Climate change is expected to affect terrestrial ectotherms worldwide, including land snails, which are often characterized by limited dispersal capacity and high sensitivity to environmental fluctuations. Heat shock proteins of the 70 kDa family (HSP70) are highly conserved molecular chaperones involved in protein folding, cellular homeostasis and responses to environmental stress. Despite their biological importance, the diversity and evolution of HSP70 genes remain poorly explored in terrestrial gastropods. Here, we performed the first genome-based characterization of HSP70 genes in the Cuban painted snail Polymita picta, an endemic species of high conservation concern. Using sequence homology searches, conserved domain screening and comparative analyses, we identified ten non-redundant candidate HSP70 loci distributed across five genomic scaffolds, yielding ten predicted HSP70 protein sequences. The predicted proteins exhibited the characteristic physicochemical properties, conserved domains and motif architecture expected for cytosolic HSP70 proteins. Phylogenetic analyses grouped all P. picta sequences with cytosolic HSP70 homologues from other mollusks, whereas HSC70, HSP75 and HSP78 proteins formed distinct lineages. Pairwise sequence comparisons revealed high levels of amino acid conservation among paralogs, while Ka/Ks analyses indicated strong purifying selection across all sequence pairs. These results provide the first overview of the HSP70 repertoire currently identifiable in the P. picta genome and establish a molecular framework for future studies on stress physiology, gene expression and the evolutionary diversification of heat shock proteins in terrestrial mollusks.
Sea turtles are vulnerable to multiple natural and anthropogenic pressures, including recreational off-road vehicle (ORV) use on nesting beaches. Previous research has primarily examined how ORV tire ruts affect hatchling movement and orientation, while the broader range and frequency of ORV-related disturbances during sea turtle nesting and hatching remain poorly understood. We characterized the types, frequency, and spatial and temporal distribution of documented ORV–sea turtle interactions using approximately 13,000 sea turtle nesting records collected from 1999 to 2023 by the U.S. National Park Service and the Network for Endangered Sea Turtles at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina. Through content analysis of field observations, we identified 66 documented ORV–sea turtle interactions and classified them into six disturbance types: vehicles driving over marked nests, nest relocation from high-traffic ORV areas, vehicle headlights affecting nesting turtles, direct vehicle strikes, maternal disorientation from tire ruts, and hatchling disorientation from tire ruts. ORVs driving over marked nests was the most frequently documented disturbance, accounting for 62.1% of interactions, followed by nest relocation from high-traffic ORV areas at 22.7%. The remaining disturbance types were comparatively uncommon, although behavioral disturbances may have been less detectable during routine daytime patrols. Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) accounted for 94% of documented interactions and green turtles (Chelonia mydas) for 6%, broadly reflecting their relative nesting abundance at the site. Interactions were concentrated in June and July and spatially clustered near Cape Point. These findings broaden understanding of ORV-related threats to nesting sea turtles beyond the effects of tire ruts on hatchling movement and highlight opportunities for targeted management during periods and in locations where interactions are most frequent. They also demonstrate the value of long-term citizen science monitoring for identifying localized wildlife-management concerns.
