ABSTRACT Loose smut sterilizing annual large crabgrass has occurred since 2004 in a field surrounded by crops near Barcelona (Spain); no other patch of smut-diseased plants has been seen in the nearby area. In order to understand the coexistence of both partners over the years, (i) the formation of the dikaryotic hyphae were investigated under fluorescence microscopy and (ii) spore viability was assessed by quantifying the proportion of germinated ustilospores from sori collected during three consecutive fall seasons in the same field. The dikaryon is formed by intratetrad mating; in none of the media tested could the formation of sporidia be observed. On average, 7.1% of ustilospores were able to germinate in a liquid medium without any organic carbon source following 2 years of storage. The role that these findings could play in disease escape and thus in the plant-pathogen coexistence at local field scale is discussed in light of the results.

Biological communities are connected through dispersal, which regulates diversity across local and regional scales. However, dispersal is difficult to measure directly, limiting what is known about dispersal's impact on species composition in complex communities. One method to measure dispersal employs the Neutral Community Model (NCM) to quantify how a local community is influenced by the immigration of individuals from a larger source community. Conveniently, the immigration rate NTm of the NCM can be fit from biological sequence abundance datasets, which are plentiful. Yet it is neither known if these estimated values reflect the ground truth, nor what sampling effort is required to yield accurate estimates. In this study, we introduce two inference methods, a variance-based and a Dirichlet-multinomial log-likelihood (DM-LL) method, to complement the established occupancy-based inference method. In simulations of communities that resemble activated sludge microbiomes, all inference methods were capable of estimating NTm within 10% of ground-truth, with the variance-based and DM-LL methods requiring less sampling effort. Accurate inferences require read depths greater than NTm in each sample. The three methods agree in their inferred NTm in simulations of communities experiencing weak non-neutral effects (e.g., selection) and in applications to abundance datasets from wastewater activated sludge, tropical trees, and coral reefs. Based on these findings, we propose practical sampling and methodological guidelines for quantifying immigration between highly diverse, complex communities using the NCM.

This experimental study aims to clarify how and when a weak centrifugal force affects the turbulent rotating thermal convection system. For the bulk flow, the weak centrifugal effect is significant on long-time averaged flow fields, contrasting sharply with its negligible effect on the instantaneous fields. As for the sidewall flow, it is found that properties of the boundary zonal flow are influenced by the weak centrifugal force appreciably. The onset Froude number $\textit{Fr}_c^{\textit{local}}$ , signalling when the weak centrifugal effects start to set in, is found to scale with Rayleigh number $Ra$ as $\textit{Fr}_c^{\textit{local}}\sim Ra^{0.55}$ over approximately two and a half decades of $Ra$ . The underlying mechanism for this robust scaling is captured by the mechanism of local force balance, which involves three unknown local scales. With the help of both a viscous–Archimedean–Coriolis argument and the experimental data, these local scales are successfully resolved to reveal a consistent result with this 0.55 scaling.

ISGylation is a ubiquitin-like post-translational modification that plays a central role in innate immune signaling. Conjugation of interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) to target proteins is initiated by the E1 enzyme Uba7, transferred to the E2 enzyme UbcH8, and completed by an E3 ligase. Specificity in this cascade is mediated by the ubiquitin-fold domain (UFD) of Uba7, yet the structural and mechanistic basis of E1-E2 recognition remains poorly defined. Here, we present the solution NMR structure and functional characterization of a human Uba7-UFD. NMR chemical shift perturbation experiments combined with site-directed mutagenesis delineate the UbcH8 interaction surface and identify residues critical for E1-E2 binding. The Uba7-UFD adopts a conserved ubiquitin-fold architecture but exhibits conformational flexibility in the unbound state. 15N relaxation measurements show a globally well-folded domain with localized ps-ns time scale dynamics within the β2/β4 E2 binding surface and the acidic loop spanning residues 996-1008. Upon UbcH8 binding, relaxation parameters shift toward those expected for a larger effective molecular size, accompanied by an increased residue-specific heterogeneity at the interface, consistent with binding-coupled changes in local mobility. Mutational analysis identifies C996 as being essential for UFD structural integrity and binding competence. Moreover, targeted alterations in the length and flexibility of the adjacent acidic loop strongly impair UbcH8 binding, demonstrating that the loop architecture is a critical determinant of efficient E2 recruitment. Together, these results provide a structural and dynamic framework for understanding E2 enzyme selection in the ISGylation pathway and highlight the role of UFD conformational dynamics in the E1-E2 complex formation.

