Abundance Of Individuals Research Articles

Effects of a native bamboo species on tree regeneration diversity of a subtropical Atlantic forest

The presence of native bamboo species is considered a factor that affects the dynamics of plant communities in tropical and subtropical forests. In southern Brazil, Merostachys skvortzovii is a long-lasting species (reproductive cycles of 32 years) highly dominant in disturbed areas, causing structural changes in the tree community. In this work, we assessed changes in regeneration communities in 11 years after a reproductive event of M. skvortzvii. We asked if canopy openness and time after bamboo reproduction affect taxonomic and functional diversities of regeneration communities. We installed 20 permanent plots were randomly distributed in the continuous canopy (CC) and open canopy (OC), measured bamboo culms density, and surveyed the regeneration community over the period 2008–2017, and used a generalized linear model to explore the effects of the environment and presence of bamboos on the diversity of regeneration community. We observed an increase in abundance, species richness, and beta diversity over time after the reproductive event, but the time did not affect the Shannon-Wiener index. The canopy opening positively affected the individual abundance species richness, beta diversity, Functional richness (FRic), Functional evenness (FEve) and Functional dispersion (FDis). Also, we found an effect of the canopy opening on the functional attributes positively affecting specific leaf area (SLA) and negatively affecting leaf mass area (LMA) and Leaf carbon content (LCC). We concluded that, despite the intense colonization after the reproduction, the bamboo population follows a decreasing dynamic without negative effects on the regeneration of subtropical forest species, which are more affected by the dynamics of the gaps than bamboo presence. These results show that the subtropical Atlantic Forest regeneration community can restructure itself in the understory without the need for bamboo management.

Using superpixel- or pixel-based segmentation for efficient green roof digital image classification and rapid estimation of plant species cover

Green roofs are “nature-based solutions” that provide numerous ecosystem services in the context of urban green infrastructures. Plant species diversity and the associated vegetation communities, in strong interactions with green roof substrate, play a central role in the green infrastructure functioning. In order to better understand the influence of vegetation in relation with the co-benefits provided by green roofs as well as to select suitable species for these usually harsh environments, it is essential to be able to achieve accurate and long-term monitoring of plant communities. In this short communication, two free plugins recently developed for the open-source image analysis software Fiji (a distribution of the freely available ImageJ platform, initially dedicated to biological image analysis) were investigated for their capacity to rapidly and efficiently perform supervised machine-learning for the classification of green roof vegetation photographs, with the aim of estimating individual plant species abundance. Two simple methods are thus described using the Trainable Weka Pixel Segmentation (Arganda-Carreras et al., 2017) or the Trainable Superpixel Segmentation (Salinas Colina et al., 2018), which allowed for rapid, efficient and reproducible classification and estimation of multispecies colonized green roof regardless the color or shape similarities among species or ground cover materials. Finally, recommendations are made for the use of the Trainable Superpixel Segmentation which is particularly convenient for quick and efficient green roof image analysis.

Vibrational spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and EDS applied to reveal the fossilization pathways of fossil shells from the Jandaíra Formation, Upper Cretaceous Northeast Brazil

The Jandaíra Formation, Potiguar Basin, is well known for hosting a rich marine fauna from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil. Among the organisms that compose this diverse fossiliferous assemblage, the gastropods stand out for their abundance of individuals. In this study, four samples of Tylostoma sp (LP/UFC CRT 2868, LP/UFC CRT 2869, LP/UFC CRT 2870 and LP/UFC CRT 2871) were analyzed in order to understand the different diagenetic processes involved in their preservation. The fossil specimens were collected near Mossoró, state of Rio Grande do Norte. In this work, we have combined a set of high-resolution techniques such as Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) to characterize the fossil specimens mineralogically. All fossil shells are preserved as internal molds, meaning they have lost their original organic matter. After the decomposition of organic debris, the inner part of the shell is filled with surrounding sediment. Our results revealed dolomite as the dominant phase in host rock. On the contrary, the fossil samples LP/UFC CRT 2868, LP/UFC CRT 2869, LP/UFC CRT 2870 and LP/UFC CRT 2871 showed calcite as the dominant phase. These data indicate that a similar diagenetic process was involved in the preservation of these fossil shells. Here, we document discoveries and new perspectives for looking at the abundance of fossil shells in the Jandaíra Formation.

Little noticed, but very important: The role of breeding sites formed by bamboos in maintaining the diversity of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Atlantic Forest biome.

