust ( Phakopsora pachyrhizi ) in the southeastern USA. Abstract Soybean rust caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi is one of the most important foliar diseases of soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. Although seven Rpp resistance gene loci have been reported, extensive pathotype variation in and among fungal populations increases the importance of identifying additional genes and loci associated with rust resistance. One hundred and ninety-one soybean plant introductions from Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, and 65 plant introductions from other countries were screened for resistance to P. pachyrhizi under field conditions in the southeastern USA between 2008 and 2015. The results indicated that 84, 69, and 49% of the accessions from southern Japan, Vietnam or central Indonesia, respectively, had negative BLUP values, indicating less disease than the panel mean. A genome-wide association analysis using SoySNP50K Infinium BeadChip data identified eight genomic regions on seven chromosomes associated with SBR resistance, including previously unreported regions of Chromosomes 1, 4, 6, 9, 13, and 15, in addition to the locations of the Rpp3 and Rpp6 loci. The six unreported genomic regions might contain novel Rpp loci. The identification of additional sources of rust resistance and associated genomic regions will further efforts to develop soybean cultivars with broad and durable resistance to soybean rust in the southern USA.

The timing of adiposity and changes in the life course on the risk of cancer - Zhe Fang; Edward L. Giovannucci (Cancer and Metastasis Reviews, 2022)

Consistent signatures of urban adaptation in a native, urban invader ant Tapinoma sessile - Alexander J. Blumenfeld; Pierre‐André Eyer; Anjel M. Helms; Grzegorz Buczkowski; Edward L. Vargo (Molecular Ecology, 2022)
Biological invasions are becoming more prevalent due to the rise of global trade and expansion of urban areas. Ants are among the most prolific invaders with many exhibiting a multiqueen colony structure, dependent colony foundation and reduced internest aggression. Although these characteristics are generally associated with the invasions of exotic ants, they may also facilitate the spread of native ants into novel habitats. Native to diverse habitats across North America, the odorous house ant Tapinoma sessile has become abundant in urban environments throughout the United States. Natural colonies typically have a small workforce, inhabit a single nest, and are headed by a single queen, whereas urban colonies tend to be several orders of magnitude larger, inhabit multiple nests (i.e., polydomy) and are headed by multiple queens (i.e., polygyny). Here, we explore and compare the population genetic and breeding structure of T . sessile within and between urban and natural environments in several localities across its distribution range. We found the social structure of a colony to be a plastic trait in both habitats, although extreme polygyny was confined to urban habitats. Additionally, polydomous colonies were only present in urban habitats, suggesting T . sessile can only achieve supercoloniality within urbanized areas. Finally, we identified strong differentiation between urban and natural populations in each locality and continent‐wide, indicating cities may restrict gene flow and exert intense selection pressure. Overall, our study highlights urbanization's influence in charting the evolutionary course for species.

Fates of petroleum during the deepwater horizon oil spill: A chemistry perspective - Edward B. Overton; Puspa L. Adhikari; Jagoš R. Radović; Uta Passow (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2022)
We describe the initial bulk and compound specific composition of the liquid oil spilled during the Deepwater Horizon (DwH) disaster. The emphasis is on the target hydrocarbon compounds typically found in highest concentrations and on those of concern from a toxicological perspective (i.e., the target normal alkanes and isoprenoids, and PAHs on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) priority list with their alkyl homolog compounds), and/or those relevant for forensic fingerprinting of spill residues (i.e., sulfur containing PAHs and biomarker compounds). Weathering changed the oil’s composition in various environmental compartments. These compositional changes and potential environmental impacts of the remaining weathered residues are presented in this paper. Biodegradation occurred in both surface and subsurface environments while photooxidation primarily modified and removed hydrocarbons in floating oil slicks. The volatile, soluble and highly labile C 1 to C 10 hydrocarbons were rapidly degraded in the water column and/or emitted to the atmosphere (evaporation). The semi-volatile hydrocarbons (labile C 10 to C 25 ) that remained in the water column and floating oil on the water’s surface were lost from oil residues during weathering. The heavy nonvolatile and insoluble hydrocarbons (recalcitrant C 25 +) were least affected by initial weathering processes in 2010. The composition of the residual oil fraction in surface floating oil was further altered by the addition of oil soluble oxy hydrocarbons produced from photooxidation. During 2011 and 2012 the resulting highly insoluble recalcitrant C 25 + oily residues remained on the shorelines, bottom sediments, or bound to suspended particulates in the water column, with detectable residues mostly returning to near pre-spill levels by 2015 to 2020. Some recalcitrant oil residues can still be found at various locations, including some coastal environments (e.g., marshes), or deep-water sediments, at very low levels, ten years after the spill.

Seismic site characterization with shear wave (SH) reflection and refraction methods - James A. Hunter; Heather L. Crow; William J. Stephenson; André J.-M. Pugin; Robert A. Williams; James B. Harris; Jack K. Odum; Edward W. Woolery (Journal of Seismology, 2022)
Reflection and critically refracted seismic methods use traveltime measurements of body waves propagating between a source and a series of receivers on the ground surface to calculate subsurface velocities. Body wave energy is refracted or reflected at boundaries where there is a change in seismic impedance, defined as the product of material density and seismic velocity. This article provides practical guidance on the use of horizontally propagating shear wave (SH-wave) refraction and reflection methods to determine shear wave velocity as a function of depth for near-surface seismic site characterizations. Method principles and the current state of engineering practice are reviewed, along with discussions of limitations and uncertainty assessments. Typical data collection procedures are described using basic survey equipment, along with information on more advanced applications and emerging technologies. Eight case studies provide examples of the techniques in real-world seismic site characterizations performed in a variety of geological settings.

Benthic assemblages are more predictable than fish assemblages at an island scale - Stuart A. Sandin; Esmeralda Alcantar; Randy Clark; Ramón de León; Faisal Dilrosun; Clinton B. Edwards; Andrew J. Estep; Yoan Eynaud; Beverly J. French; Michael D. Fox; Dave Grenda; Scott L. Hamilton; et al. (Coral Reefs, 2022)
Decades of research have revealed relationships between the abundance of coral reef taxa and local conditions, especially at small scales. However, a rigorous test of covariation requires a robust dataset collected across wide environmental or experimental gradients. Here, we surveyed spatial variability in the densities of major coral reef functional groups at 122 sites along a 70 km expanse of the leeward, forereef habitat of Curaçao in the southern Caribbean. These data were used to test the degree to which spatial variability in community composition could be predicted based on assumed functional relationships and site-specific anthropogenic, physical, and ecological conditions. In general, models revealed less power to describe the spatial variability of fish biomass than cover of reef builders (R 2 of best-fit models: 0.25 [fish] and 0.64 [reef builders]). The variability in total benthic cover of reef builders was best described by physical (wave exposure and reef relief) and ecological (turf algal height and coral recruit density) predictors. No metric of anthropogenic pressure was related to spatial variation in reef builder cover. In contrast, total fish biomass showed a consistent (albeit weak) association with anthropogenic predictors (fishing and diving pressure). As is typical of most environmental gradients, the spatial patterns of both fish biomass density and reef builder cover were spatially autocorrelated. Residuals from the best-fit model for fish biomass retained a signature of spatial autocorrelation while the best-fit model for reef builder cover removed spatial autocorrelation, thus reinforcing our finding that environmental predictors were better able to describe the spatial variability of reef builders than that of fish biomass. As we seek to understand spatial variability of coral reef communities at the scale of most management units (i.e., at kilometer- to island-scales), distinct and scale-dependent perspectives will be needed when considering different functional groups.

Giant Tree Frog diversification in West and Central Africa: Isolation by physical barriers, climate, and reproductive traits - Kyle E. Jaynes; Edward A. Myers; Václav Gvoždík; David C. Blackburn; Daniel M. Portik; Eli Greenbaum; Gregory F. M. Jongsma; Mark‐Oliver Rödel; Gabriel Badjedjea; Abraham Bamba‐Kaya; Ninda L. Baptista; Jeannot B. Akuboy; et al. (Molecular Ecology, 2022)
Secondary sympatry amongst sister lineages is strongly associated with genetic and ecological divergence. This pattern suggests that for closely related species to coexist in secondary sympatry, they must accumulate differences in traits that mediate ecological and/or reproductive isolation. Here, we characterized inter‐ and intraspecific divergence in three giant tree frog species whose distributions stretch across West and Central Africa. Using genome‐wide single‐nucleotide polymorphism data, we demonstrated that species‐level divergence coincides temporally and geographically with a period of large‐scale forest fragmentation during the late Pliocene. Our environmental niche models further supported a dynamic history of climatic suitability and stability, and indicated that all three species occupy distinct environmental niches. We found modest morphological differentiation amongst the species with significant divergence in tympanum diameter and male advertisement call. In addition, we confirmed that two species occur in secondary sympatry in Central Africa but found no evidence of hybridization. These patterns support the hypothesis that cycles of genetic exchange and isolation across West and Central Africa have contributed to globally significant biodiversity. Furthermore, divergence in both ecology and reproductive traits appear to have played important roles in maintaining distinct lineages. At the intraspecific level, we found that climatic refugia, precipitation gradients, marine incursions, and potentially riverine barriers generated phylogeographic structure throughout the Pleistocene and into the Holocene. Further studies examining phenotypic divergence and secondary contact amongst these geographically structured populations may demonstrate how smaller scale and more recent biogeographic barriers contribute to regional diversification.

A stable isotope record of late Quaternary hydrologic change in the northwestern Brooks Range, Alaska (eastern Beringia) - Amanda L. King; Lesleigh Anderson; Mark Abbott; Mary Edwards; Matthew S. Finkenbinder; Bruce Finney; Matthew J. Wooller (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)
A submillennial‐resolution record of lake water oxygen isotope composition (δ 18 O) from chironomid head capsules is presented from Burial Lake, northwest Alaska. The record spans the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ~20–16k cal a bp ) to the present and shows a series of large lake δ 18 O shifts (~5‰). Relatively low δ 18 O values occurred during a period covering the LGM, when the lake was a shallow, closed‐basin pond. Higher values characterize deglaciation (~16–11.5k cal a bp ) when the lake was still closed but lake levels were higher. A rapid decline between ~11 and 10.5k cal a bp indicates that lake levels rose to overflowing. Lake δ 18 O values are interpreted to reflect the combined effects of changes in lake hydrology, growing season temperature and meteoric source water as well as large‐scale environmental changes impacting this site, including opening of the Bering Strait and shifts in atmospheric circulation patterns related to ice‐sheet dynamics. The results indicate significant shifts in precipitation minus evaporation across the late Pleistocene to early Holocene transition, which are consistent with temporal patterns of vegetation change and paludification. This study provides new perspectives on the paleohydrology of eastern Beringia concomitant with human migration and major turnover in megafaunal assemblages.

Rapid climate changes during the Lateglacial and the early Holocene as seen from plant community dynamics in the Polar Urals, Russia - Anne E. Bjune; Inger Greve Alsos; Jo Brendryen; Mary E. Edwards; Haflidi Haflidason; Maren S. Johansen; Jan Mangerud; Aage Paus; Carl Regnéll; John‐Inge Svendsen; Charlotte L. Clarke (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)
A detailed, well‐dated record of pollen and sedimentary ancient DNA ( sed aDNA) for the period 15 000–9500 cal a bp describes changes at Lake Bolshoye Shchuchye in the Polar Ural Mountains, located far east of the classical Lateglacial sites in western Europe. Arctic tundra rapidly changed to lusher vegetation, possibly including both dwarf ( Betula nana ) and tree birch ( B. pubescens ), dated in our record to take place 14 565 cal a bp , coincident with the onset of the Bølling in western Europe; this was paralleled by increased summer temperatures. A striking feature is an early decline in Betula pollen and sed aDNA reads 300 years before the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) in western Europe. Given the solid site chronology, this could indicate that the YD cooling started in Siberia and propagated westwards, or that the vegetation reacted to the inter‐Allerød cooling at 13 100 cal a bp and did not recover during the late Allerød. During the YD, increases in steppe taxa such as Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae suggest drier conditions. At the onset of the Holocene, the vegetation around the lake reacted fast to the warmer conditions, as seen in the increase of arboreal taxa, especially Betula , and a decrease in herbs such as Artemisia and Cyperaceae.

Sustainable development outcomes of livelihood diversification in small‐scale fisheries - Matthew B. Roscher; Edward H. Allison; David J. Mills; Hampus Eriksson; Denis Hellebrandt; Neil L. Andrew (Fish and Fisheries, 2022)
Livelihood diversification is increasingly central to policy advice and investments in rural development and fisheries management. For small‐scale fishing communities in low‐ to middle‐income countries, more diverse livelihoods are generally hypothesized to reduce fishing pressure and vulnerabilities to external shocks and adverse trends while enabling people to construct routes out of poverty. Yet, evidence of impacts from livelihood diversification in small‐scale fisheries remains sparse. Our examination of the peer‐reviewed literature found substantial differences in how livelihood diversification is pursued, and in the realized outcomes from the process of diversification. Studies describing diversified livelihoods were almost as likely to report that livelihoods were not improved or that outcomes were mixed (54% combined) as they were to report improved livelihood outcomes (45%). Furthermore, one of the main theoretical drivers behind the support for diversified livelihoods—ecological conservation benefits—was unexplored in over 70% of studies. Of the minority of studies that did explore ecological outcomes, most reported that ecological conditions had not improved. These findings indicate conceptual ambiguity around livelihood diversification and a lack of empirical evidence supporting its theoretical underpinnings. There remain important questions about the impacts of diversification on multidimensional poverty and ecological conservation. Future research on and investment in diversification should be both more deliberate of what diversification means and more rigorous in the evaluation of its impacts.