Historic districts face increasing challenges due to the coexistence of intensive tourism, residents' everyday life, and sensitive ecological environments within constrained urban spaces. To address this issue, using the Shichahai historic district in Beijing as a case study, this study develops a Physarum-inspired multi-agent simulation framework to examine activity-pressure patterns under different temporal and behavioral scenarios. Multi-source spatial data were translated into GAMA model inputs representing movement constraints, agent origins, temporal attraction fields, and redistribution targets. Resident, tourist, mixed-activity, and spatial attraction redistribution scenarios were constructed and repeatedly simulated to evaluate spatial coverage, path concentration, mean visit intensity, resident-tourist overlap, activity-pressure coupling, and model stability. The results show that the tourist scenario produced a more concentrated path, with active units ranging from 9,056 to 9,267 across the four observation dates, compared with approximately 10,639 -10,660 in the resident scenario and 10,721 -10,766 in the mixed scenario. The mixed scenario showed the highest overall mean visit intensity, with a mean-of-means visit value of 228.80, followed by the tourist scenario at 217.09 and the resident scenario at 212.82. Resident-tourist overlap remained low at the district scale, with a mean overlap index of approximately 0.023, while localized maximum values reached 0.958 -0.997, indicating that the co-concentration of simulated resident- and tourist-related movement was limited to specific corridors and nodes. Under the spatial attraction redistribution scenario, path concentration decreased, with HHI declining from approximately 5.45 -5.56 × 10-4 to 4.19 × 10-4 and the high-density visit share decreasing from 2.45% -2.76% to 0.95%. These findings indicate that adjusting high-density attraction clusters can reshape simulated path concentration and support a balanced distribution of activity pressure without changing the physical structure of the historic district. The proposed framework provides a dynamic modeling approach for identifying localized pressure concentration and supporting low-intervention environmental adaptive regulation in high-density historic districts.
Salt marshes provide valuable ecosystem services, including filtering nutrients and trapping sediments from the water column, but are increasingly threatened by sea-level rise and coastal development. Constructed marshes offer a potential pathway to offsetting marsh loss, but the extent to which they can replace the ecosystem services provided by mature natural marshes is not well understood. Using a chronosequence of constructed marshes (1, 21, and 44 years old) and a natural reference marsh (>100y old) in Beaufort, NC, we assessed the development of plant communities, sediment characteristics, and nutrient and carbon cycling over time. We compared aboveground biomass, surface sediment texture and bulk density, soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks, sediment respiration, and porewater nutrient and sulfide concentrations to assess trajectories toward functional equivalence. Vegetation structure, sediment texture, bulk density, porewater nutrients, and soil respiration converged with the natural reference marsh within approximately two decades of construction. In contrast, surface sediment C and N stocks remained lower than reference levels even after ~20 years, and patterns appeared to be influenced by geomorphic setting and episodic sediment deposition rather than marsh age alone. Methane fluxes were negligible across all sites, and carbon dioxide respiration exhibited seasonal patterns but limited age-related differences. Our results demonstrate that while constructed marshes in sandy back barrier environments can achieve vegetation and physical equivalence with natural marshes within a few decades, long-term C and N storage develop more slowly. Further, the trajectory of development can be particularly complicated in shoreline marshes as a result of episodic deposition events. These findings highlight the importance of sediment texture, geomorphic context, and long-term monitoring when evaluating restoration success and estimating carbon benefits of estuarine living shoreline projects.
Understanding how socio-economic development aligns with ecological health is essential for the sustainable governance of mountainous urban agglomerations. This study investigates 49 county-level units in the Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration, China, from 2010 to 2023. Socio-economic development and ecological health were evaluated using a pooled entropy-weighted TOPSIS framework. A baseline coupling coordination degree (CCD-B) and a reconstructed non-overlapping measure (CCD-R) were developed to reduce mechanical overlap between the dependent variable and subsequent explanatory variables. Spatial autocorrelation analysis, two-way fixed-effects and Mundlak models, OLS–GWR–MGWR comparisons, and leakage-controlled XGBoost–SHAP analysis were employed to examine spatiotemporal patterns, spatial variation, and nonlinear associations. Socio-economic development increased markedly but retained a persistent core–periphery structure centered on Kunming, whereas ecological health remained broadly stable, with pronounced interannual fluctuations and stronger spatial polarization after 2021. The mean CCD-B increased from 0.378 in 2010 to 0.516 in 2023, while the proportion of counties classified as severely or mildly imbalanced declined from 75.51% to zero. Nevertheless, 61.22% of counties remained only barely coordinated in 2023. CCD-R preserved the overall temporal trajectory and spatial hierarchy and remained strongly correlated with CCD-B (r = 0.957). Panel estimates revealed clear within–between differences: road-network density was insignificant within counties but positively associated with coordination across counties, whereas per capita savings showed a negative within-county but positive between-county relationship. MGWR identified localized variation for only selected variables and did not consistently outperform simpler models. Leakage-controlled XGBoost achieved R2 values of 0.763 under spatial validation and 0.777 under temporal validation. Local budget revenue, per capita savings, road-network density, and nighttime light intensity were the leading predictive contributors, while intangible cultural heritage density and minority population share played smaller contextual roles. These findings support differentiated regional governance while emphasizing that the identified relationships and turning points represent sample-specific associations and should not be given a causal interpretation.