This study investigated the composition of mosquito species in different kinds of breeding sites in a tropical forest remnant of the Atlantic Forest and identified species of public health concern therein. Collections of immature forms of mosquitoes were carried out monthly at the Poço das Antas Biological Reserve in southeastern Brazil, between June 2014 and June 2015. Samples were collected from four types of breeding sites: bamboos, bromeliads, puddles, and a lake. A total of 1,182 specimens of mosquitoes belonging to 28 species and 13 genera were collected. Three species, Ad. squamipennis, An. neglectus, and Wy. arthrostigma represented 64.8% of the captured specimens. Only three species were found in more than one type of breeding site: Ps. ferox, An. triannulatus, and Tx. trichopygus. Two species of public health concern were found breeding in bamboo (Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus) and one in the lake (An. darlingi). Bamboo had the highest species richness, Shannon diversity, abundance of individuals and number of dominant species of all breeding sites. Similar Simpson diversity was obtained for bamboo and bromeliads, with higher values than those obtained for puddles and the lake. The significance of the four breeding sites, especially bamboos, is discussed in the context of controlling populations of sylvatic species of mosquitoes in Atlantic Forest areas.

Unraveling the real magnitude of illegal wildlife poisoning to halt cryptic biodiversity loss

Illegal wildlife poisoning is a global threat for biodiversity, yet the magnitude of its impact on ecosystems is largely underestimated as most of poisoning episodes remain undetected. Here, we conducted a large-scale field experiment to better understand the real dimension of the illegal wildlife poisoning in terms of composition and number of species and abundance of impacted individuals, as well as the ecological factors driving it. We used camera traps to monitor simulated poison baits placed in 25 study areas in SW Europe and applied Good–Turing theory to estimate the richness of species of the entire assemblage (observed plus undetected). We recorded 3095 individuals from 39 vertebrate species that consumed 94 % of the baits (N = 590). Yet, using sample completeness to estimate the entire species assemblage yielded a total of 47 species exposed to illegal poisoning. The observed assemblage included different trophic and functional groups (from lizards and snakes to apex species among birds and mammals), as well as a 38 % of threatened and near threatened species (according to Spanish and Portuguese vertebrate red list and UICN list). The size (weight) of the bait outstands as a reliable predictor of the number of species (0–8 species/bait, mean = 2) and individuals (0–99 individuals/bait, mean = 5) susceptible to poisoning. The habitat where the bait was placed modulated the abundance of individuals affected (greater in open than in closed habitats). Type of bait and habitat drove the compositional variation of species. Our approach enables uncover entire species assemblages prone to illegal poisoning and their ecological drivers associated, advancing the understanding of the impact of wildlife poisoning in ecosystems.

Crickets as indicators of ecological succession in tropical systems, New Caledonia

AbstractCrickets (Ensifera, Grylloidea) are not commonly used as ecological indicators in contrary to other Orthoptera (e.g., grasshoppers and katydids). However, they are sensitive to environmental changes and abundant in tropical regions. To evaluate whether crickets are relevant bioindicators of tropical ecosystems, we investigated cricket assemblages along a tropical ecological gradient. We collected crickets during both day and night in southern New Caledonia for three stages of ecological succession: open shrubland, preforest, and forest. Simultaneously, we measured several environmental variables, such as temperature and relative humidity, at each sampling site. Cricket species assemblages showed a clear response to ecological succession. The highest and lowest species richness and abundances of individuals were, respectively, found in forest and shrubland, with species specialized in each ecological stage revealing the conservation value of each of these stages. Similar results were found when considering only the part of cricket communities with the ability to acoustically communicate. This work is part of a larger research program about Neocaledonian crickets and contributes to support the use of acoustic approaches to monitor tropical environments. In conclusion, these findings highlight the potential value of crickets as an environmental indicator in tropical ecosystems. The results also contribute to the discussion of the intrinsic conservational value of shrublands in New Caledonia and similar ecotypes.Abstract in French is available with online material.

