887 research outputs found
Understanding how Odonates Respond to Global Change; a Cross-Continental Analysis
No full textGlobal change profoundly alters biological communities and increases species extinction rates. Recent reports show that odonate species (dragonflies and damselflies) are declining globally, however, odonates can also respond strongly to climate and land use change through shifts in range and phenology - i.e., the timing of life history events. Understanding how and when species respond to rapid environmental change is critical to address conservation risks in a timely way. I assembled a dataset of ~2 million odonate records between 1901 and 2021 and investigated a series of research questions about odonate persistence within historically occupied regions, how species respond across continents, and mechanisms leading to these responses. I discovered that non-target effects of pesticides interacted with temperature increases, leading to higher rates of odonate declines across the United States. Species with greater capacities in shifting their range northward may be more robust to impacts of global change (Chapter 2). Converging across Europe and North America, stronger range limit shifts were associated with stronger shifts in emergence phenology towards earlier spring dates, even though land use histories are highly divergent among regions. It is temperature variability and range geography, determinants of habitat conditions to which species are exposed, rather than ecological traits, that facilitated or hindered range shifts (Chapter 3). Temperature variability interacted with pesticide applications to hinder persistence or establishment in new areas that were otherwise climatically suitable, providing further evidence of impacts of extreme weather to insect declines. Tests of methods commonly used to predict species' distributions under future climate change (Species Distribution Models) revealed that species most likely to decline were also less likely to be well modeled, in terms of their temporal transferability (Chapter 4). This work deepens knowledge of spatial and temporal interspecific variation in species distributions as humans continue to reshape the Earth's ecosystems and climatic processes. This thesis can help improve species-specific conservation planning for species that decline in the face of anthropogenic activities
The whole works of the right Rev. Jeremy Taylor ... ; with a life of the author ... by ... Reginald Heber ... ; revised and corrected by the Rev. Charles Page Eden ...
No full textPhotocopy v.1 and v.9.A funeral sermon, preached at the obsequies of Jeremy Taylor ... by George Rust: v.1, p. [cccix]-cccxxvii.Each volume has separate t.-p.v. 6. The real presence and spiritual of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament ... A dissuasive from popery. Five letters to persons changed or tempted to a change in their religion -- v. 7. Unum necessarium, or, The doctrine and practice of repentance. Deus justificatus, or, A vindication of the glory of the divine attributes ... Correspondence between John Warner, Bishop of Rochester, and Doctor Taylor ... Certain letters of Henry Jeanes ... and Dr. Jeremy Taylor ... Golden grove, or, A manual of daily prayers and litanies ... Also festival hymns -- v. 8. The worthy communicant ... Dekas embolimaios ... being eleven sermons. Sermon preached at the funeral of ... Sir George Dalstone. A collection of offices, or forms of prayer -- v. 9-10. Ductor dubitantium, or, the rule of conscience ...Vol. 1: 1854; v. 3 "In twelve volumes".Vols. 9 and 10 edited by Alexander Taylor.v. 1. Clerus Domini. Discourse of the nature and offices of friendship. Rules and advices to the clergy of the Diocese of Down and Connor. Sermon, the gate to heaven a strait gate. Life of Jeremy Taylor ... / Reginald Heber. Funeral sermon preached at the obsequies of ... Jeremy, Lord Bishop of Down ... / by George Rust -- v. 2. Life of our Blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ -- v. 3. Holy living and dying, together with prayers ... -- v. 4. A course of sermons for all the Sundays in the year -- v. 5. Episcopacy asserted. Apology for authorized and set forms of liturgy ... On the reverence due to the altar. Theologia eklektikē, or, A discourse of the liberty of prophesying ... Chrisis teleiōtikē, a discourse of Confirmation.Mode of access: Internet
Molecular Analysis of Soil Mesofaunal Diversity and the Effects of Natural Capital in Agroecosystems
No full textSoil biodiversity is key to maintaining ecosystem functions, but is threatened by anthropogenic changes. To help mitigate these risks, retaining small habitat patches within agroecosystems is a promising method, but it can be challenging to study due to the vast diversity of soil organisms. One important, but understudied, group that contributes to ecosystem functions, such as contributing to soil structure and cycling nutrients in the soil, is the soil mesofauna (~0.2 - 2 mm in size), mainly consisting of mites and springtails. DNA metabarcoding is a tool that is increasingly used to expand our knowledge of biodiversity, but it is still a work in progress with respect to investigating soil mesofaunal communities. A comparison of this technique performed on bulk mesofauna specimens versus bulk soil samples, collected in 2021 from an intensively farmed area of Eastern Ontario, found differences in species richness, but nonetheless, similarities were detected in community composition between both methods (Chapter 2). Identifying specimens