Global insights on managing fishery systems for the three pillars of sustainability - Taryn Garlock; James L. Anderson; Frank Asche; Martin D. Smith; Edward Camp; Jingjie Chu; Kai Lorenzen; Stefania Vannuccini (Fish and Fisheries, 2022)
There is growing recognition that fisheries should be managed for all three pillars of sustainability: economic, social and environmental sustainability. Limited quantitative evidence exists on factors supporting social sustainability, much less factors that contribute to multiple dimensions of sustainability. To develop a broader understanding of the factors that influence the performance of fishery management systems in environmental, economic and social pillars, we examine 11 input factors conjectured to contribute to successful fisheries using a global dataset of 145 fisheries case studies. The analysis indicates that management approaches are cross‐cutting and contribute to multiple dimensions of sustainability to varying extents. Importantly, factors exogenous to fisheries management can be as important as fisheries management, suggesting collaboration of fisheries institutions with other public and private institutions is important for sustainable fisheries development.

Managing fisheries for maximum nutrient yield - James P.W. Robinson; Kirsty L. Nash; Julia L. Blanchard; Nis S. Jacobsen; Eva Maire; Nicholas A.J. Graham; M. Aaron MacNeil; Jessica Zamborain‐Mason; Edward H. Allison; Christina C. Hicks (Fish and Fisheries, 2022)
Wild‐caught fish are a bioavailable source of nutritious food that, if managed strategically, could enhance diet quality for billions of people. However, optimising nutrient production from the sea has not been a priority, hindering development of nutrition‐sensitive policies. With fisheries management increasingly effective at rebuilding stocks and regulating sustainable fishing, we can now begin to integrate nutritional outcomes within existing management frameworks. Here, we develop a conceptual foundation for managing fisheries for multispecies Maximum Nutrient Yield (mMNY). We empirically test our approach using size‐based models of North Sea and Baltic Sea fisheries and show that mMNY is predicted by the relative contribution of nutritious species to total catch and their vulnerability to fishing, leading to trade‐offs between catch and specific nutrients. Simulated nutrient yield curves suggest that vitamin D, which is deficient in Northern European diets, was underfished at fishing levels that returned maximum catch weights. Analysis of global catch data shows there is scope for nutrient yields from most of the world's marine fisheries to be enhanced through nutrient‐sensitive fisheries management. With nutrient composition data now widely available, we expect our mMNY framework to motivate development of nutrient‐based reference points in specific contexts, such as data‐limited fisheries. Managing for mMNY alongside policies that promote access to fish could help close nutrient gaps for coastal populations, maximising the contribution of wild‐caught fish to global food and nutrition security.

Prediction of disability-free survival in healthy older people - Johannes Tobias Neumann; Le T. P. Thao; Anne M. Murray; Emily Callander; Prudence R. Carr; Mark R. Nelson; Rory Wolfe; Robyn L. Woods; Christopher M. Reid; Raj C. Shah; Anne B. Newman; Jeff D. Williamson; et al. (GeroScience, 2022)
Prolonging survival in good health is a fundamental societal goal. However, the leading determinants of disability-free survival in healthy older people have not been well established. Data from ASPREE, a bi-national placebo-controlled trial of aspirin with 4.7 years median follow-up, was analysed. At enrolment, participants were healthy and without prior cardiovascular events, dementia or persistent physical disability. Disability-free survival outcome was defined as absence of dementia, persistent disability or death. Selection of potential predictors from amongst 25 biomedical, psychosocial and lifestyle variables including recognized geriatric risk factors, utilizing a machine-learning approach. Separate models were developed for men and women. The selected predictors were evaluated in a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model and validated internally by bootstrapping. We included 19,114 Australian and US participants aged ≥65 years (median 74 years, IQR 71.6–77.7). Common predictors of a worse prognosis in both sexes included higher age, lower Modified Mini-Mental State Examination score, lower gait speed, lower grip strength and abnormal (low or elevated) body mass index. Additional risk factors for men included current smoking, and abnormal eGFR. In women, diabetes and depression were additional predictors. The biased-corrected areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the final prognostic models at 5 years were 0.72 for men and 0.75 for women. Final models showed good calibration between the observed and predicted risks. We developed a prediction model in which age, cognitive function and gait speed were the strongest predictors of disability-free survival in healthy older people. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01038583)

Wildfire, Smoke Exposure, Human Health, and Environmental Justice Need to be Integrated into Forest Restoration and Management - Savannah M. D’Evelyn; Jihoon Jung; Ernesto Alvarado; Jill Baumgartner; Pete Caligiuri; R. Keala Hagmann; Sarah B. Henderson; Paul F. Hessburg; Sean Hopkins; Edward J. Kasner; Meg A. Krawchuk; Jennifer E. Krenz; et al. (Current Environmental Health Reports, 2022)
Purpose of Review Increasing wildfire size and severity across the western United States has created an environmental and social crisis that must be approached from a transdisciplinary perspective. Climate change and more than a century of fire exclusion and wildfire suppression have led to contemporary wildfires with more severe environmental impacts and human smoke exposure. Wildfires increase smoke exposure for broad swaths of the US population, though outdoor workers and socially disadvantaged groups with limited adaptive capacity can be disproportionally exposed. Exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with a range of health impacts in children and adults, including exacerbation of existing respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, worse birth outcomes, and cardiovascular events. Seasonally dry forests in Washington, Oregon, and California can benefit from ecological restoration as a way to adapt forests to climate change and reduce smoke impacts on affected communities. Recent Findings Each wildfire season, large smoke events, and their adverse impacts on human health receive considerable attention from both the public and policymakers. The severity of recent wildfire seasons has state and federal governments outlining budgets and prioritizing policies to combat the worsening crisis. This surging attention provides an opportunity to outline the actions needed now to advance research and practice on conservation, economic, environmental justice, and public health interests, as well as the trade-offs that must be considered. Summary Scientists, planners, foresters and fire managers, fire safety, air quality, and public health practitioners must collaboratively work together. This article is the result of a series of transdisciplinary conversations to find common ground and subsequently provide a holistic view of how forest and fire management intersect with human health through the impacts of smoke and articulate the need for an integrated approach to both planning and practice.

Estimated life-history traits and movements of the Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi) in The Bahamas based on tag-recapture data - Brendan S. Talwar; Darcy Bradley; Christopher Berry; Mark E. Bond; Ian A. Bouyoucos; Annabelle M. L. Brooks; Candace Y. A. Fields; Austin J. Gallagher; Tristan L. Guttridge; Annie E. Guttridge; Neil Hammerschlag; Ian Hamilton; et al. (Marine Biology, 2022)

Applying Mendelian randomization to appraise causality in relationships between nutrition and cancer - Kaitlin H. Wade; James Yarmolinsky; Edward Giovannucci; Sarah J. Lewis; Iona Y. Millwood; Marcus R. Munafò; Fleur Meddens; Kimberley Burrows; Joshua A. Bell; Neil M. Davies; Daniela Mariosa; Noora Kanerva; et al. (Cancer Causes & Control, 2022)
Dietary factors are assumed to play an important role in cancer risk, apparent in consensus recommendations for cancer prevention that promote nutritional changes. However, the evidence in this field has been generated predominantly through observational studies, which may result in biased effect estimates because of confounding, exposure misclassification, and reverse causality. With major geographical differences and rapid changes in cancer incidence over time, it is crucial to establish which of the observational associations reflect causality and to identify novel risk factors as these may be modified to prevent the onset of cancer and reduce its progression. Mendelian randomization (MR) uses the special properties of germline genetic variation to strengthen causal inference regarding potentially modifiable exposures and disease risk. MR can be implemented through instrumental variable (IV) analysis and, when robustly performed, is generally less prone to confounding, reverse causation and measurement error than conventional observational methods and has different sources of bias (discussed in detail below). It is increasingly used to facilitate causal inference in epidemiology and provides an opportunity to explore the effects of nutritional exposures on cancer incidence and progression in a cost-effective and timely manner. Here, we introduce the concept of MR and discuss its current application in understanding the impact of nutritional factors (e.g., any measure of diet and nutritional intake, circulating biomarkers, patterns, preference or behaviour) on cancer aetiology and, thus, opportunities for MR to contribute to the development of nutritional recommendations and policies for cancer prevention. We provide applied examples of MR studies examining the role of nutritional factors in cancer to illustrate how this method can be used to help prioritise or deprioritise the evaluation of specific nutritional factors as intervention targets in randomised controlled trials. We describe possible biases when using MR, and methodological developments aimed at investigating and potentially overcoming these biases when present. Lastly, we consider the use of MR in identifying causally relevant nutritional risk factors for various cancers in different regions across the world, given notable geographical differences in some cancers. We also discuss how MR results could be translated into further research and policy. We conclude that findings from MR studies, which corroborate those from other well-conducted studies with different and orthogonal biases, are poised to substantially improve our understanding of nutritional influences on cancer. For such corroboration, there is a requirement for an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to investigate risk factors for cancer incidence and progression.

Resolving taxonomic confusion: establishing the genus Phytobacter on the list of clinically relevant Enterobacteriaceae - Theo H. M. Smits; Lavinia N. V. S. Arend; Sofia Cardew; Erika Tång-Hallbäck; Marcelo T. Mira; Edward R. B. Moore; Jorge L. M. Sampaio; Fabio Rezzonico; Marcelo Pillonetto (European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, 2022)
Although many clinically significant strains belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae fall into a restricted number of genera and species, there is still a substantial number of isolates that elude this classification and for which proper identification remains challenging. With the current improvements in the field of genomics, it is not only possible to generate high-quality data to accurately identify individual nosocomial isolates at the species level and understand their pathogenic potential but also to analyse retrospectively the genome sequence databases to identify past recurrences of a specific organism, particularly those originally published under an incorrect or outdated taxonomy. We propose a general use of this approach to classify further clinically relevant taxa, i.e., Phytobacter spp., that have so far gone unrecognised due to unsatisfactory identification procedures in clinical diagnostics. Here, we present a genomics and literature-based approach to establish the importance of the genus Phytobacter as a clinically relevant member of the Enterobacteriaceae family.

Pasteurella species bloodstream infections in Queensland, Australia, 2000–2019 - Kevin B. Laupland; Adam G. Stewart; Felicity Edwards; Patrick Harris; Claire Heney; Narelle George; Sonali Coulter; David L. Paterson (European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, 2022)
Pasteurella species are infrequent but potentially severe causes of bloodstream infection (BSI). The objective of this study was to determine the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of Pasteurella species BSI in a large Australian population. Retrospective, laboratory-based surveillance was conducted in Queensland, Australia (population ≈ 5 million) during 2000–2019, and clinical and outcome information was established by linkage to state hospital admissions and vital statistics databases. During more than 86 million person-years of surveillance, 272 incident Pasteurella species BSI occurred for an overall age- and sex-standardized annual incidence of 3.3 per million residents. The incidence of Pasteurella species BSI was highest in recent years and older individuals were at greatest risk. The median (interquartile range) Charlson Comorbidity Index was 2 (0–4) with scores of zero, 1, 2, and 3 + observed in 81 (30%), 37 (14%), 44 (16%), and 110 (40%) of cases. The 30-day all-cause case fatality was 9% (24/272) and patients who died had more comorbidities and were less likely to have community-associated disease. Although Pasteurella species are infrequent causes of BSI, older individuals and those with comorbidities are at highest risk. The burden of this disease may be expected to increase with an aging and more comorbid population.

Temporal Baseline of Essesntial and Non-essential Elements Recorded in Baleen of Western Arctic Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) - Samantha L. Shore; Dimitrios G. Giarikos; Lawrence K. Duffy; Mickie R. Edwards; Amy C. Hirons (Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2022)
This study established the first baseline of changing elemental concentrations in bowhead whale baleen over time (1958–1999). From previously published stable isotope data, year, season (summer or winter), and location (Beaufort or Bering/Chukchi seas) were attributed to each sample. Thirteen elements (Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, V, Zn) in baleen from nine subsistence-harvested bowhead whales (n = 138) were detected. Al, Cu, and Fe were the highest concentrations while Cd and V were among the lowest. Our data supports absorption as the main route of exposure to environmental elements rather than biomagnification due to bowhead whales’ low trophic position. A linear mixed-effects model confirmed most elements’ concentrations increased with time, while location and sex were insignificant explanatory factors. These temporal fluctuations were most likely a product of environmental changes due to a warming climate and human activities.

The Anthropocene as an Event, not an Epoch - Philip Gibbard; Michael Walker; Andrew Bauer; Matthew Edgeworth; Lucy Edwards; Erle Ellis; Stanley Finney; Jacquelyn L. Gill; Mark Maslin; Dorothy Merritts; William Ruddiman (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022)
Over the course of the last decade the concept of the Anthropocene has become widely established within and beyond the geoscientific literature but its boundaries remain undefined. Formal definition of the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphical series and geochronological epoch following the Holocene, at a fixed horizon and with a precise global start date, has been proposed, but fails to account for the diachronic nature of human impacts on global environmental systems during the late Quaternary. By contrast, defining the Anthropocene as an ongoing geological event more closely reflects the reality of both historical and ongoing human–environment interactions, encapsulating spatial and temporal heterogeneity, as well as diverse social and environmental processes that characterize anthropogenic global changes. Thus, an Anthropocene Event incorporates a substantially wider range of anthropogenic environmental and cultural effects, while at the same time applying more readily in different academic contexts than would be the case with a rigidly defined Anthropocene Series/Epoch.