Ranking Theoretical Supernovae Explosion Models from Observations of the Intracluster Gas

The intracluster medium (ICM) is a reservoir of heavy elements synthesized by different supernovae (SNe) types over cosmic history. Different enrichment mechanisms contribute a different relative metal production, predominantly caused by different SNe type dominance. Using spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy, one can probe the contribution of each metal-enrichment mechanism. However, a large variety of physically feasible supernova (SN) explosion models make the analysis of the ICM enrichment history more uncertain. This paper presents a nonparametric probability distribution function analysis to rank different theoretical SNe yields models by comparing their performance against observations. Specifically, we apply this new methodology to rank 7192 combinations of core-collapse SN and Type Ia SN models using eight abundance ratios from Suzaku observations of 18 galaxy systems (clusters and groups) to test their predictions. This novel technique can compare many SN models and maximize spectral information extraction, considering all the individual measurable abundance ratios and their uncertainties. We find that Type II SNe with nonzero initial metallicity progenitors in general performed better than pair-instability SN and hypernova models, and that 3D SNIa models (with a white dwarf progenitor central density of 2.9 × 109 g cm−3) performed best among all tested SN model pairs.

The muscle proteome reflects changes in mitochondrial function, cellular stress and proteolysis after 14 days of unilateral lower limb immobilization in active young men.

Skeletal muscle unloading due to joint immobilization induces muscle atrophy, which has primarily been attributed to reductions in protein synthesis in humans. However, no study has evaluated the skeletal muscle proteome response to limb immobilization using SWATH proteomic methods. This study characterized the shifts in individual muscle protein abundance and corresponding gene sets after 3 and 14 d of unilateral lower limb immobilization in otherwise healthy young men. Eighteen male participants (25.4 ±5.5 y, 81.2 ±11.6 kg) underwent 14 d of unilateral knee-brace immobilization with dietary provision and following four-weeks of training to standardise acute training history. Participant phenotype was characterized before and after 14 days of immobilization, and muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis at baseline (pre-immobilization) and at 3 and 14 d of immobilization for analysis by SWATH-MS and subsequent gene-set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Immobilization reduced vastus group cross sectional area (-9.6 ±4.6%, P <0.0001), immobilized leg lean mass (-3.3 ±3.9%, P = 0.002), unilateral 3-repetition maximum leg press (-15.6 ±9.2%, P <0.0001), and maximal oxygen uptake (-2.9 ±5.2%, P = 0.044). SWATH analyses consistently identified 2281 proteins. Compared to baseline, two and 99 proteins were differentially expressed (FDR <0.05) after 3 and 14 d of immobilization, respectively. After 14 d of immobilization, 322 biological processes were different to baseline (FDR <0.05, P <0.001). Most (77%) biological processes were positively enriched and characterized by cellular stress, targeted proteolysis, and protein-DNA complex modifications. In contrast, mitochondrial organization and energy metabolism were negatively enriched processes. This study is the first to use data independent proteomics and GSEA to show that unilateral lower limb immobilization evokes mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular stress, and proteolysis. Through GSEA and network mapping, we identify 27 hub proteins as potential protein/gene candidates for further exploration.

Small mammals in a mountain ecosystem: the effect of topographic, micrometeorological, and biological correlates on their community structure

An increasing number of studies have investigated spatial and temporal patterns in species richness and assemblage composition in mountain ecosystems along altitudinal gradients. Small mammals have been successfully used as indicators of environmental health and as proxies of biodiversity. However, information about the composition and distribution of species assemblages in the mosaic of habitat and rocky landform types at a high altitude is still lacking for most of the mountain regions. Through the use of live traps and camera trapping, we described the small mammal community living above the treeline of the Western Dolomites (Italian Alps), investigating the species richness, abundance of individuals and community composition in relation to topographic, micrometeorological, mesohabitat, and biological correlates. A total of five species and 50 individuals were sampled, analysed, and released. At the extremes of the analysed altitudinal range (i.e. 1900 vs 2900 m a.s.l.), community composition was completely different and species richness was related to elevation, steepness, and vegetation cover. At the same time, the taxonomic distinctness of ground-dwelling arthropods (namely carabid beetles and spiders), a proxy of habitat complexity, showed higher values in areas with a greater small mammal species richness. We found a positive effect of steepness and rocky landform type “carsism” on the number of captured individuals, showing the importance of the availability of shelters and underground burrows for the sampled species. As a confirmation of the altitudinal shift for these species in relation to the ongoing climate change, we detected a negative impact of sub-surface ground temperature on small mammal abundance during the monitoring period. In conclusion, small mammals represent an excellent model for understanding the evolutionary processes of ecosystems, population dynamics under changing environmental conditions, and habitat vulnerabilities.