morphologically gave different results compared to both molecular methods. During the summer of 2022, a survey of mesofauna in four types of non-field habitats (ditch margins with and without trees, small forest patches, and larger forest patches) was conducted in the same region (Chapter 3). Although the number of mesofaunal species was highly variable across all the sites surveyed, differences were detected in community composition between forested and unforested sites. The communities were highly variable within each habitat type. The lack of overlap in species presence between the different sites could be due to a variety of factors, such as the small-scale habitat features of the sites or differences in microhabitats between samples. As well, there was no clear separation between small and large forest patches with respect to mesofaunal community composition, which showcases the value that even small patches of natural habitat can have within agroecosystems. Soil physicochemical properties, particularly organic matter, moisture, and cation exchange capacity (CEC), also influenced these communities, while there was little evidence that the mesofaunal community varied over the growing season. This thesis improves understanding of soil mesofaunal diversity and community composition within agroecosystems in Canada, which remain largely uncharacterized. DNA metabarcoding yields insights into species composition of soil mesofaunal communities that are elusive, at best, using traditional morphological techniques
The Impact of Abiotic and Biotic Factors on the Tick-Host-Pathogen Disease Systems in Canada
No full textEmerging or re-emerging tick-borne pathogens are expected to increase in prevalence and become more geographically widespread in Canada. Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium causing Lyme disease, is the most common vector-borne pathogen in North America, but additional tick-borne pathogens have started to be detected more frequently through surveillance efforts in Canada. The spread and transmission of these tick-borne pathogens are modulated by changes in the abundance and distribution of tick and host populations. Abiotic factors, such as temperature, precipitation, and snow, may affect tick and host abundances as well as host dispersal. Furthermore, biotic factors, such as the abundance and diversity of hosts, may alter tick abundance and consequent tick-borne disease risk. In this dissertation, I assess the historical associations and spatiotemporal changes of the tick vectors, hosts, and pathogens in Canada as well as the impact of abiotic and biotic factors on these key players.
In Chapter 1, I present the first systematic assessment of the literature that identifies historical associations and spatiotemporal changes in the tick-host-pathogen disease systems in Canada over broad spatial and temporal scales. Borrelia burgdorferi was the most detected tick-borne pathogen and Ixodes scapularis harboured the greatest number of tick-borne pathogens. Several spatial outliers of high pathogen presence in ticks in addition to five spatiotemporal clusters were identified, which were located in areas of southern Canada with long-established tick populations. In addition, six spatiotemporal clusters of high pathogen presence were also identified, with four clusters associated with passive surveillance and two clusters related to active surveillance.
In chapter 2, I concurrently evaluated high-resolution environmental and host-related factors to determine the relative impacts of abiotic and biotic factors on questing I. scapularis abundance in Ontario and Quebec. High-resolution abiotic factors were derived from remote sensing satellite imagery and meteorological towers, while biotic factors related to mammal hosts were derived from active surveillance data that I collected in the field. Important abiotic and biotic drivers of questing I. scapularis abundance were identified, which included monthly mean precipitation, accumulated snow, and mammal species richness. These results demonstrate the need to incorporate host active surveillance data with high-resolution environmental factors when trying to determine the key drivers impacting the abundance and distribution of tick populations and tick-borne pathogens.
In Chapter 3, I analyzed the presence and prevalence of multiple tick-borne pathogens extracted from tick and small mammal specimens collected during field surveys in Ontario and Quebec. Three pathogen species were detected in ticks, which included Babesia odocoilei and B. burgdorferi in I. scapularis as well as Rickettsia rickettsii in Haemaphysalis leporispalustris. In small mammal hosts, three pathogen species were detected including B. odocoilei in one shrew, B. microti in one deer mouse, and Hepatozoon in one deer mouse and one white-footed mouse. My findings provide evidence that emerging or re-emerging tick-borne pathogens may be present outside currently defined risk areas identified by surveillance efforts in Canada.
Finally, in chapter 4, I examined the effect of biotic factors related to I. scapularis and mammal hosts on the presence, prevalence, and diversity of pathogens in Ontario and Quebec using data from field surveys. Local infection prevalence ranged from 0% to 25.4% in questing ticks and from 0% to 16.7% in small mammal hosts. Local pathogen presence and prevalence were not impacted by I. scapularis abundance nor the abundance and diversity of mammal hosts. However, mammal species richness was a key predictor of the number of pathogen species.