Corrigendum: State of the California Current 2019–2020: Back to the Future With Marine Heatwaves? - Edward D. Weber; Toby D. Auth; Simone Baumann-Pickering; Timothy R. Baumgartner; Eric P. Bjorkstedt; Steven J. Bograd; Brian J. Burke; José L. Cadena-Ramírez; Elizabeth A. Daly; Martin de la Cruz; Heidi Dewar; John C. Field; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2022)

A National Status Report on United States Coral Reefs Based on 2012–2018 Data From National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Coral Reef Monitoring Program - Erica K. Towle; E. Caroline Donovan; Heath Kelsey; Mary E. Allen; Hannah Barkley; Jeremiah Blondeau; Russell E. Brainard; Annie Carew; Courtney S. Couch; Maria K. Dillard; C. Mark Eakin; Kimberly Edwards; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2022)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Conservation Program supports the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) in the United States Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico. NCRMP conducts standardized observations of biological, climatic, and socioeconomic indicators across American Samoa, Guam, the Main Hawaiian Islands, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Pacific Remote Islands, Florida, the Flower Garden Banks, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. NCRMP provides periodic, national-level assessments of the status of United States coral reef ecosystems and communities connected to them. In 2014, NCRMP partnered with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science on an unprecedented collaboration between federal and jurisdictional/state agencies, academia, and non-governmental organizations to synthesize NCRMP data into a reporting format designed to be accessible and relevant to the public and policy makers. The process involved multi-year data analyses of key benthic, fish, and climate indicators. In populated jurisdictions, socioeconomic data were integrated to assess public support for management actions, participation in pro-environmental behaviors, and awareness of threats to coral reefs. Jurisdictions were scored using a report-card scale (0–100%) by establishing references for each indicator using best-available historical data or expert opinion where historical data did not exist or were not statistically comparable. Despite overall ecosystem scores of Fair for all combined Atlantic (70%) and Pacific (74%) jurisdictions, the current trend is downward with a majority of United States coral reefs declining and vulnerable to further degradation. Remote, uninhabited reefs had an advantage with respect to reef fish population scores, i.e., Flower Garden Banks (85%) and Pacific Remote Islands (93%), when compared to populated location scores, i.e., Puerto Rico (63%) and Main Hawaiian Islands (66%). All coral reefs are highly impacted by climate change, and climate impacts were more pronounced than expected on remote reefs, i.e., the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (58%). Presenting results in a report-card style facilitates communication to the public and policy makers, and provides a useful mechanism to garner support for management actions such as expanding protected areas; enforcing existing regulations; increasing climate change education; reducing land-based sources of pollution; and other actions to improve the trajectory of coral reef ecosystem conditions.

Persistently elevated complement alternative pathway biomarkers in COVID-19 correlate with hypoxemia and predict in-hospital mortality - Alexander Leatherdale; Sophie Stukas; Victor Lei; Henry E. West; Christopher J. Campbell; Ryan L. Hoiland; Jennifer Cooper; Cheryl L. Wellington; Mypinder S. Sekhon; Edward L. G. Pryzdial; Edward M. Conway (Medical Microbiology and Immunology, 2022)

Using groundwater noble gas measurements to confirm paleorecharge hypotheses at Pahute Mesa, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, USA - Ate Visser; Edward Kwicklis; Irene Farnham; Andrew F. B. Tompson; Ronald L. Hershey (Hydrogeology Journal, 2022)

Expanding the horizon of research into the pathogenesis of the white matter diseases: Proceedings of the 2021 Annual Workshop of the Albert Research Institute for White Matter and Cognition - Shawn N. Whitehead; Askiel Bruno; Jeffrey M. Burns; S. Thomas Carmichael; Anna Csiszar; Jodi D. Edwards; Fanny M. Elahi; Giuseppe Faraco; Douglas B. Gould; Deborah R. Gustafson; Vladimir Hachinski; Gary Rosenberg; et al. (GeroScience, 2022)

Genomic predictors of testosterone levels are associated with muscle fiber size and strength - João Paulo L. F. Guilherme; Ekaterina A. Semenova; Oleg V. Borisov; Andrey K. Larin; Ethan Moreland; Edward V. Generozov; Ildus I. Ahmetov (European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2022)
Purpose Circulating testosterone levels are a heritable trait with anabolic properties in various tissues, including skeletal muscle. So far, hundreds of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with testosterone levels have been identified in nonathletic populations. The aim of the present study was to test the association of 822 testosterone-increasing SNPs with muscle-related traits (muscle fiber size, fat-free mass and handgrip strength) and to validate the identified SNPs in independent cohorts of strength and power athletes. Methods One hundred and forty-eight physically active individuals (47 females, 101 males) were assessed for cross-sectional area (CSA) of fast-twitch muscle fibers. Significant SNPs were further assessed for fat-free mass and handgrip strength in > 354,000 participants from the UK Biobank cohort. The validation cohorts included Russian elite athletes. Results From an initial panel of 822 SNPs, we identified five testosterone-increasing alleles ( DOCK3 rs77031559 G, ESR1 rs190930099 G, GLIS3 rs34706136 TG, GRAMD1B rs850294 T, TRAIP rs62260729 C) nominally associated ( P < 0.05) with CSA of fast-twitch muscle fibers, fat-free mass and handgrip strength. Based on these five SNPs, the number of testosterone-increasing alleles was positively associated with testosterone levels in male athletes ( P = 0.048) and greater strength performance in weightlifters ( P = 0.017). Moreover, the proportion of participants with ≥ 2 testosterone-increasing alleles was higher in power athletes compared to controls (68.9 vs. 55.6%; P = 0.012). Conclusion Testosterone-related SNPs are associated with muscle fiber size, fat-free mass and strength, which combined can partially contribute to a greater predisposition to strength/power sports.

Aquatic Toxicity of Chemical Road Dust Suppressants to Freshwater Organisms - Bethany K. Kunz; Edward E. Little; Vincent L. Barandino (Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2022)

Distinct colony boundaries and larval discrimination in polygyne red imported fire ants ( Solenopsis invicta ) - MacKenzie K. Kjeldgaard; Pierre‐André Eyer; Collin C. McMichael; Alison A. Bockoven; Joanie T. King; Ayumi Hyodo; Thomas W. Boutton; Edward L. Vargo; Micky D. Eubanks (Molecular Ecology, 2022)
Evaluating the factors that promote invasive ant abundance is critical to assess their ecological impact and inform their management. Many invasive ant species show reduced nestmate recognition and an absence of boundaries between unrelated nests, which allow populations to achieve greater densities due to reduced intraspecific competition. We examined nestmate discrimination and colony boundaries in introduced populations of the red imported fire ant ( Solenopsis invicta ; hereafter, fire ant). Fire ants occur in two social forms: monogyne (colonies with a single egg‐laying queen) and polygyne (colonies with multiple egg‐laying queens). In contrast with monogyne nests, polygyne nests are thought to be interconnected due to the reduced antagonism between non‐nestmate polygyne workers, perhaps because polygyne workers habituate the colony to an odour unique to Gp ‐ 9 b ‐carrying adults. However, colony boundaries and nestmate discrimination are poorly documented, particularly for worker‐brood interactions. To delimit boundaries between field colonies, we correlated the exchange of a 15 N‐glycine tracer dissolved in a sucrose solution with social form. We also evaluated nestmate discrimination between polygyne workers and larvae in the laboratory. Counter to our expectations, polygyne colonies behaved identically to monogyne colonies, suggesting both social forms maintain strict colony boundaries. Polygyne workers also preferentially fed larval nestmates and may have selectively cannibalized non‐nestmates. The levels of relatedness among workers in polygyne colonies was higher than those previously reported in North America (mean ± standard error: 0.269 ± 0.037). Our study highlights the importance of combining genetic analyses with direct quantification of resource exchange to better understand the factors influencing ant invasions.

Stepping stones towards Antarctica: Switch to southern spawning grounds explains an abrupt range shift in krill - Angus Atkinson; Simeon L. Hill; Christian S. Reiss; Evgeny A. Pakhomov; Gregory Beaugrand; Geraint A. Tarling; Guang Yang; Deborah K. Steinberg; Katrin Schmidt; Martin Edwards; Emilce Rombolá; Frances A. Perry (Global Change Biology, 2022)
Poleward range shifts are a global‐scale response to warming, but these vary greatly among taxa and are hard to predict for individual species, localized regions or over shorter (years to decadal) timescales. Moving poleward might be easier in the Arctic than in the Southern Ocean, where evidence for range shifts is sparse and contradictory. Here, we compiled a database of larval Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba and, together with an adult database, it showed how their range shift is out of step with the pace of warming. During a 70‐year period of rapid warming (1920s–1990s), distribution centres of both larvae and adults in the SW Atlantic sector remained fixed, despite warming by 0.5–1.0°C and losing sea ice. This was followed by a hiatus in surface warming and ice loss, yet during this period the distributions of krill life stages shifted greatly, by ~1000 km, to the south‐west. Understanding the mechanism of such step changes is essential, since they herald system reorganizations that are hard to predict with current modelling approaches. We propose that the abrupt shift was driven by climatic controls acting on localized recruitment hotspots, superimposed on thermal niche conservatism. During the warming hiatus, the Southern Annular Mode index continued to become increasingly positive and, likely through reduced feeding success for larvae, this led to a precipitous decline in recruitment from the main reproduction hotspot along the southern Scotia Arc. This cut replenishment to the northern portion of the krill stock, as evidenced by declining density and swarm frequency. Concomitantly, a new, southern reproduction area developed after the 1990s, reinforcing the range shift despite the lack of surface warming. New spawning hotspots may provide the stepping stones needed for range shifts into polar regions, so planning of climate‐ready marine protected areas should include these key areas of future habitat.

Sea-Level Rise: From Global Perspectives to Local Services - Gaël Durand; Michiel R. van den Broeke; Goneri Le Cozannet; Tamsin L. Edwards; Paul R. Holland; Nicolas C. Jourdain; Ben Marzeion; Ruth Mottram; Robert J. Nicholls; Frank Pattyn; Frank Paul; Aimée B. A. Slangen; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2022)
Coastal areas are highly diverse, ecologically rich, regions of key socio-economic activity, and are particularly sensitive to sea-level change. Over most of the 20th century, global mean sea level has risen mainly due to warming and subsequent expansion of the upper ocean layers as well as the melting of glaciers and ice caps. Over the last three decades, increased mass loss of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets has also started to contribute significantly to contemporary sea-level rise. The future mass loss of the two ice sheets, which combined represent a sea-level rise potential of ∼65 m, constitutes the main source of uncertainty in long-term (centennial to millennial) sea-level rise projections. Improved knowledge of the magnitude and rate of future sea-level change is therefore of utmost importance. Moreover, sea level does not change uniformly across the globe and can differ greatly at both regional and local scales. The most appropriate and feasible sea level mitigation and adaptation measures in coastal regions strongly depend on local land use and associated risk aversion. Here, we advocate that addressing the problem of future sea-level rise and its impacts requires (i) bringing together a transdisciplinary scientific community, from climate and cryospheric scientists to coastal impact specialists, and (ii) interacting closely and iteratively with users and local stakeholders to co-design and co-build coastal climate services, including addressing the high-end risks.

Common, low-frequency, rare, and ultra-rare coding variants contribute to COVID-19 severity - Chiara Fallerini; Nicola Picchiotti; Margherita Baldassarri; Kristina Zguro; Sergio Daga; Francesca Fava; Elisa Benetti; Sara Amitrano; Mirella Bruttini; Maria Palmieri; Susanna Croci; Mirjam Lista; et al. (Human Genetics, 2022)
The combined impact of common and rare exonic variants in COVID-19 host genetics is currently insufficiently understood. Here, common and rare variants from whole-exome sequencing data of about 4000 SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals were used to define an interpretable machine-learning model for predicting COVID-19 severity. First, variants were converted into separate sets of Boolean features, depending on the absence or the presence of variants in each gene. An ensemble of LASSO logistic regression models was used to identify the most informative Boolean features with respect to the genetic bases of severity. The Boolean features selected by these logistic models were combined into an Integrated PolyGenic Score that offers a synthetic and interpretable index for describing the contribution of host genetics in COVID-19 severity, as demonstrated through testing in several independent cohorts. Selected features belong to ultra-rare, rare, low-frequency, and common variants, including those in linkage disequilibrium with known GWAS loci. Noteworthily, around one quarter of the selected genes are sex-specific. Pathway analysis of the selected genes associated with COVID-19 severity reflected the multi-organ nature of the disease. The proposed model might provide useful information for developing diagnostics and therapeutics, while also being able to guide bedside disease management.

Aspirin use and prostate tumor angiogenesis - Benjamin C. Fu; Kai Wang; Lorelei A. Mucci; Steven K. Clinton; Edward L. Giovannucci (Cancer Causes & Control, 2022)

Gene tree quality affects empirical coalescent branch length estimation - Michael Forthman; Edward L. Braun; Rebecca T. Kimball (Zoologica Scripta, 2022)
Assessing effects of gene tree error in coalescent analyses have widely ignored coalescent branch lengths (CBLs) despite their potential utility in estimating ancestral population demographics and detecting species tree anomaly zones. However, the ability of coalescent methods to obtain accurate estimates remains largely unexplored. Errors in gene trees should lead to underestimates of the true CBL, and for a given set of comparisons, longer CBLs should be more accurate. Here, we furthered our empirical understanding of how error in gene tree quality (i.e., locus informativeness and gene tree resolution) affect CBLs using four datasets comprised of ultraconserved elements (UCE) or exons for clades that exhibit wide ranges of branch lengths. For each dataset, we compared the impact of locus informativeness (assessed using number of parsimony‐informative sites) and gene tree resolution on CBL estimates. Our results, in general, showed that CBLs were drastically shorter when estimates included low informative loci. Gene tree resolution also had an impact on UCE datasets, with polytomous gene trees producing longer branches than randomly resolved gene trees. However, resolution did not appear to affect CBL estimates from the more informative exon datasets. Thus, as expected, gene tree quality affects CBL estimates, though this can generally be minimized by using moderate filtering to select more informative loci and/or by allowing polytomies in gene trees. These approaches, as well as additional contributions to improve CBL estimation, should lead to CBLs that are useful for addressing evolutionary and biological questions.