Abundances of Uranium and Thorium Elements in Earth Estimated by Geoneutrino Spectroscopy

AbstractThe decay of the primordial isotopes 238U, 235U, 232Th, and 40K has contributed to the terrestrial heat budget throughout the Earth's history. Hence, the individual abundance of those isotopes are key parameters in reconstructing contemporary Earth models. The geoneutrinos produced by the radioactive decays of uranium and thorium have been observed with the Kamioka Liquid‐Scintillator Antineutrino Detector (KamLAND). Those measurements have been improved with more than 18‐year observation time, and improvement in detector background levels mainly with an 8‐year nearly reactor‐free period, which now permit spectroscopy with geoneutrinos. Our results yield the first constraint on both uranium and thorium heat contributions. The KamLAND result is consistent with geochemical estimations based on elemental abundances of chondritic meteorites and mantle peridotites. The High‐Q model is disfavored at 99.76% C.L. and a fully radiogenic model is excluded at 5.2σ assuming a homogeneous heat producing element distribution in the mantle.

Implementation of artificial substrates for Dendropoma cristatum (Biondi 1859) reef restoration: Testing different materials and topographic designs.

Vermetid reefs are intertidal key habitats that strongly increase the biological and ecological value of the coastal ecosystems, providing ecological goods and services. In some parts of the Mediterranean Sea, this habitat is experiencing an increasing decline, due to environmental and anthropogenic pressures and the lack of officially coordinated strategies promoting its conservation at the basin scale.Moreover, experimental data testing for vermetid reef restoration is presently scant. Here we tested the potential to achieve new vermetid colonies on engineered substrates, aiming for their further transplantation to depleted reefs for restoration purposes. We investigated in the field the settlement rate of the central-Mediterranean vermetid species Dendropoma cristatum on artificial tiles made of different concrete mixtures (geopolymer concrete, pozzolanic concrete mixed with fine sand, magnesian concrete, pozzolanic concrete mixed with magnesium and coarse sand) and one plastic material (expanded polyvinyl chloride), engineered with a range of interstice shapes and sizes (i.e., holes and crevices of 1 and 2 mm), obtaining on each tile four different topographic designs. Also, the benthic fauna colonization on these engineered tiles has been monitored.While the material typology had a relative effect on the settlement of D. cristatum, the presence of specific topographic designs played an important role, not only for the reef-builder species but also for the benthic fauna. A significantly higher vermetid density and invertebrate taxonomic richness and individual abundance were associated with the hole presence on the tiles, confirming to be the preferred interstice type among those texted. Furthermore, geopolymer concrete was the material that showed higher resistance to the intertidal conditions and durability after the experiment.The production of geopolymer tiles engineered with hole interstices may be a valid option for future studies aiming at the restoration of this intertidal key habitat. However, while our achievements correspond to a higher vermetid and benthic invertebrate settlement within a few weeks of field experiment, post-settlement processes need to be considered in the perspective to restore the functionality of a degraded reef.

Temperature impacts on fish physiology and resource abundance lead to faster growth but smaller fish sizes and yields under warming.

Resolving the combined effect of climate warming and exploitation in a food web context is key for predicting future biomass production, size-structure and potential yields of marine fishes. Previous studies based on mechanistic size-based food web models have found that bottom-up processes are important drivers of size-structure and fisheries yield in changing climates. However, we know less about the joint effects of 'bottom-up' and physiological effects of temperature; how do temperature effects propagate from individual-level physiology through food webs and alter the size-structure of exploited species in a community? Here, we assess how a species-resolved size-based food web is affected by warming through both these pathways and by exploitation. We parameterize a dynamic size spectrum food web model inspired by the offshore Baltic Sea food web, and investigate how individual growth rates, size-structure, and relative abundances of species and yields are affected by warming. The magnitude of warming is based on projections by the regional coupled model system RCA4-NEMO and the RCP 8.5 emission scenario, and we evaluate different scenarios of temperature dependence on fish physiology and resource productivity. When accounting for temperature-effects on physiology in addition to on basal productivity, projected size-at-age in 2050 increases on average for all fish species, mainly for young fish, compared to scenarios without warming. In contrast, size-at-age decreases when temperature affects resource dynamics only, and the decline is largest for young fish. Faster growth rates due to warming, however, do not always translate to larger yields, as lower resource carrying capacities with increasing temperature tend to result in decline in the abundance of larger fish and hence spawning stock biomass. These results suggest that to understand how global warming affects the size structure of fish communities, both direct metabolic effects and indirect effects of temperature via basal resources must be accounted for.