An extended female post-reproductive lifespan (PRLS) represents an evolutionary paradox and a rare life-history adaptation in mammals. The molecular mechanisms and genetic changes underlying this trait remain poorly understood. In toothed whales, extended PRLS has been documented in multiple lineages, providing an opportunity to search for candidate genomic regions associated with this life-history phenotype in a comparative framework. Here, we identify accelerated regions (ARs) in three toothed whale species with documented extended PRLS: killer whale, narwhal, and beluga whale. We used closely related toothed whale species without evidence of this phenotype as a comparison and found more than one million conserved autosomal regions, as well as thousands of lineage-specific ARs in each focal species. Across the three species, accelerated regions overlapped 12 unique human noncoding candidate cis-regulatory elements (cCREs) and 300 annotated genes, and exonic regions in 20 genes. Shared AR-associated genes showed enrichment for developmental and neurobiological functions, including neurogenesis, synaptic organization, and neuronal projections, and included candidates previously linked to aging, longevity, and reproductive aging. Thus, we identified candidate regions whose accelerated evolution is putatively associated with extended PRLS in toothed whales.
While existing studies have explored interactions between microtopography and hydrodynamics, most failed to quantify the continuous dynamic responses of surface fractal heterogeneity along flow transitions triggered by microtopography and prolonged rainfall. This study investigated soil surface microstructure induced by spatial heterogeneity and hydrodynamics, focusing on surface roughness (SR) depicted by flat (TFC), horizontal (THC), artificial digging (TAD), and hoeing cultivation (THE) across variable rainfall duration (RD). The results showed that runoff velocity (V = 0.16–0.32 m/s) initially increased and stabilized with RD, similar to hydraulic shear stress (τ = 1.12–1.68 Pa), while it decreased with SR differently from τ. Reynolds number (Re = 184–480) increased quasi-linearly with RD, similar to Froude number (Fr = 1.3–2.7) inverse of Darcy–Weisbach friction coefficient (f = 0–2). Surface microstructure was dominated by the flow regime shift. Micro-aggregate content and fractal dimension (D) positively correlated with environmental factors (p < 0.05) converse of macro-aggregate. RF analysis and SEM confirmed the positive effects of RD (0.36**) and BD (0.44**) on D, reverse of Fr (−0.15), f (−0.24*), and TN (−0.14), with acceptable model fit (RMSEA, SRMR < 0.08, CFI, TLI > 0.9). The threshold rainfall duration triggered flow regime conversion under the control of microtopography to quantify surface fractal heterogeneity. The established multi-factor causal framework provides targeted theoretical support for optimizing anti-erosion tillage practices on sloping farmlands.