Contrasting climate velocity impacts in warm and cool locations show that effects of marine warming are worse in already warmer temperate waters - Philina A. English; Eric J. Ward; Christopher N. Rooper; Robyn E. Forrest; Luke A. Rogers; Karen L. Hunter; Andrew M. Edwards; Brendan M. Connors; Sean C. Anderson (Fish and Fisheries, 2022)
Species responses to climate change are often measured at broad spatiotemporal scales, which can miss the fine‐scale changes that are most relevant to conservation and fisheries management. We develop a scaleable geostatistical approach to assess how juvenile and adult fish distributions have been shaped by changes in bottom temperature and dissolved oxygen over a recent decade of warming in the northeast Pacific. Across 38 demersal fishes, biomass trends were associated negatively with warming and positively with dissolved oxygen, but when trends in both biomass and climate were converted to velocities—the speed and direction a population would have to move to maintain consistent conditions—the effect of temperature change differed depending on local conditions. In the warmest locations, warming velocities were associated with negative biotic velocities for 19 of 69 species‐maturity combinations, and yet were almost always associated with stable or positive biotic velocities in the coolest locations (64 of 69). These spatially consistent biomass declines (negative biotic velocities) in the warmest locations and increases in cooler locations suggest a redistribution of species with the potential for new ecological and fisheries interactions. After controlling for temperature, the more spatially consistent effects of dissolved oxygen were often negative, suggesting a mechanism other than hypoxia avoidance—potentially changes in primary production. Our approach identifies the species and locations that are most sensitive to observed changes in the environment at any scale, thus facilitating future vulnerability assessments.

Understanding long-term groundwater flow at Pahute Mesa and vicinity, Nevada National Security Site, USA, from naturally occurring geochemical and isotopic tracers - Edward Kwicklis; Irene Farnham; Ronald L. Hershey; Ate Visser; John Hoaglund (Hydrogeology Journal, 2021)
Recently collected naturally occurring geochemical and isotopic groundwater tracers were combined with historic data from the Pahute Mesa area of the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), Nevada, USA, to provide insights into long-term regional groundwater flow patterns, mixing and recharge. Pahute Mesa was the site of 85 nuclear detonations between 1965 and 1992, many of them deeply buried devices that introduced radionuclides directly into groundwater. The dataset examined included major ions and field measurements, stable isotopes of hydrogen (δ 2 H), oxygen (δ 18 O), carbon (δ 13 C) and sulfur (δ 34 S), and radioisotopes of carbon ( 14 C) and chloride ( 36 Cl). Analysis of the patterns of groundwater 14 C data and the δ 2 H and δ 18 O signatures indicates that groundwater recharge is predominantly of Pleistocene age, except for a few localized areas near major ephemeral drainages. Steep gradients in sulfate (SO 4 ) and chloride (Cl) define a region near the western edge of the NNSS where high-concentration groundwater flowing south from north of the NNSS merges with dilute groundwater flowing west from eastern Pahute Mesa in a mixing zone that coincides with a groundwater trough associated with major faults. The 36 Cl/Cl and δ 34 S data suggest that the source of the high Cl and SO 4 in the groundwater was a now-dry, pluvial-age playa lake north of the NNSS. Patterns of groundwater flow indicated by the combined data sets show that groundwater is flowing around the northwest margin of the now extinct Timber Mountain Caldera Complex toward regional discharge areas in Oasis Valley.

How to report the antinuclear antibodies (anti-cell antibodies) test on HEp-2 cells: guidelines from the ICAP initiative - Carlos Alberto von Mühlen; Ignacio Garcia-De La Torre; Maria Infantino; Jan Damoiseaux; Luis E. C. Andrade; Orlando Gabriel Carballo; Karsten Conrad; Paulo Luiz Carvalho Francescantonio; Marvin J. Fritzler; Manfred Herold; Werner Klotz; Wilson de Melo Cruvinel; et al. (Immunologic Research, 2021)

Mesozooplankton Community Dynamics and Grazing Potential Across Algal Bloom Cycles in a Subtropical Estuary - L. Holly Sweat; Hunter Alexander; Edward J. Phlips; Kevin B. Johnson (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2021)
Mesozooplankton, as abundant grazers of microalgae in coastal systems, have the potential to prevent or mitigate harmful algal blooms (HABs) and their effects. The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is a subtropical estuary in eastern Florida (United States) where repeated blooms, dominated by the toxic dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense , the brown tide species Aureoumbra lagunensis , pico/nano planktonic cyanobacteria and other nano-eukaryotes, have highlighted the need to better understand fluctuations in the grazing potential of mesozooplankton populations across bloom cycles. Mesozooplankton and abiotic environmental data were collected at five sites in the northern IRL system at 6-week intervals from November 2013 through June 2016. A total of 107 taxa from 14 phyla were detected. Communities varied across sites, dates and between bloom and non-bloom periods, with densities up to 338 individuals L –1 . Eight taxa comprising 85–94% of the total population at each site were identified as primary potential grazers, including barnacle nauplii, cladocerans, adult copepods, gastropod veligers, larvaceans, and polychaete metatrochophores. Although abundant, the estimated grazing potential of the primary taxa, calculated from their measured densities and previously published grazing rates, suggest that mesozooplankton lack the capacity to suppress phytoplankton once they reach bloom levels. These findings illustrate the utility of monitoring data and underscore the importance of systematically evaluating algal bloom controls with a consideration for the dynamic conditions of each unique ecosystem.

Stratification strength and light climate explain variation in chlorophyll a at the continental scale in a European multilake survey in a heatwave summer - Daphne Donis; Evanthia Mantzouki; Daniel F. McGinnis; Dominic Vachon; Irene Gallego; Hans‐Peter Grossart; Lisette N. de Senerpont Domis; Sven Teurlincx; Laura Seelen; Miquel Lürling; Yvon Verstijnen; Valentini Maliaka; et al. (Limnology and Oceanography, 2021)
To determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass, we collected standardized morphometric, physical, and biological data in 230 lakes across the Mediterranean, Continental, and Boreal climatic zones of the European continent. Multilinear regression models tested on this snapshot of mostly eutrophic lakes (median total phosphorus [TP] = 0.06 and total nitrogen [TN] = 0.7 mg L −1 ), and its subsets (2 depth types and 3 climatic zones), show that light climate and stratification strength were the most significant explanatory variables for chlorophyll a (Chl a ) variance. TN was a significant predictor for phytoplankton biomass for shallow and continental lakes, while TP never appeared as an explanatory variable, suggesting that under high TP, light, which partially controls stratification strength, becomes limiting for phytoplankton development. Mediterranean lakes were the warmest yet most weakly stratified and had significantly less Chl a than Boreal lakes, where the temperature anomaly from the long‐term average, during a summer heatwave was the highest (+4°C) and showed a significant, exponential relationship with stratification strength. This European survey represents a summer snapshot of phytoplankton biomass and its drivers, and lends support that light and stratification metrics, which are both affected by climate change, are better predictors for phytoplankton biomass in nutrient‐rich lakes than nutrient concentrations and surface temperature.

Testing a global standard for quantifying species recovery and assessing conservation impact - Molly K. Grace; H. Resit Akçakaya; Elizabeth L. Bennett; Thomas M. Brooks; Anna Heath; Simon Hedges; Craig Hilton‐Taylor; Michael Hoffmann; Axel Hochkirch; Richard Jenkins; David A. Keith; Barney Long; et al. (Conservation Biology, 2021)
Recognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a “Green List of Species” (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species’ progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 separate but interlinked components: a standardized method (i.e., measurement against benchmarks of species’ viability, functionality, and preimpact distribution) to determine current species recovery status (herein species recovery score ) and application of that method to estimate past and potential future impacts of conservation based on 4 metrics ( conservation legacy, conservation dependence , conservation gain , and recovery potential ). We tested the framework with 181 species representing diverse taxa, life histories, biomes, and IUCN Red List categories (extinction risk). Based on the observed distribution of species’ recovery scores, we propose the following species recovery categories : fully recovered, slightly depleted, moderately depleted, largely depleted, critically depleted, extinct in the wild, and indeterminate. Fifty‐nine percent of tested species were considered largely or critically depleted. Although there was a negative relationship between extinction risk and species recovery score, variation was considerable. Some species in lower risk categories were assessed as farther from recovery than those at higher risk. This emphasizes that species recovery is conceptually different from extinction risk and reinforces the utility of the IUCN Green Status of Species to more fully understand species conservation status. Although extinction risk did not predict conservation legacy, conservation dependence, or conservation gain, it was positively correlated with recovery potential. Only 1.7% of tested species were categorized as zero across all 4 of these conservation impact metrics , indicating that conservation has, or will, play a role in improving or maintaining species status for the vast majority of these species. Based on our results, we devised an updated assessment framework that introduces the option of using a dynamic baseline to assess future impacts of conservation over the short term to avoid misleading results which were generated in a small number of cases, and redefines short term as 10 years to better align with conservation planning. These changes are reflected in the IUCN Green Status of Species Standard.

High-Resolution Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Harmful Algae in the Indian River Lagoon (Florida)—A Case Study of Aureoumbra lagunensis, Pyrodinium bahamense, and Pseudo-nitzschia - Cary B. Lopez; Charles L. Tilney; Eric Muhlbach; Josée N. Bouchard; Maria Célia Villac; Karen L. Henschen; Laura R. Markley; Stephanie Keller Abbe; Sugandha Shankar; Colin P. Shea; Leanne Flewelling; Matthew Garrett; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2021)
The Indian River Lagoon (IRL), located on the east coast of Florida, is a complex estuarine ecosystem that is negatively affected by recurring harmful algal blooms (HABs) from distinct taxonomic/functional groups. Enhanced monitoring was established to facilitate rapid quantification of three recurrent bloom taxa, Aureoumbra lagunensis , Pyrodinium bahamense , and Pseudo-nitzschia spp., and included corroborating techniques to improve the identification of small-celled nanoplankton (<10 μm in diameter). Identification and enumeration of these target taxa were conducted during 2015–2020 using a combination of light microscopy and species-specific approaches, specifically immunofluorescence flow cytometry as well as a newly developed qPCR assay for A. lagunensis presented here for the first time. An annual bloom index (ABI) was established for each taxon based on occurrence and abundance data. Blooms of A. lagunensis (>2 × 10 8 cells L –1 ) were observed in all 6 years sampled and across multiple seasons. In contrast, abundance of P. bahamense , largely driven by the annual temperature cycle that moderates life cycle transitions and growth, displayed a strong seasonal pattern with blooms (10 5 –10 7 cells L –1 ) generally developing in early summer and subsiding in autumn. However, P. bahamense bloom development was delayed and abundance was significantly lower in years and locations with sustained A. lagunensis blooms. Pseudo-nitzschia spp. were broadly distributed with sporadic bloom concentrations (reaching 10 7 cells L –1 ), but with minimal concentrations of the toxin domoic acid detected (<0.02 μg L –1 ). In summer 2020, multiple monitoring tools characterized a novel nano-cyanobacterium bloom (reaching 10 9 cells L –1 ) that coincided with a decline in A. lagunensis and persisted into autumn. Statistical and time-series analyses of this spatiotemporally intensive dataset highlight prominent patterns in variability for some taxa, but also identify challenges of characterizing mechanisms underlying more episodic yet persistent events. Nevertheless, the intersect of temperature and salinity as environmental proxies proved to be informative in delineating niche partitioning, not only in the case of taxa with long-standing data sets but also for seemingly unprecedented blooms of novel nanoplanktonic taxa.

Mean sea level and tidal change in Ireland since 1842: a case study of Cork - David T. Pugh; Edmund Bridge; Robin Edwards; Peter Hogarth; Guy Westbrook; Philip L. Woodworth; Gerard D. McCarthy (Ocean Science, 2021)
Knowledge of regional changes in mean sea level and local changes in tides are crucial to inform effective climate adaptation. An essential element is the availability of accurate observations of sea level. Sea level data in the Republic of Ireland, prior to the establishment of the National Tide Gauge Network in the mid-2000s, are limited but belie a wealth of historical data available in archival form. In this study, we digitize records located in Cork Harbour, Ireland, from 1842 and show how short-duration (6–8 weeks), high-quality data with a large interval to the present can accurately inform tidal and mean sea level changes. We consider error sources in detail. We estimate for the main M2 tidal constituent that the accuracy of these historical measurements is 1 % and 2 min for amplitude and phase, respectively, once adjustments for seasonal and nodal effects are made. Our mean sea level estimates are accurate to the 2 cm level, once adjustments for atmospheric and seasonal effects are made. Our results show tidal stability with a 2 % change in the amplitude of the M2 component, 4 min change in the phase over a period of 177 years, and mean sea level rise of 40 cm in the Cork Harbour area from 1842 to 2019, approximately in line with global mean sea level trends plus local glacial isostatic adjustment. More broadly, we show that with careful seasonal, nodal, and atmospheric corrections, together with knowledge of benchmark provenance, these historic, survey-oriented data can accurately inform of sea level changes.