Chemical Abundances of Young Massive Clusters in NGC 1313∗ ∗ Based on observations made with ESO telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under program ID 084.B-0468(A).

We analyze spectroscopic observations of five young massive clusters (YMCs) in the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1313 to obtain detailed abundances from their integrated light. Our sample of YMCs was observed with the X-shooter spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope. We make use of theoretical isochrones to generate synthetic integrated-light spectra, iterating on the individual elemental abundances until converging on the best fit to the observations. We measure abundance ratios for [Ca/Fe], [Ti/Fe], [Mg/Fe], [Cr/Fe], and [Ni/Fe]. We estimate an Fe abundance gradient of −0.124 ± 0.034 dex kpc−1, and a slightly shallower α gradient of −0.093 ± 0.009 dex kpc−1. This is in contrast to previous metallicity studies that focused on the gas-phase abundances, which have found NGC 1313 to be the highest-mass barred galaxy known not to have a radial abundance gradient. We propose that the gradient discrepancy between the different studies originates from the metallicity calibrations used to study the gas-phase abundances. We also observe an age–metallicity trend that supports a scenario of constant star formation throughout the galaxy, with a possible burst in star formation in the southwest region where YMC NGC 1313–379 is located.

Macroinvertebrate distribution associated with environmental variables in alpine streams

Abstract Ongoing hydrological alterations due to climate change and anthropogenic uses of water have major implications for freshwater biodiversity. Quantifying the relative effects of environmental variables on macroinvertebrates is required to predict biological responses to hydrological alterations. To date, no study simultaneously examined the effects of physico‐chemistry, hydraulics, and hydrology on the distribution of alpine macroinvertebrate communities and taxa. In this study, we aimed to quantify the relative correlation between these environmental variables and macroinvertebrate community composition and structure. We sampled macroinvertebrates at 66 stream sites located in three catchments in the French Alps. We characterised the proximate habitat at each site using 11 variables describing measured physico‐chemistry and hydraulics, and simulation‐based hydrology. We described relationships between community structure and the environment using a co‐inertia analysis and modelled individual taxa abundance with generalised linear mixed models. The co‐inertia revealed a significant co‐structure between the environmental and macroinvertebrate matrices. Glacier‐influenced sites with high turbidity and summer flow exhibited similar community composition with low total abundance. Sources at high altitude and sites with low glacial influence, exhibiting high summer flow and flow velocity, were dominated by Diamesinae, Rhithrogena spp., Dictyogenus spp., and Baetis alpinus. Streams fed by rainfall/snowmelt and valley sources, associated with higher temperature, conductivity, and monthly discharge variability were characterised by higher richness and abundances. Models indicated that the three types of proximate habitat variables significantly contributed to the macroinvertebrate distribution. Turbidity was strongly negatively associated with macroinvertebrate abundances. Increasing flow velocity and summer flow had significant (mainly negative) effect in 43% of models. The co‐structure between communities and proximate habitat variables was shared by the three catchments. For most individual taxa, catchment identity did not influence abundance models and cross‐validations indicated transferable effects of proximate habitat variables among alpine catchments. Our results can be used to infer responses of alpine macroinvertebrates to multivariate environmental changes. Understanding the relationships between macroinvertebrates and environmental variables help to predict how communities and taxa will be affected by habitat alterations due to ongoing hydrological changes and resulting physico‐chemical conditions.

Spatial distribution management of Crustacea (Decapoda) based on conservation in tropical tidal lake

Abstract. Muhtadi A, Yulianda F, Boer MF, Krisanti M. 2022. Spatial distribution management of Crustacea (Decapoda) based on conservation in tropical tidal lake. Biodiversitas 23: 4064-4072. Siombak Lake has a unique biological system impacted by high and low tides. Crustaceans (Decapoda) found in this lake are predicted to establish distinctive communities due to their interaction with two biological systems of seawater and freshwater. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the characteristics and distribution of crustacean communities in Siombak Lake, which were influenced by high and low tides. Crustacean samples were taken and observed every month at high and low tides with traps from September 2018 to August 2019. The crustaceans discovered included 5 families and 18 species, with 13 crabs and 5 shrimp. The communities' distribution is extremely dynamic, as seen by the emergence of mangrove crabs at high tide and fiddle crabs during low tide. The crustacean communities are more influenced by tidal ecology, characterized by a higher abundance of individuals at high tide. Furthermore, crustacean density fluctuates throughout the year and reaches the highest in March with 8679 ind/100m2. Penaeid shrimp are always found at high and low tides, dominated by Parapenaeopsis coromandelica, while mangrove crabs are only found at high tide. Therefore, efforts are required to conserve mangrove crabs and enhance their habitats for sustainable usage.

