Non-synanthropic Species Research Articles

The Potential Impact of Changes in Soil and Climate Conditions on Development of the Herb Layer Vegetation of Public Parks in Krakow (Southern Poland)

Today, urban greenery is at the center of attention, especially in the context of climate change. Shaped in large part by natural factors, the herb layer of public parks is a part of urban greenery that is the most sensitive to climate and soil condition changes. In this paper, we present a study intended to answer how resilient is the species composition and herb layer structure against the soil and climate condition changes in parks. To this end, we analyzed Ellenberg and Zarzycki’s ecological index numbers for species recorded in different groups in terms of historical-geographical, life forms, prevalence within the flora of Poland, and relationships with different vegetation types (phytoassociation classes) in comparison to the conditions present in parks. It was found that a large part of various species groups showed an optima and ecological tolerance spectra that went beyond the park conditions, indicating that at least some park vegetation can be expected to show resilience to changing conditions. However, changes in temperature and humidity will alter the composition and structure of the park herb layer. The direction of changes in climate and soil conditions can be decisive for herb layer transformation directions. With rising temperatures, humidity can be crucial. Poor soil moisture conditions will promote an increased share of foreign, synanthropic species, while local natural and semi-natural species will disappear. When climate change that leads to a decrease in temperatures is concerned, it is temperature and not humidity that will be the key factor in the transformation of park herb layer species compositions. The herb layer of Krakow’s parks will have the least resilience to changes in conditions within local non-synanthropic species, rare species and geophytes and to some extent also forest and meadow species.

The Expansion of House Mouse Major Urinary Protein Genes Likely Did Not Facilitate Commensalism with Humans.

Mouse wild-derived strains (WDSs) combine the advantages of classical laboratory stocks and wild animals, and thus appear to be promising tools for diverse biomedical and evolutionary studies. We employed 18 WDSs representing three non-synanthropic species (Mus spretus, Mus spicilegus, and M. macedonicus) and three house mouse subspecies (Mus musculus musculus, M. m. domesticus, M. m. castaneus), which are all important human commensals to explore whether the number of major urinary protein (MUP) genes and their final protein levels in urine are correlated with the level of commensalism. Contrary to expectations, the MUP copy number (CN) and protein excretion in the strains derived from M. m. castaneus, which is supposed to be the strongest commensal, were not significantly different from the non-commensal species. Regardless of an overall tendency for higher MUP amounts in taxa with a higher CN, there was no significant correlation at the strain level. Our study thus suggests that expansion of the Mup cluster, which appeared before the house mouse diversification, is unlikely to facilitate commensalism with humans in three house mouse subspecies. Finally, we found considerable variation among con(sub)specific WDSs, warning against generalisations of results based on a few strains.

Relationship between parameters of public parks and their surroundings and the richness, diversity and species composition of vascular herbaceous plants on the example of Krakow in Central Europe

Greenery is a natural value in urban space. To maintain the richness and diversity of greenery, it is necessary to understand the factors and mechanisms that influence vegetation. The purpose of this paper was to determine the impact of selected features of public parks and factors on the richness and diversity of herbaceous plants. In Krakow public parks, this richness and diversity is greater in parks with a larger area and habitat heterogeneity, the presence of migration corridors, and natural elements. Full stand coverage negatively affects diversity. Biologically inactive surface affects richness and diversity as well as a number of different groups of plant species. The presence of rare and non-synanthropic species is related to the park’s surface, natural elements, and its heterogeneity.

Searching for the toxic potential of Loxosceles amazonica and Loxosceles willianilsoni spiders’ venoms

The Loxosceles genus belongs to the Sicariidae family and it comprises species whose venom can cause accidents with potentially fatal consequences. We have previously shown that SMase D is the enzyme responsible for the main pathological effects of Loxosceles venom. Despite the severity of accidents with Loxosceles, few species are considered to be of medical importance. Little is known about the venom of non-synanthropic species that live in natural environments. To contribute to a better understanding about the venom's toxicity of Loxosceles genus, the aim of this study was to (i) characterize the toxic properties of Loxosceles amazonica from two different localities and a recent described cave species Loxosceles willianilsoni and (ii) compare these venoms with that from Loxosceles laeta, which is among the most toxic ones. We show here that both L. amazonica venoms (from the two studied locations) and L. willianilsoni presented SMase D activity similar to that exhibited by L. laeta venom. Although L. amazonica and L. willianilsoni venoms were able to induce complement dependent human erythrocytes lysis, they were not able to induce cell death of human keratinocytes, as promoted by L. laeta venom, in the concentrations tested. These results indicate that other species of Loxosceles, in addition to those classified as medically important, have toxic potential to cause accidents in humans, despite interspecific variations that denote possible less toxicity.