Bacterial Viruses Subcommittee and Archaeal Viruses Subcommittee of the ICTV: update of taxonomy changes in 2021 - Mart Krupovic; Dann Turner; Vera Morozova; Mike Dyall-Smith; Hanna M. Oksanen; Rob Edwards; Bas E. Dutilh; Susan M. Lehman; Alejandro Reyes; Diana P. Baquero; Matthew B. Sullivan; Jumpei Uchiyama; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2021)
In this article, we – the Bacterial Viruses Subcommittee and the Archaeal Viruses Subcommittee of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) – summarise the results of our activities for the period March 2020 – March 2021. We report the division of the former Bacterial and Archaeal Viruses Subcommittee in two separate Subcommittees, welcome new members, a new Subcommittee Chair and Vice Chair, and give an overview of the new taxa that were proposed in 2020, approved by the Executive Committee and ratified by vote in 2021. In particular, a new realm, three orders, 15 families, 31 subfamilies, 734 genera and 1845 species were newly created or redefined (moved/promoted).

Bladder Cancer and Google Trends: Associations Between US Search Patterns and Disease Outcomes May Show Need for Improved Awareness Strategies - Joseph Alexander Paguio; Jasper Seth Yao; Ma. Sophia Graciela L. Reyes; Grace Lee; Edward Christopher Dee (Journal of Cancer Education, 2021)

Evidence that geographic variation in genetic ancestry associates with uterine fibroids - Jacob M. Keaton; Elizabeth A. Jasper; Jacklyn N. Hellwege; Sarah H. Jones; Eric S. Torstenson; Todd L. Edwards; Digna R. Velez Edwards (Human Genetics, 2021)

Correction to: Latitudinal variation in monthly-scale reproductive synchrony among Acropora coral assemblages in the Indo-Pacific - Jessica Bouwmeester; Alasdair J. Edwards; James R. Guest; Andrew G. Bauman; Michael L. Berumen; Andrew H. Baird (Coral Reefs, 2021)

Latitudinal variation in monthly-scale reproductive synchrony among Acropora coral assemblages in the Indo-Pacific - Jessica Bouwmeester; Alasdair J. Edwards; James R. Guest; Andrew G. Bauman; Michael L. Berumen; Andrew H. Baird (Coral Reefs, 2021)
Early research into coral reproductive biology suggested that spawning synchrony was driven by variations in the amplitude of environmental variables that are correlated with latitude, with synchrony predicted to break down at lower latitudes. More recent research has revealed that synchronous spawning, both within and among species, is a feature of all speciose coral assemblages, including equatorial reefs. Nonetheless, considerable variation in reproductive synchrony exists among locations and the hypothesis that the extent of spawning synchrony is correlated with latitude has not been formally tested on a large scale. Here, we use data from 90 sites throughout the Indo-Pacific and a quantitative index of reproductive synchrony applied at a monthly scale to demonstrate that, despite considerable spatial and temporal variation, there is no correlation between latitude and reproductive synchrony. Considering the critical role that successful reproduction plays in the persistence and recovery of coral reefs, research is urgently needed to understand the drivers underpinning variation in reproductive synchrony.

Genetic analyses of gynecological disease identify genetic relationships between uterine fibroids and endometrial cancer, and a novel endometrial cancer genetic risk region at the WNT4 1p36.12 locus - Pik Fang Kho; Sally Mortlock; Frederic Amant; Daniela Annibali; Katie Ashton; John Attia; Paul L. Auer; Matthias W. Beckmann; Amanda Black; Louise Brinton; Daniel D. Buchanan; Stephen J. Chanock; et al. (Human Genetics, 2021)

Site reduction in redundant ecosystem sampling schemes - Spencer Hays; Bandana Kumari; Ben Stewart-Koster; Edward L. Boone; Fran Sheldon (Environmental and Ecological Statistics, 2021)

Association between weight cycling and risk of kidney cancer: a prospective cohort study and meta-analysis of observational studies - Dong Hoon Lee; NaNa Keum; Leandro F. M. Rezende; Fred K. Tabung; SungEun Hong; Edward L. Giovannucci (Cancer Causes & Control, 2021)

Statistical upscaling of ecosystem CO 2 fluxes across the terrestrial tundra and boreal domain: Regional patterns and uncertainties - Anna‐Maria Virkkala; Juha Aalto; Brendan M. Rogers; Torbern Tagesson; Claire C. Treat; Susan M. Natali; Jennifer D. Watts; Stefano Potter; Aleksi Lehtonen; Marguerite Mauritz; Edward A. G. Schuur; John Kochendorfer; et al. (Global Change Biology, 2021)
The regional variability in tundra and boreal carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) fluxes can be high, complicating efforts to quantify sink‐source patterns across the entire region. Statistical models are increasingly used to predict (i.e., upscale) CO 2 fluxes across large spatial domains, but the reliability of different modeling techniques, each with different specifications and assumptions, has not been assessed in detail. Here, we compile eddy covariance and chamber measurements of annual and growing season CO 2 fluxes of gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) during 1990–2015 from 148 terrestrial high‐latitude (i.e., tundra and boreal) sites to analyze the spatial patterns and drivers of CO 2 fluxes and test the accuracy and uncertainty of different statistical models. CO 2 fluxes were upscaled at relatively high spatial resolution (1 km 2 ) across the high‐latitude region using five commonly used statistical models and their ensemble, that is, the median of all five models, using climatic, vegetation, and soil predictors. We found the performance of machine learning and ensemble predictions to outperform traditional regression methods. We also found the predictive performance of NEE‐focused models to be low, relative to models predicting GPP and ER. Our data compilation and ensemble predictions showed that CO 2 sink strength was larger in the boreal biome (observed and predicted average annual NEE −46 and −29 g C m −2 yr −1 , respectively) compared to tundra (average annual NEE +10 and −2 g C m −2 yr −1 ). This pattern was associated with large spatial variability, reflecting local heterogeneity in soil organic carbon stocks, climate, and vegetation productivity. The terrestrial ecosystem CO 2 budget, estimated using the annual NEE ensemble prediction, suggests the high‐latitude region was on average an annual CO 2 sink during 1990–2015, although uncertainty remains high.

State of the California Current 2019–2020: Back to the Future With Marine Heatwaves? - Edward D. Weber; Toby D. Auth; Simone Baumann-Pickering; Timothy R. Baumgartner; Eric P. Bjorkstedt; Steven J. Bograd; Brian J. Burke; José L. Cadena-Ramírez; Elizabeth A. Daly; Martin de la Cruz; Heidi Dewar; John C. Field; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2021)
The California Current System (CCS) has experienced large fluctuations in environmental conditions in recent years that have dramatically affected the biological community. Here we synthesize remotely sensed, hydrographic, and biological survey data from throughout the CCS in 2019–2020 to evaluate how recent changes in environmental conditions have affected community dynamics at multiple trophic levels. A marine heatwave formed in the north Pacific in 2019 and reached the second greatest area ever recorded by the end of summer 2020. However, high atmospheric pressure in early 2020 drove relatively strong Ekman-driven coastal upwelling in the northern portion of the CCS and warm temperature anomalies remained far offshore. Upwelling and cooler temperatures in the northern CCS created relatively productive conditions in which the biomass of lipid-rich copepod species increased, adult krill size increased, and several seabird species experienced positive reproductive success. Despite these conditions, the composition of the fish community in the northern CCS remained a mixture of both warm- and cool-water-associated species. In the southern CCS, ocean temperatures remained above average for the seventh consecutive year. Abundances of juvenile fish species associated with productive conditions were relatively low, and the ichthyoplankton community was dominated by a mixture of oceanic warm-water and cosmopolitan species. Seabird species associated with warm water also occurred at greater densities than cool-water species in the southern CCS. The population of northern anchovy, which has been resurgent since 2017, continued to provide an important forage base for piscivorous fishes, offshore colonies of seabirds, and marine mammals throughout the CCS. Coastal upwelling in the north, and a longer-term trend in warming in the south, appeared to be controlling the community to a much greater extent than the marine heatwave itself.

A Brief Educational Intervention Enhances Basic Cancer Literacy Among Kentucky Middle and High School Students - Lauren Hudson; Kerrigan M. Samons; Haley E. Dicken; Chris Prichard; L. Todd Weiss; Jean Edward; Robin C. Vanderpool; Nathan L. Vanderford (Journal of Cancer Education, 2021)
Kentucky experiences the highest overall cancer incidence and mortality rates in the USA with the greatest burden in the eastern, Appalachian region of the state. Cancer disparities in Kentucky are driven in part by poor health behaviors, poverty, lack of health care access, low education levels, and low health literacy. Individuals with inadequate health literacy are less likely to participate in preventive measures such as obtaining screenings and making healthy lifestyle choices, thus increasing their chances of developing and dying from cancer. By increasing cancer literacy among youth and adults, it may be possible to decrease cancer disparities across Kentucky. This study aimed to establish connections with middle and high schools in Kentucky that would facilitate pilot implementation of a brief cancer education intervention and assessment of cancer health literacy among these student populations. A baseline pretest cancer literacy survey consisting of 10 items was given to 349 participants, followed by the delivery of a cancer education presentation. Immediately following the presentation, participants were given a posttest with identical items to the pretest. Participants were primarily Caucasian (89.4%), female (68.7%), and in 10th through 12th grade (80.5%). Significant ( p < 0.0001) increases in both average and median percent of correctly marked items were observed between the pretest and posttest (average, pretest = 56% versus posttest = 85%; median, pretest = 60% versus posttest = 90%). The scores for all individual items increased after the brief intervention. The results demonstrated a significant increase in cancer literacy levels immediately after the pilot educational intervention. We suggest that it may be possible to improve cancer literacy rates in Kentucky by integrating cancer education into middle and high school science and/or health education curricula. This could ultimately drive changes in behaviors that may help lower cancer incidence and mortality rates. Plans for future interventional studies measuring long-term cancer knowledge retention and resultant behavioral changes among middle and high school students as well as the feasibility of integrating cancer education into middle and high school curricula are also discussed.

Coral reef resilience differs among islands within the Gulf of Mannar, southeast India, following successive coral bleaching events - K. Diraviya Raj; Greta S. Aeby; G. Mathews; Gareth J. Williams; Jamie M. Caldwell; R. L. Laju; M. Selva Bharath; P. Dinesh Kumar; A. Arasamuthu; N. Gladwin Gnana Asir; Lisa M. Wedding; Andrew J. Davies; et al. (Coral Reefs, 2021)

Extensive human‐mediated jump dispersal within and across the native and introduced ranges of the invasive termite Reticulitermes flavipes - Pierre‐André Eyer; Alexander J. Blumenfeld; Laura N. L. Johnson; Elfie Perdereau; Phillip Shults; Shichen Wang; Franck Dedeine; Simon Dupont; Anne‐Geneviève Bagnères; Edward L. Vargo (Molecular Ecology, 2021)
As native ranges are often geographically structured, invasive species originating from a single source population only carry a fraction of the genetic diversity present in their native range. The invasion process is thus often associated with a drastic loss of genetic diversity resulting from a founder event. However, the fraction of diversity brought to the invasive range may vary under different invasion histories, increasing with the size of the propagule, the number of reintroduction events, and/or the total genetic diversity represented by the various source populations in a multiple‐introduction scenario. In this study, we generated a SNP data set for the invasive termite Reticulitermes flavipes from 23 native populations in the eastern United States and six introduced populations throughout the world. Using population genetic analyses and approximate Bayesian computation random forest, we investigated its worldwide invasion history. We found a complex invasion pathway with multiple events out of the native range and bridgehead introductions from the introduced population in France. Our data suggest that extensive long‐distance jump dispersal appears common in both the native and introduced ranges of this species, probably through human transportation. Overall, our results show that similar to multiple introduction events into the invasive range, admixture in the native range prior to invasion can potentially favour invasion success by increasing the genetic diversity that is later transferred to the introduced range.

Evaluating a Steady-State Model of Soil Accretion in Everglades Mangroves (Florida, USA) - Randolph M. Chambers; Adrianna L. Gorsky; Edward Castañeda-Moya; Victor H. Rivera-Monroy (Estuaries and Coasts, 2021)

Assessment of the efficacy of six field cleaning protocols for hydrocarbon quantification - Emily C. Pisarski; Edward F. Wirth; Paul L. Pennington; Ian Hartwell; Brian S. Shaddrix; David R. Whitall; Dennis A. Apeti; Gregory Baker (Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2021)

Are visual working memory and episodic memory distinct processes? Insight from stroke patients by lesion-symptom mapping - Selma Lugtmeijer; Linda Geerligs; Frank Erik de Leeuw; Edward H. F. de Haan; Roy P. C. Kessels; Anouk R. Smits; Ben A. Schmand; Edward H. F. de Haan; Frank Erik de Leeuw; Gert jan Luijckx; H. Steven Scholte; Joke M. Spikman; et al. (Brain Structure and Function, 2021)
Working memory and episodic memory are two different processes, although the nature of their interrelationship is debated. As these processes are predominantly studied in isolation, it is unclear whether they crucially rely on different neural substrates. To obtain more insight in this, 81 adults with sub-acute ischemic stroke and 29 elderly controls were assessed on a visual working memory task, followed by a surprise subsequent memory test for the same stimuli. Multivariate, atlas- and track-based lesion-symptom mapping (LSM) analyses were performed to identify anatomical correlates of visual memory. Behavioral results gave moderate evidence for independence between discriminability in working memory and subsequent memory, and strong evidence for a correlation in response bias on the two tasks in stroke patients. LSM analyses suggested there might be independent regions associated with working memory and episodic memory. Lesions in the right arcuate fasciculus were more strongly associated with discriminability in working memory than in subsequent memory, while lesions in the frontal operculum in the right hemisphere were more strongly associated with criterion setting in subsequent memory. These findings support the view that some processes involved in working memory and episodic memory rely on separate mechanisms, while acknowledging that there might also be shared processes.