Influences of multiple anthropogenic disturbances coupled with a tailings dam rupture on spatiotemporal variation in fish assemblages of a tropical river

Abstract The Mariana disaster, resulting from the rupture of the Fundão tailings storage facility (TSF) in 2015, was a large‐scale environmental disaster that drastically affected the entire channel of the Rio Doce, southeastern Brazil. The disaster produced substantial channel siltation, increased turbidity, riparian damage and a massive fish kill. However, the Rio Doce basin has a long history of environmental degradation, including hydroelectric dams. The latter are major threats to the ichthyofauna because they affect flow regimes, trap sediments and large wood, select generalist species, impair fish migrations and favour non‐native invasive species. In this study, we analysed the effects of the rupture as well as impacts from the construction of a run‐of‐the‐river hydroelectric dam on native and non‐native fish abundances, and species richness and composition in the middle Rio Doce. To do this, we examined fish survey data collected before and after each disturbance upriver of the reservoir, in the reservoir area and downriver of the dam. The data were separated into three temporal intervals: free‐flowing river, post‐filling reservoir and post‐TSF disaster. To assess temporal changes in native and non‐native fish species richness, we used a rarefaction method and tested it with two‐way ANOVA, which also was used to compare fish abundances. To test temporal changes in fish assemblage composition we used a PERMANOVA test. We observed no significant differences in total native or non‐native species richness as a result of the dam or the disaster. However, we did observe increased non‐native individual abundances after the TSF rupture as well as native individual abundances, depending on the location studied. The assemblage composition also changed after dam construction and the TSF rupture, except for the upriver reach after dam construction. We conclude that both the dam and the TSF rupture affected fish assemblages, favouring increased non‐native abundances, and also changed fish assemblage composition. Our results suggest that a century of landscape and riverscape pressures had extirpated the sensitive fishes from the Rio Doce before the TSF rupture. We conclude that multiple long‐term chronic disturbances can be as harmful to aquatic biota as the acute effects of a major environmental disaster.

Habitat fragmentation rather than habitat amount or habitat split reduces the diversity and abundance of ground-dwelling anurans within forest remnants of the Brazilian Cerrado

Rampant deforestation has caused the loss and fragmentation of natural habitats, which has precipitated a global biodiversity crisis. Research on how land-use change contributes to a loss of biodiversity is urgently needed, especially in ecosystems that have undergone rapid anthropogenic changes. We sought to investigate the extent to which habitat loss, fragmentation, and habitat split (the separation of forest and aquatic habitats) negatively influenced taxonomic diversity, functional diversity, total abundance, and the individual abundances of five anuran species in the Brazilian Cerrado. We sampled anurans between December 2017 and March 2018 using pitfall traps at sites distributed along a gradient of habitat fragmentation/habitat split: unfragmented forest, forest fragments without habitat split, and forest fragments with habitat split. Forest cover was measured within a 1-km radius of each site. Sites within unfragmented forests had higher taxonomic and functional diversities than either fragment type. Taxonomic diversity was highly correlated with functional diversity, but we did not find a pattern to the loss of functional traits. Total anuran abundance and the abundances of Chiasmocleis albopunctata, Physalaemus cuvieri, and Rhinella diptycha were higher in unfragmented forests compared to forest fragments. No species was more abundant in fragments than in unfragmented forests. Our results indicate that the fragmentation of forests by agricultural land use is directly and indirectly responsible for the loss of taxonomic and functional diversity, as well as for reducing population sizes of ground-dwelling anurans. Although we did not find a distinct effect of habitat split on ground-dwelling anurans, our study underscores the importance of preserving continuous forest habitats for the maintenance of anuran diversity in the Cerrado.