Global climate change and anthropogenic developments have intensified the coastal hydrological cycle, increasingly subjecting marine ecosystems to acute hyposaline conditions primarily from urban stormwater runoff. This study investigated the physiological responses of the invasive Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, to osmotic stress by studying two populations in Los Angeles County, CA with contrasting hydrology: Ballona Creek (BC), a concrete channel characterized by highly variable salinity, and Marina Del Rey Harbor (MDR), a hydrographically stable marine environment. We collected mussels during the dry (fall) and wet (winter) seasons and exposed them to salinities ranging from 40 to 5 psu over 7 and 14 d periods. We quantified hemolymph osmolarity, metabolic rate, clearance rate, cellular stress responses via Hsp/Hsc 70 relative protein abundance, mortality, and body condition index (BCI). Hemolymph analysis confirmed that M. galloprovincialis is a euryhaline osmoconformer from 40 to 15 psu but transitions to hyperosmotic regulation under severe hyposalinity (< 15 psu). Whole-organism performance metrics (metabolic and clearance rates) were significantly elevated during the wet compared to the dry season across both populations. Metabolic and clearance rates peaked at intermediate salinities (25 psu) before undergoing a severe drop (up to 95%) at the lower threshold (5 psu) signifying metabolic depression tied to defensive shell valve closure in response to hyposalinity. Site-specific differences were evident where the variable saline environment experienced by the BC population displayed a primed cellular defense to hyposalinity. BC mussels were characterized by a 4.1-fold increase in Hsp/Hsc 70 relative protein abundance at 20 psu and superior survival under chronic stress, with a median lethal salinity (LS50) of 13 d at 10 psu compared to just 7 d for MDR mussels. Additionally, chronic 14 d exposure to 15 or 25 psu significantly reduced BCI for mussels from both sites. Together, the reduced feeding and metabolic depression under sever hyposalinity suggest limited energy acquisition and may have resulted in greater mortality. Ultimately, this research highlights that local environmental histories shape physiological resilience, which will dictate how marine bivalves cope with future climate-driven precipitation anomalies.
We examine whether ecological niche modeling (ENM) can account for the fact that some taxa did not disperse in the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) during the Plio-Pleistocene (5.3 million to 14,000 years ago). It has been hypothesized that the expansion of savannas throughout the Americas enabled dispersal for savanna-adapted taxa during GABI. One notable exception is the pronghorn (Antilocapra), which did not disperse to South America despite thriving in North American grasslands. We used ENM to test whether this lack of dispersal can be accounted for by the absence of appropriate climatic conditions connecting North and South America, or whether other factors need to be invoked to explain its lack of dispersal into South America. The analysis suggests that Antilocapra probably did not have suitable connected habitat in Central and South America during the time periods analyzed, and thus that the presence of savanna in of itself is too simple a characterization of at least the pronghorn’s favored habitat, or that other factors prevented it from dispering. However, given the uncertainty of the models, it is possible the pronghorn could have dispersed and then gone extinct. The niche models also predict that if Antilocapra was able to reach South America, it would have likely had suitable habitat in modern day Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.
Habitat conditions are important factors influencing plant reintroduction outcomes, yet the physiological responses of endangered woody species across contrasting reintroduction habitats remain poorly understood. In this study, seedlings of Malania oleifera reintroduced into limestone (karst) and red-soil habitats were investigated, with naturally reintroduced wild seedlings serving as a reference. Photosynthetic light-response and CO2-response curves, chlorophyll contents, leaf anatomical traits, morphological characteristics, and water-use efficiency (WUE) were measured to compare physiological and morphological variation among contrasting reintroduction habitats. Seedlings from the limestone reintroduction site exhibited higher maximum net photosynthetic rate (Pmax), light saturation point (LSP), and isotope-derived water-use efficiency (WUE) than seedlings from the red-soil reintroduction site, whereas red-soil seedlings showed higher CO2-saturated photosynthetic capacity (Amax). Limestone-grown seedlings also contained higher chlorophyll a and total chlorophyll contents than red-soil seedlings but lower levels than wild seedlings. Leaf anatomical traits also varied among habitats, with wild seedlings exhibiting greater palisade tissue thickness (PT) and higher palisade-to-spongy tissue ratios (PT/ST), whereas limestone- and red-soil-reintroduced seedlings showed similar PT/ST values. Seedlings from the limestone reintroduction site showed greater final plant height and basal stem diameter than those from the red-soil reintroduction site and wild reference habitat, whereas crown width did not differ significantly among habitats. Furthermore, isotope-derived WUE values were higher in seedlings from the limestone reintroduction site than in those from the red-soil site. This difference suggests variation in water-use strategies among habitats, although the underlying mechanisms require further investigation. Thus, seedlings from the three habitats exhibited distinct combinations of photosynthetic, morphological, anatomical, and water-use traits. The observed differences represent habitat-associated variation during the investigated period rather than evidence of universal habitat superiority. Because soil type was confounded with site conditions and the study evaluated seedlings during a single sampling period, long-term monitoring across multiple sites is required to further assess the persistence and reintroduction outcomes of this endangered karst tree species.