The Impact of Atmosphere–Ocean–Wave Coupling on the Near-Surface Wind Speed in Forecasts of Extratropical Cyclones - Emanuele S. Gentile; Suzanne L. Gray; Janet F. Barlow; Huw W. Lewis; John M. Edwards (Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 2021)
Accurate modelling of air–sea surface exchanges is crucial for reliable extreme surface wind-speed forecasts. While atmosphere-only weather forecast models represent ocean and wave effects through sea-state independent parametrizations, coupled multi-model systems capture sea-state dynamics by integrating feedbacks between the atmosphere, ocean and wave model components. Here, we investigate the sensitivity of extreme surface wind speeds to air–sea exchanges at the kilometre scale using coupled and uncoupled configurations of the Met Office’s UK Regional Coupled Environmental Prediction system. The case period includes the passage of extra-tropical cyclones Helen, Ali, and Bronagh, which brought maximum gusts of 36 m s $$^{-1}$$ - 1 over the UK. Compared with the atmosphere-only results, coupling to the ocean decreases the domain-average sea-surface temperature by up to 0.5 K. Inclusion of coupling to waves reduce the 98th percentile 10-m wind speed by up to 2 m s $$^{-1}$$ - 1 as young, growing wind waves reduce the wind speed by increasing the sea-surface aerodynamic roughness. Impacts on gusts are more modest, with local reductions of up to 1 m s $$^{-1}$$ - 1 , due to enhanced boundary-layer turbulence which partially offsets air–sea momentum transfer. Using a new drag parametrization based on the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment 4.0 parametrization, with a cap on the neutral drag coefficient and reduction for wind speeds exceeding 27 m s $$^{-1}$$ - 1 , the atmosphere-only model achieves equivalent impacts on 10-m wind speeds and gusts as from coupling to waves. Overall, the new drag parametrization achieves the same 20% improvement in forecast 10-m wind-speed skill as coupling to waves, with the advantage of saving the computational cost of the ocean and wave models.

Microbial biogeography through the lens of exotic species: the recent introduction and spread of the freshwater diatom Discostella asterocostata in the United States - Andrew J. Alverson; Tyler K. Chafin; Kiley A. Jones; Kalina M. Manoylov; Hillary Johnson; Matthew L. Julius; Teofil Nakov; Elizabeth C. Ruck; Edward C. Theriot; Kevin M. Yeager; Jeffery R. Stone (Biological Invasions, 2021)

Recent progress on combining geomorphological and geochronological data with ice sheet modelling, demonstrated using the last British–Irish Ice Sheet - Jeremy C. Ely; Chris D. Clark; Richard C. A. Hindmarsh; Anna L. C. Hughes; Sarah L. Greenwood; Sarah L. Bradley; Edward Gasson; Lauren Gregoire; Niall Gandy; Chris R. Stokes; David Small (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2021)
Palaeo‐ice sheets are important analogues for understanding contemporary ice sheets, offering a record of ice sheet behaviour that spans millennia. There are two main approaches to reconstructing palaeo‐ice sheets. Empirical reconstructions use the available glacial geological and chronological evidence to estimate ice sheet extent and dynamics but lack direct consideration of ice physics. In contrast, numerically modelled simulations implement ice physics, but often lack direct quantitative comparison with empirical evidence. Despite being long identified as a fruitful scientific endeavour, few ice sheet reconstructions attempt to reconcile the empirical and model‐based approaches. To achieve this goal, model‐data comparison procedures are required. Here, we compare three numerically modelled simulations of the former British–Irish Ice Sheet with the following lines of evidence: (a) position and shape of former margin positions, recorded by moraines; (b) former ice‐flow direction and flow‐switching, recorded by flowsets of subglacial bedforms; and (c) the timing of ice‐free conditions, recorded by geochronological data. These model–data comparisons provide a useful framework for quantifying the degree of fit between numerical model simulations and empirical constraints. Such tools are vital for reconciling numerical modelling and empirical evidence, the combination of which will lead to more robust palaeo‐ice sheet reconstructions with greater explicative and ultimately predictive power.

Developmental Timeline of Wild Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) Infants in Kianjavato and Torotorofotsy, Madagascar - Jeannin Nicolas Rakotondrazandry; Faranky Ravelomandrato; Timothy M. Sefczek; Yves Rostant Andriamalala; Cynthia L. Frasier; Vicki L. Villanova; Solofonirina Rasoloharijaona; Herimalala Raveloson; Edward E. Louis (International Journal of Primatology, 2021)

MRI-based Parcellation and Morphometry of the Individual Rhesus Monkey Brain: the macaque Harvard-Oxford Atlas (mHOA), a translational system referencing a standardized ontology - R. Jarrett Rushmore; Sylvain Bouix; Marek Kubicki; Yogesh Rathi; Douglas L. Rosene; Edward H. Yeterian; Nikos Makris (Brain Imaging and Behavior, 2021)

Community phylogeographic patterns reveal how a barrier filters and structures taxa in North American warm deserts - Kaiya L. Provost; Edward A. Myers; Brian Tilston Smith (Journal of Biogeography, 2021)
Aim The study of biogeographic barriers is instrumental in understanding the evolution and distribution of taxa. With the increasing availability of empirical datasets, emergent patterns can be inferred from communities by synthesizing how barriers filter and structure populations across species. We assemble phylogeographic data across a barrier and perform spatially explicit simulations, quantifying spatiotemporal patterns of divergence, the influence of traits on these patterns, and the statistical power needed to differentiate diversification modes. Taxon Vertebrates, Invertebrates, Plants Location North America Methods We incorporate published datasets, from papers that match relevant keywords, to examine taxa around the Cochise Filter Barrier, separating the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts of North America, to synthesize phylogeographic structuring across the communities with respect to organismal functional traits. We then use simulation and machine learning to assess the power of phylogeographic model selection. Results Taxa distributed across the Cochise Filter Barrier show heterogeneous responses to the barrier in levels of gene flow, phylogeographic structure, divergence timing, barrier width, and divergence mechanism. These responses correlate with locomotor and thermoregulatory traits. Many taxa show a Pleistocene population genetic break, often with introgression after divergence. Allopatric isolation and isolation by environment are the primary mechanisms structuring genetic divergence within taxa. Simulations reveal that in spatially explicit isolation with migration models across the barrier, age of divergence, presence of gene flow, and presence of isolation by distance can confound the interpretation of evolutionary history and model selection by producing easily confusable results. We re‐analyze five empirical genetic datasets to illustrate the utility of these simulations despite these constraints. Main Conclusions By synthesizing phylogeographic data for the Cochise Filter Barrier, we show that barriers interact with species traits to differentiate taxa in communities over millions of years. Identifying diversification modes across the barrier for these taxa remains challenging because commonly invoked demographic models may not be identifiable across a range of likely parameter space.

SNAPSHOT USA 2019: a coordinated national camera trap survey of the United States - Michael V. Cove; Roland Kays; Helen Bontrager; Claire Bresnan; Monica Lasky; Taylor Frerichs; Renee Klann; Thomas E. Lee; Seth C. Crockett; Anthony P. Crupi; Katherine C. B. Weiss; Helen Rowe; et al. (Ecology, 2021)
With the accelerating pace of global change, it is imperative that we obtain rapid inventories of the status and distribution of wildlife for ecological inferences and conservation planning. To address this challenge, we launched the SNAPSHOT USA project, a collaborative survey of terrestrial wildlife populations using camera traps across the United States. For our first annual survey, we compiled data across all 50 states during a 14‐week period (17 August–24 November of 2019). We sampled wildlife at 1,509 camera trap sites from 110 camera trap arrays covering 12 different ecoregions across four development zones. This effort resulted in 166,036 unique detections of 83 species of mammals and 17 species of birds. All images were processed through the Smithsonian’s eMammal camera trap data repository and included an expert review phase to ensure taxonomic accuracy of data, resulting in each picture being reviewed at least twice. The results represent a timely and standardized camera trap survey of the United States. All of the 2019 survey data are made available herein. We are currently repeating surveys in fall 2020, opening up the opportunity to other institutions and cooperators to expand coverage of all the urban–wild gradients and ecophysiographic regions of the country. Future data will be available as the database is updated at eMammal.si.edu/snapshot‐usa, as will future data paper submissions. These data will be useful for local and macroecological research including the examination of community assembly, effects of environmental and anthropogenic landscape variables, effects of fragmentation and extinction debt dynamics, as well as species‐specific population dynamics and conservation action plans. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this paper when using the data for publication.

An Experimental Framework for Selectively Breeding Corals for Assisted Evolution - Adriana Humanes; Elizabeth A. Beauchamp; John C. Bythell; Mitch K. Carl; Jamie R. Craggs; Alasdair J. Edwards; Yimnang Golbuu; Liam Lachs; Helios M. Martinez; Pawel Palmowski; Faith Paysinger; Janna L. Randle; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2021)
Coral cover on tropical reefs has declined during the last three decades due to the combined effects of climate change, destructive fishing, pollution, and land use change. Drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions combined with effective coastal management and conservation strategies are essential to slow this decline. Innovative approaches, such as selective breeding for adaptive traits combined with large-scale sexual propagation, are being developed with the aim of pre-adapting reefs to increased ocean warming. However, there are still major gaps in our understanding of the technical and methodological constraints to producing corals for such restoration interventions. Here we propose a framework for selectively breeding corals and rearing them from eggs to 2.5-year old colonies using the coral Acropora digitifera as a model species. We present methods for choosing colonies for selective crossing, enhancing early survivorship in ex situ and in situ nurseries, and outplanting and monitoring colonies on natal reefs. We used a short-term (7-day) temperature stress assay to select parental colonies based on heat tolerance of excised branches. From six parental colonies, we produced 12 distinct crosses, and compared survivorship and growth of colonies transferred to in situ nurseries or outplanted to the reef at different ages. We demonstrate that selectively breeding and rearing coral colonies is technically feasible at small scales and could be upscaled as part of restorative assisted evolution initiatives. Nonetheless, there are still challenges to overcome before selective breeding can be implemented as a viable conservation tool, especially at the post-settlement and outplanting phases. Although interdisciplinary approaches will be needed to overcome many of the challenges identified in this study, selective breeding has the potential to be a viable tool within a reef managers toolbox to support the persistence of selected reefs in the face of climate change.

Corrigendum: OceanGliders: A Component of the Integrated GOOS - Pierre Testor; Brad de Young; Daniel L. Rudnick; Scott Glenn; Daniel Hayes; Craig M. Lee; Charitha Pattiaratchi; Katherine Hill; Emma Heslop; Victor Turpin; Pekka Alenius; Carlos Barrera; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2021)

Exploring the Pacific Arctic Seasonal Ice Zone With Saildrone USVs - Andrew M. Chiodi; Chidong Zhang; Edward D. Cokelet; Qiong Yang; Calvin W. Mordy; Chelle L. Gentemann; Jessica N. Cross; Noah Lawrence-Slavas; Christian Meinig; Michael Steele; Don E. Harrison; Phyllis J. Stabeno; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2021)
More high-quality, in situ observations of essential marine variables are needed over the seasonal ice zone to better understand Arctic (or Antarctic) weather, climate, and ecosystems. To better assess the potential for arrays of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) to provide such observations, five wind-driven and solar-powered saildrones were sailed into the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas following the 2019 seasonal retreat of sea ice. They were equipped to observe the surface oceanic and atmospheric variables required to estimate air-sea fluxes of heat, momentum and carbon dioxide. Some of these variables were made available to weather forecast centers in real time. Our objective here is to analyze the effectiveness of existing remote ice navigation products and highlight the challenges and opportunities for improving remote ice navigation strategies with USVs. We examine the sources of navigational sea-ice distribution information based on post-mission tabulation of the sea-ice conditions encountered by the vehicles. The satellite-based ice-concentration analyses consulted during the mission exhibited large disagreements when the sea ice was retreating fastest (e.g., the 10% concentration contours differed between analyses by up to ∼175 km). Attempts to use saildrone observations to detect the ice edge revealed that in situ temperature and salinity measurements varied sufficiently in ice bands and open water that it is difficult to use these variables alone as a reliable ice-edge indicator. Devising robust strategies for remote ice zone navigation may depend on developing the capability to recognize sea ice and initiate navigational maneuvers with cameras and processing capability onboard the vehicles.