Seabirds as anthropization indicators in two different tropical biotopes: A One Health approach to the issue of antimicrobial resistance genes pollution in oceanic islands

Antimicrobial resistance is a quintessential One Health issue, among the most serious 21st century global threats to human health. Seabirds may act as sentinels of natural and anthropogenic changes in the marine ecosystem health, including pollution by antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). We used real time PCR to identify and quantify 22 plasmid-mediated ARGs in the gastrointestinal microbiome of six wild seabird species, comparing an anthropized (Fernando de Noronha Archipelago - FNA) and a pristine biotope (Rocas Atoll - ROA), Brazil. Of 257 birds, 218 (84.8%) were positive to at least one ARG. ARG classes encoding resistance to tetracyclines (75.1%), quinolones (10.5%) and phenicols (10.5%) were the most prevalent, with tetracyclines significantly greater than the remaining classes (p < 0.05). Genes tet(S) (29.2%), tet(A) (28.8%), and tet(B) (24.9%) were the most commonly found and had a significantly greater prevalence when compared to the remaining ARGs (p < 0.05). The anthropized biotope presented statistically significant higher prevalence of sulfonamide- and quinolone-encoding ARGs in comparison with the pristine (respectively, p = 0.01 and p = 0.03), and higher sulII gene prevalence (p = 0.04), consistent with anthropogenic pressure. Migratory species (only present in ROA) showed statistically significant higher mcr-1 (polymyxins) and blaTEM (betalactam) prevalences (respectively, p = 0.009 and p = 0.02), and mcr-1 percentage load (p = 0.0079) in comparison with non-migratory. To our knowledge, this is the largest ARGs survey based on direct detection and quantification in seabirds worldwide, and the first to evaluate non-synanthropic species in oceanic islands. This is the first detection of mcr-1 in wild free-ranging seabirds in Brazil and in free-ranging migratory non-synanthropic seabirds worldwide. Our findings show the importance of biological and ecological factors, highlighting the role of seabirds as anthropization sentinels and ARGs-pollution environmental indicators (even in a pristine biotope), and their involvement in the One Health epidemiological chain of ARGs.

Bat rabies in Washington State: Temporal-spatial trends and risk factors for zoonotic transmission (2000-2017).

BackgroundRabies is a zoonotic viral disease that can affect all mammals. In the United States, the majority of human rabies cases are caused by bats, which are the only known reservoirs for rabies virus (RABV) in Washington State. We sought to characterize bat RABV epidemiology in Washington among bats submitted by the public for RABV testing.MethodsWe examined temporal and spatial trends in RABV positivity (% positive) for taxonomically identified bats submitted to diagnostic laboratories during 2006–2017. For a subset of Myotis species, we evaluated sensitivity and predictive value positive (PPV) of morphological identification keys, using mitochondrial markers (cytochrome b) as a reference. For bats tested during 2000–2016, we analyzed RABV positivity by circumstances of encounters with humans, cats, and dogs.ResultsDuring 2006–2017, RABV positivity for all bat species was 6.0% (176/2,928). Among species with ≥100 submissions, RABV positivity was 2.0%–11.7% and highest among big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus). An increasing trend in annual positivity was significant only for big brown bats (P = 0.02), and was circumstantially linked to a geographic cluster. Sensitivity and PPV of morphological identification keys was high for M. evotis but varied for M. lucifugus, M. californicus, M. yumanensis, and M. septentrionalis. A positive RABV result was significantly associated with nonsynanthropic species, abnormal behavior, abnormal hiding, injury, biting, found in a body of water, found alive, found outdoors, and caught by a dog.ConclusionMonitoring passive RABV surveillance trends enables public health authorities to perform more accurate risk assessments. Differences in temporal and spatial trends in RABV positivity by bat species indicate the importance of collecting taxonomic data, although morphological identification can be unreliable for certain Myotis species. Current public health practices for RABV exposures should be maintained as RABV infection in bats can never be excluded without diagnostic testing.

IMPORTANCE OF THE BUFFER ZONE OF THE WATER INTAKE FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF AGROSYSTEM PHYTODIVERSITY

A change of the agricultural policy in Poland after 1990 caused significant changesin the structures of the agricultural landscape functioning in the area of WestPomerania (Pomorze Zachodnie). The field fragments, which had been in a form ofbarren land in the protective zone of Miedwie Lake for 30 years, were chosen forthe detailed phytosociological studies. The aim of the current study was theanalysis of anthropogenic impacts on flora in the surveyed terrain. In the studiedarea, the values of the synanthropization indices of the flora were as follows:synanthropization - 2.58, apophytisation - 2.0, anthropophytisation - 0.56,archaeophytisation - 0.38, kenophytisation - 0.16, and fluctuation changes in theflora - 0.04. It is assumed that the larger the share of nonsynanthropic species, thelarger the naturalness of the flora inthese biotopes. The large values for theapophytisation index showed degradation in natural habitats A large share ofanthropophytes indicates dominance of the processes of a decline in native speciesin a given biotope, which means that there are disturbances of the ecologicalbalance of a given ecosystem. The 30 year cessation of agricultural use around thelake resulted in the improvement of the chemical state of waters. A significant rolein stopping water runoff played dense sodification of the surveyed area. The stateof the flora found in this area was influenced by both natural and anthropogenicfactors. This is proved by thedominance of synanthropic over nonsynanthropic, andspontaneophytes over anthropophytes species.