Unravelling UBC 274: A morphological, kinematical, and chemical analysis of a disrupting open cluster

Context.Open clusters in the process of disruption help to understand the formation and evolution of the Galactic disk. The wealth and homogeneity ofGaiadata have led to the discovery of several open clusters with signs of disruption. Detailed chemical information for these clusters is essential in order to study the timescales and interplay between the star formation process and cluster disruption.Aims.We perform a morphological, kinematic, and chemical analysis of the disrupting cluster UBC 274 (2.5 Gyr,d = 1778 pc), to study its global properties.Methods.We use HDBSCAN to obtain a new membership list up to 50 pc from its centre and up to magnitudeG = 19 usingGaiaEDR3 data. We use high-resolution and high signal-to-noise spectra to obtain atmospheric parameters of six giants and sub-giants, and individual abundances of 18 chemical species.Results.The cluster has a highly eccentric (0.93) component, tilted ∼10 deg with respect to the plane of the Galaxy, which is morphologically compatible with the results of a test-particle simulation of a disrupting cluster. Our abundance analysis shows that the cluster has a sub-solar metallicity of [Fe/H] = −0.08 ± 0.02. Its chemical pattern is compatible with that of Ruprecht 147, of similar age but located closer to the Sun, with the remarkable exception of neutron-capture elements, which present an overabundance of [n/Fe] ∼ 0.1.Conclusions.The cluster’s elongated morphology is associated with the internal part of its tidal tail, following the expected dynamical process of disruption. We find a significant sign of mass segregation, where the most massive stars appear 1.5 times more concentrated than other stars. The cluster’s overabundance of neutron-capture elements can be related to the metallicity dependence of the neutron-capture yields due to the secondary nature of these elements, predicted by some models. UBC 274 presents a high chemical homogeneity at the level of 0.03 dex in the sampled region of its tidal tails.

Characterization of the Fecal Microbiome in Dogs Receiving Medical Management for Congenital Portosystemic Shunts.

BackgroundThe GI microbiome has not been characterized in dogs being medically managed for congenital portosystemic shunts (CPSS).ObjectivesTo characterize the fecal microbiome in a population of dogs being medically managed for CPSS.Animals27 client-owned dogs.MethodsProspective cohort study enrollment of fecal samples was performed with follow-up data collected retrospectively. The overall fecal dysbiosis index (DI) and individual bacterial abundances were determined using real-time qPCR. Medical management, clinical findings, clinicopathologic, and outcome variables were collected, and logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate associations between these variables and overall DI and bacterial abundances. Numerical variables were evaluated with general linear models for normality and equal variance using Shapiro-Wilk test and Levene's test, respectively.ResultsAll dogs were administered a hepatic diet and lactulose, while antibiotics were used in 22 (81.5%) and acid suppressants in 7 (25.9%). Seventeen dogs (63.0%) had a DI >2. The median DI in this population was 3.02 (range 4.23–8.42), and the median DI in dogs receiving and not receiving antibiotics was 4.3 (range −4.23–8.42) and 1.52 (range −1.62–5.43), respectively. No significant association between any of the analyzed variables and the DI was identified. There was a significant association between the use of metronidazole and a larger abundance of E. coli (p = 0.024).Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceDysbiosis appears to be common in dogs that are being medically managed for CPSS, though the clinical significance remains unclear.

Arabic sentiment analysis using dependency-based rules and deep neural networks

With the growth of social platforms in recent years and the rapid increase in the means of communication through these platforms, a significant amount of textual data is available that contains an abundance of individuals’ opinions. Sentiment analysis is a task that supports companies and organizations to evaluate this textual data with the intention of understanding people’s thoughts concerning services or products. Most previous research in Arabic sentiment analysis relies on word frequencies, lexicons, or black box methods to determine the sentiment of a sentence. It should be noted that these approaches do not take into account the semantic relations and dependencies between words. In this work, we propose a framework that incorporates Arabic dependency-based rules and deep learning models. Dependency-based rules are created by using linguistic patterns to map the meaning of words to concepts in the dependency structure of a sentence. By examining the dependent words in a sentence, the general sentiment is revealed. In the first stage of sentiment classification, the dependency grammar rules are used. If the rules are unsuccessful in classifying the sentiment, the algorithm then applies deep neural networks (DNNs). Three DNN models were employed, namely LSTM, BiLSTM, and CNN, and several Arabic benchmark datasets were used for sentiment analysis. The performance results of the proposed framework show a greater improvement in terms of accuracy and F1 score and they outperform the state-of-the-art approaches in Arabic sentiment analysis.