Gestational weight gain and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer - Zhuxuan Fu; Joseph L. Kelley; Kunle Odunsi; Robert P. Edwards; Kirsten Moysich; Francesmary Modugno (Cancer Causes & Control, 2021)

Macroecological patterns of forest structure and allometric scaling in mangrove forests - Andre S. Rovai; Robert R. Twilley; Edward Castañeda‐Moya; Stephen R. Midway; Daniel A. Friess; Carl C. Trettin; Jacob J. Bukoski; Atticus E.L. Stovall; Paulo R. Pagliosa; Alessandra L. Fonseca; Richard A. Mackenzie; Aslan Aslan; et al. (Global Ecology and Biogeography, 2021)
Aim Mangrove wetlands span broad geographical gradients, resulting in functionally diverse tree communities. We asked whether latitudinal variation, allometric scaling relationships and species composition influence mangrove forest structure and biomass allocation across biogeographical regions and distinct coastal morphologies. Location Global. Time period Present. Major taxa studied Mangrove ecosystems. Methods We built the largest field‐based dataset on mangrove forest structure and biomass to date ( c . 2,800 plots from 67 countries) to address macroecological questions pertaining to structural and functional diversity of mangroves spanning biogeographical and coastal morphology gradients. We used frequentist inference statistics and machine learning models to determine environmental drivers that control biomass allocation within and across mangrove communities globally. Results Allometric scaling relationships and forest structural complexity were consistent across biogeographical and coastal morphology gradients, suggesting that mangrove biomass is controlled by regional forcings rather than by latitude or species composition. For instance, nearly 40% of the global variation in biomass was explained by regional climate and hydroperiod, revealing nonlinear thresholds that control biomass accumulation across broad geographical gradients. Furthermore, we found that ecosystem‐level carbon stocks (average 401 ± 48 MgC/ha, covering biomass and the top 1 m of soil) varied little across diverse coastal morphologies, reflecting regional bottom‐up geomorphic controls that shape global patterns in mangrove biomass apportioning. Main conclusions Our findings reconcile views of wetland and terrestrial forest macroecology. Similarities in stand structural complexity and cross‐site size–density relationships across multiscale environmental gradients show that resource allocation in mangrove ecosystems is independent of tree size and invariant to species composition or latitude. Mangroves follow a universal fractal‐based scaling relationship that describes biomass allocation for several other terrestrial tree‐dominated communities. Understanding how mangroves adhere to these universal allometric rules can improve our ability to account for biomass apportioning and carbon stocks in response to broad geographical gradients.

Ecosystem Recovery from Disturbance is Constrained by N Cycle Openness, Vegetation-Soil N Distribution, Form of N Losses, and the Balance Between Vegetation and Soil-Microbial Processes - Edward B. Rastetter; George W. Kling; Gaius R. Shaver; Byron C. Crump; Laura Gough; Kevin L. Griffin (Ecosystems, 2021)

Animal‐borne video from a sea turtle reveals novel anti‐predator behaviors - Jenna L. Hounslow; Oliver J. D. Jewell; Sabrina Fossette; Scott Whiting; Anton D. Tucker; Anthony Richardson; David Edwards; Adrian C. Gleiss (Ecology, 2021)

The Quilt of Sustainable Ocean Governance: Patterns for Practitioners - Robert L. Stephenson; Alistair J. Hobday; Edward H. Allison; Derek Armitage; Kate Brooks; Alida Bundy; Christopher Cvitanovic; Mark Dickey-Collas; Natalia de Miranda Grilli; Catalina Gomez; Astrid Jarre; Laura Kaikkonen; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2021)
In recent decades, scientists and practitioners have increasingly focused on identifying and codifying the best ways to manage activities in marine systems, leading to the development and implementation of concepts such as the social-ecological systems approach, ecosystem-based management, integrated management, marine spatial planning, participatory co-management, and the precautionary approach. To date, these concepts appear as separate entities: they have parallel literature streams; have been applied most often individually in attempts to improve governance and management; and in many ways, seem to be competing for attention. This patchwork of approaches may be hindering effective ocean governance. We propose that desirable features from these frameworks could be woven together to form the basis of more effective and equitable ocean governance arrangements across contexts, sectors, and scales. This article synthesizes the efforts of an IMBeR (Integrated Marine Biosphere Research Project) conference session and working group, that brought together experts in these diverse concepts with the objective of producing a synthesis of how they could be more effectively integrated for improved ocean sustainability outcomes. We reviewed and compared the concepts in terms of (a) the need to achieve a comprehensive suite of sustainability objectives, (b) similarities and differences in their scope, and (c) their place in practical management, policy and regulation. Achieving greater cross-sectoral integration, or a more holistic perspective on management for sustainability is at the core of each concept. All deal with aspects of governance and most, with improved participation in governance. The major differences in the origin and historical application of each concept are reflected in the degree of implicit or explicit focus given to different objectives of sustainability. Overall, the concepts are especially strong for ecological and institutional or governance considerations, moderately strong for economic aspects, and weakest for the social-cultural pillar of full spectrum sustainability. There is no panacea, and no emergent hierarchy among concepts. Some concepts fit better with top-down legislation-based efforts, others with more bottom-up stakeholder driven efforts. The selection of the core concepts for a situation will depend in a large part on which concepts are specified, or demand focus, in the legal and policy context of the situation (or area) of interest. No matter how influential or dominant a single concept might be, pragmatically, different concepts will be used in different areas, and there may always be the need for a combination of concepts and objectives woven together to achieve a cohesive quilt of sustainability.

Genetic analysis of endometriosis and depression identifies shared loci and implicates causal links with gastric mucosa abnormality - Emmanuel O. Adewuyi; Divya Mehta; Yadav Sapkota; Yadav Sapkota; Kosuke Yoshihara; Mette Nyegaard; Valgerdur Steinthorsdottir; Andrew P. Morris; Amelie Fassbender; Nilufer Rahmioglu; Immaculata De Vivo; Julie E. Buring; et al. (Human Genetics, 2021)

Perlecan Domain-V Enhances Neurogenic Brain Repair After Stroke in Mice - Amanda L. Trout; Michael P. Kahle; Jill M. Roberts; Aileen Marcelo; Leon de Hoog; Jeffery A. Boychuk; Stephen L. Grupke; Antonio Berretta; Emma K. Gowing; Carie R. Boychuk; Amanda A. Gorman; Danielle N. Edwards; et al. (Translational Stroke Research, 2021)
The extracellular matrix fragment perlecan domain V is neuroprotective and functionally restorative following experimental stroke. As neurogenesis is an important component of chronic post-stroke repair, and previous studies have implicated perlecan in developmental neurogenesis, we hypothesized that domain V could have a broad therapeutic window by enhancing neurogenesis after stroke. We demonstrated that domain V is chronically increased in the brains of human stroke patients, suggesting that it is present during post-stroke neurogenic periods. Furthermore, perlecan deficient mice had significantly less neuroblast precursor cells after experimental stroke. Seven-day delayed domain V administration enhanced neurogenesis and restored peri-infarct excitatory synaptic drive to neocortical layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons after experimental stroke. Domain V’s effects were inhibited by blockade of α2β1 integrin, suggesting the importance of α2β1 integrin to neurogenesis and domain V neurogenic effects. Our results demonstrate that perlecan plays a previously unrecognized role in post-stroke neurogenesis and that delayed DV administration after experimental stroke enhances neurogenesis and improves recovery in an α2β1 integrin-mediated fashion. We conclude that domain V is a clinically relevant neuroprotective and neuroreparative novel stroke therapy with a broad therapeutic window.

Are physiological and behavioural responses to stressors displayed concordantly by wild urban rodents? - Loren L. Fardell; Miguel A. Bedoya-Pérez; Christopher R. Dickman; Mathew S. Crowther; Chris R. Pavey; Edward J. Narayan (The Science of Nature, 2021)
Understanding wild animal responses to stressors underpins effective wildlife management. In order for responses to stressors to be correctly interpreted, it is critical that measurements are taken on wild animals using minimally invasive techniques. Studies investigating wild animal responses to stressors often measure either a single physiological or behavioural variable, but whether such responses are comparable and concordant remains uncertain. We investigated this question in a pilot study that measured responses of wild-caught urban brown and black rats ( Rattus norvegicus , Rattus rattus ) to fur-based olfactory cues from a predator, the domestic cat ( Felis catus ); a novel herbivore, the koala ( Phascolarctos cinereus ); and a familiar herbivore and competitor, the common brushtail possum ( Trichosurus vulpecula ). Physiological responses, measured by assaying faecal glucocorticoid metabolites, were compared to behavioural responses observed via video recordings. We found that physiological and behavioural responses to stressors were expressed concordantly. There was no sizeable physiological response observed, and the behavioural response when considered across the night was negligible. However, the behavioural response to the predator and competitor cues changed across the observation period, with activity increasing with increasing hours of exposure. Our results indicate that responses of wild rodents to cues are nuanced, with stress responses modulated by behaviour changes that vary over time according to the severity of the perceived threat as animals gather further information. If the physiological response alone had been assessed, this moderated response may not have been evident, and in terms of wildlife management, vital information would have been lost.

The promoter sequences of lettuce cis-prenyltransferase and its binding protein specify gene expression in laticifers - Elysabeth K. Barnes; Moonhyuk Kwon; Connor L. Hodgins; Yang Qu; Seon-Won Kim; Edward C. Yeung; Dae-Kyun Ro (Planta, 2021)

Multi-stressor Effects of Ultraviolet Light, Temperature, and Salinity on Louisiana Sweet Crude Oil Toxicity in Larval Estuarine Organisms - Marie E. DeLorenzo; Peter B. Key; Katy W. Chung; Kaitlin Aaby; Deanna Hausman; Cheldina Jean; Paul L. Pennington; Emily C. Pisarski; Edward F. Wirth (Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2021)

Pantropical variability in tree crown allometry - Grace Jopaul Loubota Panzou; Adeline Fayolle; Tommaso Jucker; Oliver L. Phillips; Stephanie Bohlman; Lindsay F. Banin; Simon L. Lewis; Kofi Affum‐Baffoe; Luciana F. Alves; Cécile Antin; Eric Arets; Luzmila Arroyo; et al. (Global Ecology and Biogeography, 2021)
Aim Tree crowns determine light interception, carbon and water exchange. Thus, understanding the factors causing tree crown allometry to vary at the tree and stand level matters greatly for the development of future vegetation modelling and for the calibration of remote sensing products. Nevertheless, we know little about large‐scale variation and determinants in tropical tree crown allometry. In this study, we explored the continental variation in scaling exponents of site‐specific crown allometry and assessed their relationships with environmental and stand‐level variables in the tropics. Location Global tropics. Time period Early 21st century. Major taxa studied Woody plants. Methods Using a dataset of 87,737 trees distributed among 245 forest and savanna sites across the tropics, we fitted site‐specific allometric relationships between crown dimensions (crown depth, diameter and volume) and stem diameter using power‐law models. Stand‐level and environmental drivers of crown allometric relationships were assessed at pantropical and continental scales. Results The scaling exponents of allometric relationships between stem diameter and crown dimensions were higher in savannas than in forests. We identified that continental crown models were better than pantropical crown models and that continental differences in crown allometric relationships were driven by both stand‐level (wood density) and environmental (precipitation, cation exchange capacity and soil texture) variables for both tropical biomes. For a given diameter, forest trees from Asia and savanna trees from Australia had smaller crown dimensions than trees in Africa and America, with crown volumes for some Asian forest trees being smaller than those of trees in African forests. Main conclusions Our results provide new insight into geographical variability, with large continental differences in tropical tree crown allometry that were driven by stand‐level and environmental variables. They have implications for the assessment of ecosystem function and for the monitoring of woody biomass by remote sensing techniques in the global tropics.

Epidemiology, Clinical Features, and Management of Texas Coral Snake (Micrurus tener) Envenomations Reported to the North American Snakebite Registry - Spencer Greene; Anne-Michelle Ruha; Sharan Campleman; Jeffrey Brent; Paul Wax; Kim Aldy; Peter Akpunonu; Vikhyat S. Bebarta; Gillian A. Beauchamp; Michael C. Beuhler; Mary Billington; William Boroughf; et al. (Journal of Medical Toxicology, 2021)

Physical activity for cancer patients during COVID-19 pandemic: a call to action - Leandro F. M. Rezende; Dong Hoon Lee; Gerson Ferrari; José Eluf-Neto; Edward L. Giovannucci (Cancer Causes & Control, 2021)

A marine teleost, Opsanus beta, compensates acidosis in hypersaline water by H+ excretion or reduced HCO3− excretion rather than HCO3− uptake - Zongli Yao; Kevin L. Schauer; Ilan M. Ruhr; Edward M. Mager; Rachael M. Heuer; Martin Grosell (Journal of Comparative Physiology B, 2021)

Physiological and morphological correlates of extreme acid tolerance in larvae of the acidophilic amphibian Litoria cooloolensis - Edward A. Meyer; Craig E. Franklin; Rebecca L. Cramp (Journal of Comparative Physiology B, 2021)

Greenland surface air temperature changes from 1981 to 2019 and implications for ice‐sheet melt and mass‐balance change - Edward Hanna; John Cappelen; Xavier Fettweis; Sebastian H. Mernild; Thomas L. Mote; Ruth Mottram; Konrad Steffen; Thomas J. Ballinger; Richard J. Hall (International Journal of Climatology, 2021)
We provide an updated analysis of instrumental Greenland monthly temperature data to 2019, focusing mainly on coastal stations but also analysing ice‐sheet records from Swiss Camp and Summit. Significant summer (winter) coastal warming of ~1.7 (4.4)°C occurred from 1991–2019, but since 2001 overall temperature trends are generally flat and insignificant due to a cooling pattern over the last 6–7 years. Inland and coastal stations show broadly similar temperature trends for summer. Greenland temperature changes are more strongly correlated with Greenland Blocking than with North Atlantic Oscillation changes. In quantifying the association between Greenland coastal temperatures and Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) mass‐balance changes, we show a stronger link of temperatures with total mass balance rather than surface mass balance. Based on Greenland coastal temperatures and modelled mass balance for the 1972–2018 period, each 1°C of summer warming corresponds to ~(91) 116 Gt·yr −1 of GrIS (surface) mass loss and a 26 Gt·yr −1 increase in solid ice discharge. Given an estimated 4.0–6.6°C of further Greenland summer warming according to the regional model MAR projections run under CMIP6 future climate projections (SSP5‐8.5 scenario), and assuming that ice‐dynamical losses and ice sheet topography stay similar to the recent past, linear extrapolation gives a corresponding GrIS global sea‐level rise (SLR) contribution of ~10.0–12.6 cm by 2100, compared with the 8–27 cm (mean 15 cm) “likely” model projection range reported by IPCC in 2019 (SPM.B1.2). However, our estimate represents a lower limit for future GrIS change since fixed dynamical mass losses and amplified melt arising from both melt‐albedo and melt‐elevation positive feedbacks are not taken into account here.