The copepod Tigriopus californicus is among crustaceans that have recently been shown to have lost key genes encoding the master regulators of the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway, thought to be essential for oxygen homeostasis in animals. This species inhabits supralittoral pools that impart hours of hypoxic stress daily, frequently reaching anoxia. Despite lacking the canonical HIF transcription factor, T. californicus exhibits one of the highest levels of tolerance to hypoxia recorded in aquatic animals. The genetic mechanisms involved in hypoxia response in taxa lacking HIF components is almost entirely unknown. We took advantage of geographic variation in tolerance in T. californicus to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) using recombinant hybrids between a more tolerant California population and a less tolerant Oregon population. After quantifying individual-level tolerance in nearly 800 hybrid copepods using Pcrit, we performed Pool-seq and bulked segregant analysis to identify QTLs. Our analysis revealed seven QTLs across five chromosomes, harboring a total of 43,648 SNPs. SNPs within these QTLs represented 721 genes enriched for stress response, sugar metabolism, neuronal signaling, and mitochondrial functions, and included genes implicated in exoskeletal and membrane modifications. Many genes in the QTLs were known in T. californicus to show differential expression in response to experimental hypoxic events, suggesting that some genetic variation explaining differences in Pcrit among populations is associated with loci that are a part of acute transcriptomic responses. Most SNPs in QTLs were found in introns or within 1000 bp upstream of genes, indicating a bias toward variants with potential regulatory impacts in the QTLs. QTL genes with known transcriptional response tended to have more SNPs in these regions compared to genes that do not participate in acute responses to hypoxia. SNPs annotated as high impact, including stop lost or stop gained variants, affected over a dozen genes including an important antioxidant regulatory gene. These results provide a first glimpse at the genetic architecture underlying natural variation in hypoxia tolerance in a species lacking the key oxygen-sensing regulatory gene and highlight candidate genes of diverse biological pathways that may contribute to stress resilience in extreme environments.
Bird populations are declining globally, but the mechanisms underlying these declines vary among regions and ecosystems. Tropical birds may be particularly vulnerable because many species depend on specific habitat conditions and seasonal resource dynamics. However, how forest degradation is associated with bird assemblage change remains poorly understood in Neotropical seasonally dry forests (NSDFs). Here, we evaluated mist-netted understory and lower-midstory bird assemblages in 16 forest remnants of southern Ecuador along an integrated degradation gradient combining landscape-level anthropization and canopy height. Landscape anthropization was quantified from building density, road presence, farmland cover, and vegetation cover within 1-km² landscapes surrounding each site, whereas canopy height was used as a proxy of local forest structural condition. Because these two variables were highly correlated, we used their shared variation to represent an integrated degradation gradient and residual predictors to explore additional variation in canopy height and landscape anthropization. We analyzed α-diversity, β-diversity, and the richness and abundance of habitat-use, foraging-stratum, and diet generalists using Bayesian models fitted with and without a spatial smooth term. We recorded 486 captures belonging to 66 bird species. Captured species richness declined along the integrated degradation gradient in the non-spatial model, but this association became uncertain after accounting for spatial structure. In contrast, the canopy-height residual showed a clearer positive association with richness, suggesting that sites with taller canopies than expected for their level of landscape anthropization supported richer mist-netted assemblages. β-diversity responses were weak and partly contrary to expectations: dissimilarity metrics tended to decrease along the degradation gradient, suggesting possible compositional homogenization, although statistical support was limited. The clearest responses were observed for ecological strategies. Foraging-stratum and habitat-use generalists increased with degradation, particularly in abundance-based models, whereas diet generalists tended to decline. Overall, our findings provide exploratory evidence that forest degradation is associated with mist-netted bird assemblages through multiple, non-equivalent pathways. Conservation strategies in NSDFs should therefore consider both landscape-scale transformation and the maintenance or recovery of structurally complex forest remnants.