Under a changing climate, it is imperative that we understand how species may respond to temperature impacts, which can differ among populations of the same species due to local drivers. Thermal tolerance data, which can be used to assess an organism's upper thermal limits, is valuable to identify species and/or populations' susceptibility to thermal stress. This study assessed the variation in thermal tolerance of six seagrass species at both broad latitudinal (c. 500-1000 km) and local scales (c. 25 km). Photosynthesis-temperature curves (15-42°C) were conducted, by measuring oxygen in closed incubation chambers, and thermal optima (Topt) was extracted. [Correction added on 19 January 2026, after first online publication: the temperature range in the preceding sentence has been corrected.] We found that Topt varied by almost 10°C among six species, and Topt for the same species differed by up to 4°C across both broad and local scales, but with no consistent patterns across latitude. This highlights that thermal performance does not necessarily reflect thermal geography of a seagrass species range, and that other environmental variables may play a role in how species respond to temperature. Overall, while some seagrass species may benefit from small increases in temperature, marine heatwaves are likely to have negative implications for five of the six species assessed, with greater impacts occurring in tropical regions.

Impacts of atmospheric CO2 enrichment on nitrous oxide emissions in wheat and rice cropping systems at global and local scales

Unified global–local feature modeling via reverse patch scaling for image manipulation localization

Spatiotemporal prediction of aeropollen concentration using tree-based machine learning.

The elastic and inelastic longitudinal electron scattering form factors in of chromium isotopes (50,52Cr) isotopes were studied using the radial wave functions of a transformed harmonic oscillator potential in the local scale transformation technique. Occupation numbers from configuration mixing using the Hsieh-Wildenthal (HW) method for 50,52Cr were considered in parallel with those obtained using the adjusted occupation numbers. For shell interactions, the model space for HW interaction is restricted to the 1d3/2 and 1f7/2 subshells. The charge density distributions in the ground state and differential electron scattering cross-sections were computed. The inelastic form factors were studied by including core polarization using the Bohr-Mottelson model. For 50Cr, the three C2 transitions and the two C4 transitions were investigated. For 52Cr, the inelastic form factor for the two C2 transitions and for the two C4 transitions is investigated. In general, the use of the transformed harmonic-oscillator (THO) basis proved itself to be a good candidate to study stable nuclei, where good results (elastic and inelastic Coulomb form factors and differential cross sections) were obtained for 50,52Cr isotopes.

Ambient temperature and homicide mortality in 307 Latin American cities: A case time series design.

The expansive carbon reservoirs of the boreal region are becoming some of the most rapidly growing sources of greenhouse gasses under a positive feedback between intensifying fire activity and climate change. However, current regional-scale methods lack the spatial precision needed to improve understanding of the drivers of these fluxes to inform strategies aimed at maximizing landscape carbon storage. Here, we develop an alternative and highly constrained procedure for estimating wildfire emissions at both local (10 meters) and regional (1000kilometers) scales in boreal Fennoscandia. This approach reassessed existing knowledge of heat development within the context of modern geospatial datasets, revealing expanded applications of satellite-derived fire radiative power in classifying distinct smoldering dynamics. The findings additionally emphasized the importance of capturing fine-scale variation in climate-sensitive fuel loading when determining regional fire season impact. Comparisons revealed substantial limitations in existing boreal carbon accounting methods while providing insights into the sensitivity of fire regime characteristics to climate, management, and landscape structure.