A global analysis of complexity–biodiversity relationships on marine artificial structures - Elisabeth M. A. Strain; Peter D. Steinberg; Maria Vozzo; Emma L. Johnston; Marco Abbiati; Moises A. Aguilera; Laura Airoldi; J. David Aguirre; Gail Ashton; Maritina Bernardi; Paul Brooks; Benny K. K. Chan; et al. (Global Ecology and Biogeography, 2021)
Aim Topographic complexity is widely accepted as a key driver of biodiversity, but at the patch‐scale, complexity–biodiversity relationships may vary spatially and temporally according to the environmental stressors complexity mitigates, and the species richness and identity of potential colonists. Using a manipulative experiment, we assessed spatial variation in patch‐scale effects of complexity on intertidal biodiversity. Location 27 sites within 14 estuaries/bays distributed globally. Time period 2015–2017. Major taxa studied Functional groups of algae, sessile and mobile invertebrates. Methods Concrete tiles of differing complexity (flat; 2.5‐cm or 5‐cm complex) were affixed at low–high intertidal elevation on coastal defence structures, and the richness and abundance of the colonizing taxa were quantified after 12 months. Results The patch‐scale effects of complexity varied spatially and among functional groups. Complexity had neutral to positive effects on total, invertebrate and algal taxa richness, and invertebrate abundances. However, effects on the abundance of algae ranged from positive to negative, depending on location and functional group. The tidal elevation at which tiles were placed accounted for some variation. The total and invertebrate richness were greater at low or mid than at high intertidal elevations. Latitude was also an important source of spatial variation, with the effects of complexity on total richness and mobile mollusc abundance greatest at lower latitudes, whilst the cover of sessile invertebrates and sessile molluscs responded most strongly to complexity at higher latitudes. Conclusions After 12 months, patch‐scale relationships between biodiversity and habitat complexity were not universally positive. Instead, the relationship varied among functional groups and according to local abiotic and biotic conditions. This result challenges the assumption that effects of complexity on biodiversity are universally positive. The variable effect of complexity has ramifications for community and applied ecology, including eco‐engineering and restoration that seek to bolster biodiversity through the addition of complexity.

Climate change literature and information gaps in mountainous headwaters of the Columbia River Basin - Adrienne M. Marshall; Meghan Foard; Courtney M. Cooper; Paris Edwards; Shana L. Hirsch; Micah Russell; Timothy E. Link (Regional Environmental Change, 2020)

Further evidence for fungivory in the Lower Devonian (Lochkovian) of the Welsh Borderland, UK - Dianne Edwards; Lindsey Axe; Jennifer L. Morris; Lynne Boddy; Paul Selden (PalZ, 2020)
The recent demonstrations that widespread mid-Palaeozoic Prototaxites and other nematophytes had fungal affinities indicate that terrestrial fungi were important elements in carbon cycling in the Early Devonian. Here, we provide evidence for their participation in the recycling of nutrients by early terrestrial invertebrates. Evidence is in the form of coprolites, both those associated with nematophytes or containing their fragmentary remains. Cylindrical coprolites consistently associated with fungal mats are placed in a new ichnospecies, Bacillafaex myceliorum . Their contents are granular to amorphous, suggestive of complete digestion of the ingested hyphae, with the inference of possession of chitinases in the digestive tracts of the consumers. A further single example comprises a cluster of cylindrical bodies attached to the lower surface of a Nematothallus fragment. Here, homogenisation was less complete, with traces of hyphae remaining. Terrestrial animal fossils have not been found at the locality, but scorpions, pseudoscorpions, Opiliones, mites, centipedes (carnivores) and millipedes, and Collembola (detritivores) have been recorded from the slightly younger Rhynie cherts. Studies of fungivory in extant arthropods have concentrated on Collembola and, to a lesser extent, mites, but their faecal pellets are much smaller than the fossil examples. Millipedes, based on body size and faeces of extant forms, are considered more realistic producers, but little is known about fungal feeding in these animals. Regardless of the affinities of the producers, the diversity in morphology, sizes, aggregations, and composition of nematophyte-containing examples suggests that fungivory was an important component of carbon cycling in early terrestrial ecosystems.

MYCO WELL D-ONE detection of Ureaplasma spp. and Mycoplasma hominis in sexual health patients in Wales - Daniel J. Morris; Lucy C. Jones; Rebecca L. Davies; Kirsty Sands; Edward Portal; Owen B. Spiller (European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, 2020)
The genital mycoplasmas are a unique group of inherently antibiotic-resistant sexually transmitted bacteria, often associated with non-gonococcal urethritis and bacterial vaginosis. The MYCO WELL D-ONE is a culture-based assay that aims to detect these organisms whilst concurrently screening them for antibiotic resistance. Urine and/or swabs from 856 informed and consented participants attending Welsh sexual health clinics were subjected to MYCO WELL D-ONE analysis, alongside qPCR and culture titration methodologies to determine sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy. Resistance was confirmed by CLSI-compliant susceptibility testing and genetic mechanisms determined. The MYCO WELL D-ONE displayed a sensitivity and specificity of 91.98% and 96.44% for the detection of Ureaplasma spp., with sensitivity and specificity values of 78.23% and 98.84% for Mycoplasma hominis , compared with qPCR. Swabs harboured significantly greater bacterial loads than urine samples for both Ureaplasma spp. and M . hominis . Levofloxacin resistance rates, mediated by Ser83Leu mutation in ParC, for Ureaplasma spp. were 0.54%. Tetracycline resistance rates, mediated by tet (M), were 0.54% and 2% for Ureaplasma spp. and M . hominis , respectively; sequence analysis of tet (M)-positive Ureaplasma spp. and M . hominis strains isolated from a single individual confirmed separate resistance gene origins. The MYCO WELL D-ONE is a sensitive and specific assay for the detection of Ureaplasma spp. and M . hominis in genitourinary medicine samples, facilitating the accurate detection of these organisms within low-technology environments. While good for antibiotic resistance screening, accurate confirmation by MIC determination or molecular methods are required, and more optimally performed on urine samples.

A review of a decade of lessons from one of the world’s largest MPAs: conservation gains and key challenges - Graeme C. Hays; Heather J. Koldewey; Samantha Andrzejaczek; Martin J. Attrill; Shanta Barley; Daniel T. I. Bayley; Cassandra E. Benkwitt; Barbara Block; Robert J. Schallert; Aaron B. Carlisle; Pete Carr; Taylor K. Chapple; et al. (Marine Biology, 2020)

Treatment cost and access to care: experiences of young women diagnosed with breast cancer - Sujha Subramanian; Florence K. L. Tangka; Patrick Edwards; Madeleine Jones; Tim Flanigan; Jenya Kaganova; Kevin Smith; Cheryll C. Thomas; Nikki A. Hawkins; Juan L. Rodriguez; Gery P. Guy; Temeika Fairley (Cancer Causes & Control, 2020)

Geography, opportunity and bridgeheads facilitate termite invasions to the United States - Alexander J. Blumenfeld; Edward L. Vargo (Biological Invasions, 2020)

Evolution of the African slippery frogs (Anura: Conraua ), including the world’s largest living frog - David C. Blackburn; Stuart V. Nielsen; Michael F. Barej; Joseph Doumbia; Mareike Hirschfeld; N’Goran G. Kouamé; Dwight Lawson; Simon Loader; Caleb Ofori‐Boateng; Edward L. Stanley; Mark‐Oliver Rödel (Zoologica Scripta, 2020)
Although Conraua goliath is well known as the largest living frog species, the diversity and evolution of the genus Conraua across sub‐Saharan Africa remain poorly understood. We present multilocus phylogenetic analyses of the six currently recognized species that provide insights into divergence times, biogeography, body size evolution and undescribed species. An analysis of divergence times demonstrates that crown‐group Conraua arose some time during the latest Oligocene to mid‐Miocene followed by divergence into major lineages in the mid‐Miocene that may reflect the fragmentation of widespread tropical forests in Africa that began at this time. We find three pairs of sister species, C. crassipes + C. beccarii , C. alleni + C. derooi and C. goliath + C. robusta , each of which diverged during the Miocene. These relationships reject phylogenetic hypotheses based solely on biogeography as the geographically peripheral C. beccarii from north‐eastern Africa is nested within western African species and the Central African species do not form a clade. Our species delimitation analyses provide support for undescribed species in C. alleni , C. beccarii and C. derooi , and possibly C. crassipes , suggesting that the current taxonomy substantially underestimates species diversity. There is no clear directional trend of either increasing or decreasing body size in Conraua and the three largest species do not form a clade. With a robust phylogenetic hypothesis in hand, further field‐based studies are needed to understand the evolution of morphology and life history in this charismatic African anuran clade.

Cross‐species transmission and evolutionary dynamics of canine distemper virus during a spillover in African lions of Serengeti National Park - Julie K. Weckworth; Brian W. Davis; Edward Dubovi; Nicholas Fountain‐Jones; Craig Packer; Sarah Cleaveland; Meggan E. Craft; Ernest Eblate; Michael Schwartz; L. Scott Mills; Melody Roelke‐Parker (Molecular Ecology, 2020)
The outcome of pathogen spillover from a reservoir to a novel host population can range from a “dead‐end” when there is no onward transmission in the recipient population, to epidemic spread and even establishment in new hosts. Understanding the evolutionary epidemiology of spillover events leading to discrete outcomes in novel hosts is key to predicting risk and can lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms of emergence. Here we use a Bayesian phylodynamic approach to examine cross‐species transmission and evolutionary dynamics during a canine distemper virus (CDV) spillover event causing clinical disease and population decline in an African lion population ( Panthera leo ) in the Serengeti Ecological Region between 1993 and 1994. Using 21 near‐complete viral genomes from four species we found that this large‐scale outbreak was likely ignited by a single cross‐species spillover event from a canid reservoir to noncanid hosts Crocuta crocuta ) could have acted as the proximate source of CDV exposure in lions. We report 13 nucleotide substitutions segregating CDV strains found in canids and noncanids. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that virus evolution played a role in CDV emergence in noncanid hosts following spillover during the outbreak, suggest that host barriers to clinical infection can limit outcomes of CDV spillover in novel host species.

Geographic variation in responses of kelp forest communities of the California Current to recent climatic changes - Rodrigo Beas‐Luna; Fiorenza Micheli; C. Brock Woodson; Mark Carr; Dan Malone; Jorge Torre; Charles Boch; Jennifer E. Caselle; Matt Edwards; Jan Freiwald; Scott L. Hamilton; Arturo Hernandez; et al. (Global Change Biology, 2020)
The changing global climate is having profound effects on coastal marine ecosystems around the world. Structure, functioning, and resilience, however, can vary geographically, depending on species composition, local oceanographic forcing, and other pressures from human activities and use. Understanding ecological responses to environmental change and predicting changes in the structure and functioning of whole ecosystems require large‐scale, long‐term studies, yet most studies trade spatial extent for temporal duration. We address this shortfall by integrating multiple long‐term kelp forest monitoring datasets to evaluate biogeographic patterns and rates of change of key functional groups (FG) along the west coast of North America. Analysis of data from 469 sites spanning Alaska, USA, to Baja California, Mexico, and 373 species (assigned to 18 FG) reveals regional variation in responses to both long‐term (2006–2016) change and a recent marine heatwave (2014–2016) associated with two atmospheric and oceanographic anomalies, the “Blob” and extreme El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Canopy‐forming kelps appeared most sensitive to warming throughout their range. Other FGs varied in their responses among trophic levels, ecoregions, and in their sensitivity to heatwaves. Changes in community structure were most evident within the southern and northern California ecoregions, while communities in the center of the range were more resilient. We report a poleward shift in abundance of some key FGs. These results reveal major, ongoing region‐wide changes in productive coastal marine ecosystems in response to large‐scale climate variability, and the potential loss of foundation species. In particular, our results suggest that coastal communities that are dependent on kelp forests will be more impacted in the southern portion of the California Current region, highlighting the urgency of implementing adaptive strategies to sustain livelihoods and ensure food security. The results also highlight the value of multiregional integration and coordination of monitoring programs for improving our understanding of marine ecosystems, with the goal of informing policy and resource management in the future.

Historical biogeography of smoothhound sharks (genus Mustelus ) of Southern Africa reveals multiple dispersal events from the Northern Hemisphere - Simo N. Maduna; Kelvin L. Hull; Edward D. Farrell; Jessica J. Boomer; Ana Veríssimo; Ilaria A. M. Marino; Carlotta Mazzoldi; Lorenzo Zane; Sabine P. Wintner; Mikhail V. Chesalin; Charlene da Silva; Chrysoula Gubili; et al. (Systematics and Biodiversity, 2020)

Analysis of four methods of measuring three-dimensional pelvic tilt in the lateral decubitus position - Meredith Stadnyk; Tao Liu; Fatemeh Fallahi Arezodar; Lindsey Westover; Jaime A. Carvajal Alba; Edward Masson; Lauren Beaupre; Jacob L. Jaremko; Marwan El-Rich (Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing, 2020)