Climate change is greatly influenced by increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. This necessitates the adoption of effective mitigation strategies. Bamboo is identified as a fast-growing, potentially valuable resource for climate change mitigation. This review analyses existing literature on bamboo carbon pathways, focusing on biomass carbon sequestration, soil organic carbon, net ecosystem productivity and carbon storage in harvested bamboo products. Bamboo systems exhibit substantial carbon sequestration rates, with rapid biomass accumulation, continuous litter input and extensive rhizome-root networks that enhance soil organic carbon stabilisation. Bamboo differs from other tree species due to its rapid growth and ability to be selectively harvested, both of which enhance its carbon sequestration potential. Bamboo contributes to long-term carbon storage through durable products and offers significant potential for emissions reductions by substituting carbon-intensive materials. It was noted that the carbon sequestration efficiency of bamboo ecosystems is highly influenced by species selection, management practices and environmental conditions, with intensive management potentially reducing carbon sink capacity. Policy frameworks and carbon market mechanisms, increasingly recognise bamboo’s role, although limitations such as the lack of standardised methodologies and species-specific emission factors hinder large-scale implementation. Bamboo ecosystems represent a viable and sustainable solution for climate change mitigation, provided that optimised management practices and supportive policy interventions are implemented.
Sponges are prominent members of coral reef communities and contribute to nutrient cycling through multiple pathways. Many reef sponges host abundant microbial symbionts, including photosymbionts that can drive substantial carbon and nitrogen uptake and processing within the holobiont, likely reducing host dependence on other resource pools. While species-specific microbiome composition and holobiont physiology are increasingly well characterized, fine-scale intraspecific variation within reef populations remains comparatively understudied. Here we investigated physiological and microbiome differences in the phyllosponge Lendenfeldia chondrodes across three shallow reef habitats along the northern shore of Moorea, French Polynesia. Using stable isotope tracers, net primary productivity (NPP) measurements, chlorophyll a analysis, and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, we quantified carbon fixation, isotopic enrichment, photosymbiont abundance, and microbiome composition for sponges collected across three sites ranging from 2 to 10 m depth. NPP varied significantly among sites and, when modeled against published NPP/P:R relationships, confirm a strong phototrophic capacity in L. chondrodes. This, along with variation across sites in NPP, isotope values, and Chlorophyll a concentration in sponge tissue, indicate that carbon and nitrogen uptake and fixation differ meaningfully across these small spatial scales. Microbiome composition also differed among sites, with sponges collected in Opunohu Bay—where a distinct encrusting morphotype was observed—harboring more diverse and compositionally distinct microbial communities. Critically, patterns of microbiome divergence and physiological divergence were decoupled: metabolic differences were most pronounced at the Intercontinental Resort site, while microbial differences were greatest at Opunohu Bay. This decoupling suggests that shifts in holobiont function can occur without corresponding restructuring of microbial symbiont communities, potentially reflecting functional redundancy within the microbiome, strong host regulation of physiological processes, or rapid metabolic responses to local environmental conditions. Together, these findings indicate that L. chondrodes exhibits meaningful intraspecific physiological plasticity across fine spatial scales. This metabolic flexibility may generate spatial heterogeneity in benthic primary productivity and nutrient cycling across reef habitats, with broader implications for carbon retention and ecosystem resilience.