Relative influence of local and landscape factors on bird communities vary by species and functional group

Introduction Both fine scale patterns of vegetation and coarser scale landscape patterns affect bird community composition, but the relative importance of these two sets of patterns tends to be context dependent, varying by location and taxonomic group. Here, we explore the relative roles of landscape pattern and stand structure and composition in defining bird communities in 44 remnant oak stands in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. We focused on: (1) whether bird communities are influenced more by landscape (matrix and patch) patterns or stand composition and structure, and (2) in what contexts each of these spatial scales are more important. Specifically, we focused on how different groups of bird species (functional groups, synanthropic and non-synanthropic species, and individual species) were differentially influenced by landscape and more local patterns.

Synanthropy of Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae (Diptera) in Bogotá, Colombia

Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae have medical and forensic importance. Species of these families are the first insects colonizing corpses and are, therefore, useful in establishing postmortem interval and as indicators in corpse transfer. The synanthropic index (SI) measures the relation of dipteran species with human settlements. Our main objective was to determine the synanthropic index of these families during the rainy and dry seasons in Bogotá. Captures were carried out using traps with baits (beef liver) in three zones (urban, rural, and forest areas). In the family Calliphoridae, the most abundant species were Calliphora vicina (Robineau-Desvoidy) with a sinanthropy index (SI) of +83.1, followed by Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (SI = +92.2) and Compsomyiops verena (Walker) (SI = +42.0). Calliphora nigribasis (Macquart) was not associated with human settlements, while Sarconesiopsis magellanica (Le Guillou) was present in the three zones and considered hemisynanthropic (SI = +19.0). Roraimomusca roraima (Townsend) was reported for the first time in Bogotá and was a non-synanthropic species (SI = -36.0). On the other hand, in Sarcophagidae, three species were collected: Ravinia rufipes (Twonsend), Ravinia colombiana (Lopes), and Boettcheria sp1, which were abundant in the rural and forest zones, the first having a dual characterization as synanthropic and hemisynanthropic, while the other two were hemisynanthropic. Our data showed differences in the association of Calliphoridae species with the three environments, whereas Sarcophagidae were distributed in locations with a lower human impact.

RABIES PREVALENCE IN MIGRATORY TREE-BATS IN ALBERTA AND THE INFLUENCE OF ROOSTING ECOLOGY AND SAMPLING METHOD ON REPORTED PREVALENCE OF RABIES IN BATS

The migratory tree-roosting hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) and silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans) are among the bat species with the highest reported prevalence of rabies in North America. However, bats submitted for rabies testing typically have been those that have come in contact with humans or pets. Given the roosting ecology of L. cinereus and L. noctivagans, contact with healthy individuals of these species is expected to be rare, with a bias in contact and submission of infected individuals and thus an overestimation of rabies prevalence. We tested 121 L. cinereus and 96 L. noctivagans specimens, collected during mortality surveys at wind energy facilities in Southern Alberta, Canada in 2007 and 2008, for rabies. None of the L. cinereus (0%) and one L. noctivagans (1%) tested positive for rabies. Prevalence of rabies was significantly lower than previously reported estimates, passive and active, for L. cinereus and L. noctivagans. In a review of the literature including multiple bat species, we found a significant difference in estimates of rabies prevalence based on passive versus active surveillance testing. Furthermore, roosting ecology influenced estimates of rabies prevalence, with significantly higher prevalence among passive surveillance submissions of nonsynanthropic species compared to synanthropic species, a trend not evident in active surveillance reports. We conclude that rabies prevalence in randomly collected L. cinereus and L. noctivagans is low and comparable to active surveillance estimates from other species (≤ 1%), and that roosting ecology influences estimates of rabies prevalence among bats submitted to public health laboratories in North America.

Invasion, Competition, and Biodiversity Loss in Urban Ecosystems

The global decline in biodiversity as a result of urbanization remains poorly understood. Whereas habitat destruction accounts for losses at the species level, it may not explain diversity loss at the community level, because urban centers also attract synanthropic species that do not necessarily exist in wildlands. Here we suggest an alternative framework for understanding this phenomenon: the competitive exclusion of native, nonsynanthropic species by invasive species. We use data from two urban centers (Phoenix and Baltimore) and two taxa (birds and spiders) to link diversity loss with reduced community evenness among species in urban communities. This reduction in evenness may be caused by a minority of invasive species dominating the majority of the resources, consequently excluding nonsynanthropic species that could otherwise adapt to urban conditions. We use foraging efficiency as a mechanism to explain the loss of diversity. Thus, to understand the effects of habitat conversion on biodiversity, and to sustain species-rich communities, future research should give more attention to interspecific interactions in urban settings.