Introduction As a critical component of modern social governance systems, the scientific spatial allocation of social work organizations (SWOs) directly affects the equitable provision of public services. Methods Using panel data from prefecture-level and higher cities in China spanning 2000–2024, this study systematically investigates the spatiotemporal evolution and driving mechanisms of SWOs through kernel density estimation, center-of-gravity trajectory analysis, Geodetector method, and geographically weighted regression (GWR). Results (1) SWO development in China has progressed through three distinct phases, early development, rapid expansion, and subsequent contraction, with registrations peaking in 2021. Their spatial distribution exhibits pronounced clustering and geographic proximity effects, closely following the Hu Huanyong Line (Hu’s Line), and forming a polycentric pattern centered on the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, and the Chengdu–Chongqing region. (2) Geodetector analysis identifies city administrative level as the primary driver of spatial differentiation, whereas physical factors such as terrain impose minimal constraints. OLS and GWR results further reveal substantial spatial nonstationarity: at the global scale, per capita disposable income and migrant population size consistently exert positive effects, while at the local scale, social security expenditure demonstrates a dual influence, constraining SWO growth in eastern regions but promoting it in central and western regions. Discussion These findings reveal a fundamental shift in the development logic of SWOs, from “exogenous administrative empowerment” toward a demand-driven model. This study provides the first prefecture-level national evidence of spatial polarization in SWO development across China, uncovers region-specific driving mechanisms on both sides of Hu’s Line, and highlights the pivotal role of educational capacity in resource-constrained areas.

Introduction Quantifying community-level trait shifts, driven by species turnover and intraspecific trait variation (ITV), is essential for understanding environmental filtering and elucidating community assembly and species coexistence. While well-studied in seed plants, the relative roles of these processes in ferns—a key component of forest understories—remain poorly understood. Methods Here, we evaluated how topographic, soil, and overstory biotic factors influence the functional traits of understory fern communities at a local scale in a subtropical forest. We measured six key functional traits across 45 fern species in 121 plots of 10 m × 10 m. Results We found that trait-environment models based on species turnover alone (CWM_fixed) had consistently higher explanatory power than models that included ITV (CWM_specific) (mean pseudo-R² = 0.56 vs. 0.23). Variance partitioning revealed that trait-environment relationships were primarily driven by the unique effects of environmental factors rather than their shared variance, identifying soil properties and overstory biotic structure as distinct, independent drivers of community functional composition (explaining 23.0% and 17.7% of variance for plant growth and resource-use strategies, respectively). Discussion Our results highlight two key insights: (1) the understory fern community responds to environmental filters primarily through species turnover (compositional shifts) rather than widespread intraspecific trait variation; (2) soil phosphorus and forest structure act as critical filters that together shape community-level functional traits of ferns.

Abstract. Drought risk is changing as the hydrological cycle responds to anthropogenic climate change. Projections of future drought risk used to inform water management would ideally be conducted at local scale, but local-scale projections demand local data and computational resources that are often not available. As an alternative, global-scale projections of glacier runoff and the hydrological cycle can provide important insights for the local scale, particularly when interpreted carefully. Here, we use an ensemble of 11 latest-generation (CMIP6) climate models to force three different global glacier models, and we examine changes in glacial drought buffering for 75 major river basins in the early, mid-, and late 21st century. Glacial drought buffering results are broadly consistent across glacier models. By contrast, we find that the spread in glacial drought buffering among different climate models is large and likely under-sampled compared with the full archive of suitable CMIP6 simulations (123 simulations from 28 models for the SSP2-4.5 scenario). This work highlights that, for downstream hydrological studies: (1) no one global glacier model is more suitable than another, and (2) analysing a representative ensemble of climate models is imperative. Our findings illustrate that differences in glacier model outputs that appear consequential to glaciologists may be less consequential for downstream impact metrics.

Abstract Context Demand for land for urban development, food production, and protected areas is increasing, leading to land scarcity. In response, agricultural lands are increasingly targeted for protection. Yet, which land attributes should be used to identify priority lands to protect remains largely unknown. Objectives (1) Is private land protection necessary to protect nature’s contributions to people [NCP] in a region dominated by public protected areas? (2) Which NCP indicators are the most important drivers of optimal land protection? Methods We applied the NCP framework in Idaho’s Snake River Plain, a water-limited, climate-sensitive ecoregion dominated by public lands with a quickly growing human population. We quantified 21 NCPs and used systematic conservation planning to generate cost-efficient land protection solutions. We also developed a sensitivity analysis workflow to determine which NCP inputs were most influential for priority protected area selection. Results Current protected areas were highly effective; for 17 of the 21 NCP, the majority of each NCP (> 50% of its total) was covered by public and protected private lands. However, food production is severely under-protected. Food production and carbon stock protection had the most influence on conservation planning scenarios. Ignoring climate-related NCP in agricultural land protection decisions, even in sub-regional planning where climate seems relatively homogenous, can limit contributions to climate mitigation and adaptation. Conclusions Private land protections complement public lands networks for NCP protection. Climate considerations are important to include even in local scale conservation planning. Our reproducible workflows for NCP quantification and conservation planning sensitivity analysis can be used to systematically plan for a broad suite of human benefits.