Silent estrus behavior in buffalo is a great challenge to the sustainability of the dairy sector in Pakistan. To deal with reproductive failure, selection of animals with good estrus signs is crucial at the time of breeding. The current study analyzed the heat shock binding protein 1 (HspBP1) to identify the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that may interfere with the normal expression of heat signs. The coding sequence (CDS) of the gene and 25 SNPs were retrieved from the ENSEMBL database. Mutated CDS were constructed manually, incorporating the SNPs in the wild-type gene, and analyzed via CELLO, Expasy ProtParam, PHYRE2.2, SWISS-MODEL, HDOCK tools, and GROMACS. Analysis revealed that SNPs HspBP1E56*, HspBP1V88G, HspBP1C94*, HspBP1C129X, and HspBP1V202X altered the location of mutated proteins to extracellular and nucleus. Variant HspBP1E317* changed protein location to mitochondria. These SNPs imparted greater alkalinity, less thermostability, and in-vitro stability to the proteins in addition to truncated structures. The docking scores of the complexes of HspBP1V88G, HspBP1C94*, HspBP1E56*, HspBP1A50D, and HspBP1L13Q with HSP70 were more negative than that of the wild-type HspBP1-HSP70 complex, suggesting that the predicted binding affinity is lower than that of the wild-type. It indicated that the selected variants could interfere or modify the interaction between HspBP1 and HSP70. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations analysis, based on PCA, Rg, RMSD, and FEL data, demonstrated the dynamically disruptive impact of three SNPs, HspBP1V88G, HspBP1C94*, and HspBP1C129X, and the moderate impact of the HspBP1V202X variant. Variants identified in the current study, after validation through genotype-phenotype association studies, might contribute to reproductive enhancement in buffalo and livestock surveillance in the country.
The Llanganates-Sangay Ecological Corridor (CELS) is a critical area for Andean biodiversity, yet knowledge regarding its small non-volant mammal (SNVMS) communities and the processes structuring them remains limited. We evaluated the taxonomic and functional diversity of SNVMs along an elevational gradient (1000–4000 m) in the upper Pastaza River basin, Ecuador. We recorded 69 species (51 through direct capture and 18 via literature and sporadic records), more than doubling the previously documented inventory for the region. The assemblage includes 16 endemic species, representing 23.11% of Ecuador’s endemic SNVMs fauna, together with endangered species such as Rhagomys septentrionalis and Rhipidomys albujai. Using a trait-based approach (body mass, diet, activity period, foraging stratum, and substrate use), we identified seven functional groups. Null-model analyses indicated an elevational shift in community assembly processes. While functional richness remained consistently lower than expected under null models, functional evenness and functional divergence increased significantly above approximately 2,000 m. This threshold is consistent with a transition from communities dominated by competitive hierarchies in lowlands to assemblages of highly differentiated specialists in highlands. High functional uniqueness and low redundancy at high altitudes suggest increased vulnerability to environmental change. We conclude that the CELS represents an irreplaceable center of taxonomic and functional diversity in the tropical Andes, and that its protection should prioritize maintaining elevational connectivity and conserving high-mountain ecosystems to preserve both biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Algal blooms are a growing human and ecosystem health concern for many freshwater systems, particularly reservoirs. However, reservoirs are poorly monitored relative to large lakes and thus the dynamics of blooms are less understood. One such system is the Allegheny Reservoir (AR) where algal blooms have been documented as early as 1972 with annual bloom occurrence reported since 2012. The AR is located between New York and Pennsylvania and partially within the Seneca Nation of Indians’ (SNI) Allegany Reservation where the persistence of blooms is an environmental justice concern. However, there is limited historical data to quantify where blooms occur and if frequency or severity are increasing. This study attempts to fill these gaps and focus on how chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentrations and bloom dynamics are changing over time by generating high resolution chl-a maps back to 1984 using satellite remote sensing. Algal blooms have occurred over the full record predominantly near the transitional zone of the AR, largely within SNI territory. Notably, mean whole reservoir bloom coverage over the entire record is 32.93% while mean bloom coverage within SNI territory is 52.39%, highlighting environmental justice concerns. Whole reservoir, spatially integrated mean chl-a concentrations display no significant change over time, however the SNI portion of the AR is increasingly changing at the pixel-level. These results highlight the power of spatially-explicit, long-term analysis enabled by satellites to reveal localized patterns of chl-a variation otherwise obscured by point sampling or whole-reservoir averaging. Pinpointing where blooms occur and where their spatial footprint may be changing is critical for understanding their formation, management, and highlighting environmental justice concerns that are often highly localized.