Global change reshapes biodiversity through shifts in species composition, richness, and body size. How these shifts combine to alter higher-level ecological processes within food webs can have important implications for entire ecosystems. However, the strength and direction of these shifts will depend on combinations of ways that species and trait compositions change through time. We combine long-term data from ~15,000 freshwater and marine fish communities (1949-2019) with information about their size, diets, and trophic status to evaluate how food webs change through time at local spatial scale. We found that selective species turnover driven by body size reductions is associated with widespread alteration to fish food web topology and function, including increased connectance and generalism, leading to higher predation pressure and increased prey vulnerability. Food webs were also less modular. These changes extend across food web trophic structures, causing a cascading shift in the proportion of species across trophic levels. Our study highlights complex biodiversity responses to confluent changes across multiple facets.

Correlation of meandering fluvial strata is difficult due to the highly variable lateral extent and vertical thickness caused by the erosion of the surrounding floodplain from channel downcutting and meander migration. This variability often results in a lack of confidently traceable marker beds leading to errors with stratigraphic correlation, determination of sedimentation rates, and quantification of stratigraphic completeness in fluvial strata. Bentonites are ideal marker beds for resolving fluvial stratigraphic correlation issues because they preserve a single or multiple short volcanic events deposited over widespread areas and can be radiometrically dated. Additionally, they preserve other signals that can be used to construct geochemical fingerprints for individual beds, allowing correlation of fluvial strata despite fragmentary preservation. To test the utility of geochemically fingerprinted bentonites as fluvial marker beds, we examined the Campanian-aged meandering fluvial strata of the Dinosaur Park Formation (DPF), which outcrops mainly as badlands in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Dinosaur Provincial Park (DPP), Alberta. The DPF lacks a well resolved stratigraphic framework; this is problematic as the DPF in DPP preserves some of the world’s most abundant and diverse dinosaur fossil assemblages that have been used as a basis for many hypotheses related to dinosaur and other terrestrial vertebrate evolution. A poorly resolved stratigraphic framework for the DPF in DPP leads to substantial uncertainty regarding stratigraphic placement of dinosaur fossil sites, and therefore potential errors with any evolutionary hypotheses supported by that biostratigraphic data. We sampled 14 bentonite deposits from DPP, five of which have been dated previously and nine of which were previously unsampled. Stratigraphic sections were measured at bentonite collection sites, and elevation of all bentonite beds was recorded to +/- 0.1 m. Geochemical data for sampled bentonites was obtained using Electron Probe Micro-Analysis on preserved biotite, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase phenocrysts. Our results show that bentonites in DPP possess unique geochemical fingerprints and physical traits that can be used for their identification and correlation, without the need to be dated. We identify three previously unrecognized and currently undated bentonites in the DPF that may increase geochronological resolution within DPP. We demonstrate that the Plateau Tuff bentonite can be correlated over a 12 km distance across DPP, demonstrating the potential utility of bentonites for both local and regional scale fluvial stratigraphic correlation. These results offer a promising first step for resol ving stratigraphic correlation issues for the DPF in DPP and a correlation framework model that can be applied to other fluvial stratigraphic systems that preserve bentonites.

Phoretic mites and their carriers represent a dynamic system shaped by ecological and evolutionary processes. In highly specific phoresy, which involves long-term or permanent associations, profound consequences for phoretics, including cospeciation or the transition to phoretic parasitism, can occur. Mites within the complex of cryptic species of Uroobovella nova are carried exclusively on burying beetles (Nicrophorus spp.). Nevertheless, compared with the Poecilochirus mite-Nicrophorus system, this type of interaction remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated whether different species of burying beetles play the same role in the local dispersal of U. nova deutonymphs. To achieve this, we compared the infestation patterns of deutonymphs among field-collected beetle species, while accounting for sex and body size. Our results revealed species-specific patterns in deutonymph infestations, with Nicrophorus vespillo being the most frequently infested species, followed by N. humator and N. interruptus. Furthermore, Nicrophorus vespillo and N. humator hosted the greatest number of deutonymphs, whereas in N. interruptus, the number of carried mites was significantly lower. The infestation pattern of U. nova demonstrated significant sexual bias, with males exhibiting higher mite prevalence and intensity than females. Interestingly, the variation in host body size was not a significant predictor of U. nova infestation. Although more mites were attached to the anterior than to the posterior parts of the beetle body in all the examined species, species- and sex-specific patterns in the distribution of deutonymphs were evident. Species-specific infestation patterns indicate that, at the local scale, individual burying beetle species play different roles in the dispersal of U. nova mites. Sex-specific infestation patterns suggest that biological differences between females and males may be key determinants of deutonymph infestations. Body size does not drive the prevalence, intensity, or distribution of deutonymphs. The assumption that larger hosts carry more symbionts does not hold universally in ecology.

ABSTRACT Accurately mapping and monitoring of vegetation restoration area on potentially contaminated mining land (PCML) is crucial for evaluating ecological recovery from mining-related pollution. However, the types and patterns of PCML’s vegetation restoration area (PCML-VRA) remain unclear at large scales, despite numerous studies conducted at single-site or local scales. In this study, we developed a PCML-VRA dataset in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 2010 to 2020 using a novel multi-source data fusion method. This method integrated high-resolution satellite imagery, potentially contaminated enterprise sites data, mineral deposit database, land use/cover data, and other thematic data using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platform in combination with GIS local platform. The overall accuracy of the PCML-VRA vector dataset in Inner Mongolia was (87.80 ± 5.81)%, demonstrating high reliability and quality. Results showed that the area of PCML in 2010 was 954.34 km2, and the area of PCML-VRA in Inner Mongolia between 2010 and 2020 was 373.33 km2. Consequently, the level of vegetation restoration within PCML in Inner Mongolia was 39.12% over the decade, with gross domestic product, precipitation, wind speed, and population identified as the dominant factors. This study enhances access to high-resolution mapping of PCML-VRA, facilitating the evaluation of ecological protection and the effectiveness of mine greening initiatives.

Context Apex predators are vital for maintaining ecosystem balance, yet their persistence is severely threatened by ongoing habitat loss. Landscape modification, particularly the depletion of critical breeding resources such as large tree cavities, places significant pressure on cavity-dependent species. The powerful owl (Ninox strenua), an apex predator reliant on large tree cavities for breeding, exemplifies this challenge while persisting across diverse urban, agricultural and forested landscapes in south-eastern Australia. Aims This research aimed to identify key nest tree and nest site characteristics selected by powerful owls across varied landscape types, and to determine factors influencing their breeding success. Methods We investigated powerful owl nest tree characteristics and factors influencing nest site selection at both local (50-m) and landscape (500-m) scales. Data were collected from 62 nest sites across urban, agricultural and forested landscapes in Victoria, Australia, from 2021 to 2024. Simultaneously, breeding outcome data were recorded from 89 nesting attempts within this period. Key results Powerful owls strongly favoured nest sites within areas of dense tree cover and riparian vegetation, and avoided sparsely treed or highly urbanised areas. They consistently preferred cavities within tree trunks and chose locations offering multiple alternate nesting cavities. Breeding data showed a 68.5% success rate, with proximity to multiple potential nest cavities significantly increasing the likelihood of producing two fledglings per attempt. Conclusions Our findings highlighted the critical importance of landscape composition in powerful owl nest cavity selection and highlighted how cavity availability influences breeding productivity. Implications Effective conservation strategies for powerful owls must prioritise preserving and enhancing dense tree cover, particularly near waterways. These strategies should include protecting existing cavity-bearing trees and strategically installing supplementary artificial cavities in areas where natural resources are scarce.