Hirudin and hirudin-like factors constitute a paralogue-rich antithrombotic repertoire in medicinal leeches, yet no prior synthesis integrates their genomic content with clinical, anticancer and engineering outcomes within a single evidence framework. This review maps leech genome architecture, thrombin-inhibitor structure, clinical anticoagulation, preclinical anticancer mechanisms and biotherapeutic engineering onto a translational-stage-tagged model, and identifies the gaps that limit drug-development programs targeting this peptide family. Chromosome-level assemblies of Hirudo medicinalis, Hirudo nipponia and Hirudinaria manillensis now resolve this repertoire at contig level. Across this paralogue diversity, encoded peptides share a conserved disulfide scaffold, a rigid N-terminal core whose first three residues enter the α-thrombin active site in a non-canonical parallel orientation, and a disordered C-terminal tail that completes bidentate active-site-and-exosite-I engagement and accounts for paralogue-specific variability. Clinically translated products are recombinant lepirudin, desirudin, bivalirudin and argatroban, each approved for a single anticoagulation indication (heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, venous thromboembolism prophylaxis or percutaneous coronary intervention) and none possessing a specific reversal agent. Preclinical evidence supports extending hirudin pharmacology beyond anticoagulation: protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR-1)-driven metastasis, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/Notch-axis angiogenesis and platelet-mediated shielding of circulating tumor cells have been documented in diffuse-large-B-cell lymphoma, laryngeal cancer and melanoma models, with a dose-response duality in which low and medium concentrations promote wound-healing angiogenesis but higher concentrations progressively convert this to inhibition. Cell-free synthesis, AI-aided design and nanocarrier delivery are framed here as engineering strategies that exploit natural paralogue diversity, with aptamer anticoagulants that possess antisense-reversal capability serving as methodological comparators. Conservation of wild Hirudinidae populations is treated as a translational prerequisite for capturing empirical sequence diversity.
Vegetation phenology and summer maximum gross primary productivity (GPPmax) jointly regulate annual gross primary productivity (GPP). However, their independent relative contributions and joint co-driving mechanisms under divergent hydrothermal gradients remain poorly quantified. This study explores seasonal and annual GPP responses to phenological indicators and GPPmax across temperate grasslands in China, based on MODIS NDVI derived vegetation phenology (2001-2020), GLASS GPP satellite products, and site-level FLUXNET observations. To distinguish independent predictive effects from simple statistical correlations, we integrated partial correlation, standardized multiple linear regression and variance decomposition to quantify the relative independent contributions of SOS, EOS and GPPmax, as well as their joint interactive control on GPP dynamics. In arid zones (mean annual precipitation < 200 mm), an earlier start of the growing season (SOS) increases spring GPP but suppresses summer and autumn GPP, with the seasonal GPP loss outweighing spring gains. Partial correlation results show negative SOS-spring GPP relationships in 66.7% of pixels and positive EOS-autumn GPP relationships in 66.5% of pixels, demonstrating that SOS advancement and EOS delay generally promote spring and autumn GPP, respectively. Early SOS correlates negatively with summer GPP across 56% of pixels, especially in warm arid grasslands where spring phenological advancement triggers subsequent summer GPP decline. Combined remote sensing raster datasets and FLUXNET site observations reveals that the integrated product of growing season length (LOS) and GPPmax explains more than 94% of annual GPP variability, far exceeding the explanatory power of GPPmax alone (>80%). Variance partitioning further confirms that phenological metrics exert independent explanatory power for annual GPP beyond GPPmax, highlighting the irreplaceable role of phenology in improving annual GPP estimation. Strong covariation among SOS, EOS and GPPmax is detected in hot arid grasslands: advanced spring phenology is consistently coupled with reduced seasonal peak productivity and postponed autumn senescence. Collectively, our results indicate that climate warming-driven SOS advancement alters seasonal and annual total photosynthetic carbon fixation, with adverse effects on annual gross primary production prominent in arid temperate grasslands of China.