Collectively, my dissertation provides insight into the historical and contemporary relationships between ticks, hosts, and pathogens in Canada. My results demonstrate that additional tick species such as H. leporispalustris may be of public health importance due to their ability to maintain pathogens within the environment without needing a host. In addition, certain emerging or re-emerging tick-borne pathogens, such as B. odocoilei and R. rickettsii, were detected outside of currently defined risk areas in southeastern Quebec, which may impact future surveillance efforts in these regions. Furthermore, this work highlights the need for proactive and comprehensive surveillance efforts that test questing and feeding ticks of all life stages and species, as well as their hosts in areas outside currently defined risk areas or those targeted by sentinel surveillance to better determine the spread, transmission, and co-occurrence of tick-borne pathogens in Canada
Habitat Loss and Avian Range Dynamics through Space and Time
No full textThe species–area relationship (SAR) has been applied to predict species richness declines as area is converted to human-dominated land covers.In many areas of the world, however, many species persist in human-dominated areas, including threatened species. Because SARs are decelerating nonlinear, small extents of natural habitat can be converted to human use with little expected loss of associated species, but with the addition of more species that are associated with human land uses. Decelerating SARs suggest that, as area is converted to human-dominated forms, more species will be added to the rare habitat than are lost from the common one. This should lead to a peaked relationship between richness and natural area. I found that the effect of natural area on avian richness across Ontario was consistent with the sum of SARs for natural habitat species and human-dominated habitat species, suggesting that almost half the natural area can be converted to human-dominated forms before richness declines. However, I found that this spatial relationship did not remain consistent through time: bird richness increased when natural cover was removed (up to 4%), irrespective of its original extent.
The inclusion of metapopulation processes in predictive models of species presence improves predictions of diversity change through time dramatically. Variability in site occupancy was common among bird species evaluated in this study, likely resulting from local extinction-colonization dynamics. Likelihood of species presence declined when few neighbouring sites were previously occupied by the species. Site occupancy was also less likely when little suitable habitat was present. Consistent with expectations that larger habitats are easier targets for colonists, habitat area was more important for more isolated sites. Accounting for the effect of metapopulation dynamics on site occupancy predicted change in richness better than land cover change and increased the strength of the regional richness–natural area relationship to levels observed for continental richness–environment relationships suggesting that these metapopulation processes “scale up” to modify regional species richness patterns making them more difficult to predict. It is the existence of absences in otherwise suitable habitat within species’ ranges that appears to weaken regional richness–environment relationships
Habitat Loss and Avian Range Dynamics through Space and Time
No full textThe species–area relationship (SAR) has been applied to predict species richness declines as area is converted to human-dominated land covers.In many areas of the world, however, many species persist in human-dominated areas, including threatened species. Because SARs are decelerating nonlinear, small extents of natural habitat can be converted to human use with little expected loss of associated species, but with the addition of more species that are associated with human land uses. Decelerating SARs suggest that, as area is converted to human-dominated forms, more species will be added to the rare habitat than are lost from the common one. This should lead to a peaked relationship between richness and natural area. I found that the effect of natural area on avian richness across Ontario was consistent with the sum of SARs for natural habitat species and human-dominated habitat species, suggesting that almost half the natural area can be converted to human-dominated forms before richness declines. However, I found that this spatial relationship did not remain consistent through time: bird richness increased when natural cover was removed (up to 4%), irrespective of its original extent.
The inclusion of metapopulation processes in predictive models of species presence improves predictions of diversity change through time dramatically. Variability in site occupancy was common among bird species evaluated in this study, likely resulting from local extinction-colonization dynamics. Likelihood of species presence declined when few neighbouring sites were previously occupied by the species. Site occupancy was also less likely when little suitable habitat was present. Consistent with expectations that larger habitats are easier targets for colonists, habitat area was more important for more isolated sites. Accounting for the effect of metapopulation dynamics on site occupancy predicted change in richness better than land cover change and increased the strength of the regional richness–natural area relationship to levels observed for continental richness–environment relationships suggesting that these metapopulation processes “scale up” to modify regional species richness patterns making them more difficult to predict. It is the existence of absences in otherwise suitable habitat within species’ ranges that appears to weaken regional richness–environment relationships
Climate change contributes to widespread declines among bumble bees across continents - DATA REPOSITORY
No full textData and code repository for Soroye et al. 2020. (DOI: 10.1126/science.aax8591)Gridded environmental observations and R scripts used to process data and generate all results from study.The bumblebee dataset has been previously used in Kerr et al 2015, and contains data assembled from a variety of sources including (Polce et al 2018, Rasmont et al 2015, Potts et al 2015, and Williams et al 2014), and other sources listed in the complete acknowledgement below. This data is provided in accordance with the Research Standards and data policies of Science, to allow any researchers to reproduce or extend the analysis. Researchers wishing to use these data for novel applications or questions should first seek permission from the original data providers (see complete acknowledgement below for a list).J. T. Kerr, A. Pindar, P. Galpern, L. Packer, S. G. Potts, S. M. Roberts, P. Rasmont, O. Schweiger, S. R. Colla, L. L. Richardson, D. L. Wagner, L. F. Gall, D. S. Sikes, A. Pantoja, Climate change impacts on bumblebees converge across continents. Science 349, 177–180 (2015). doi:10.1126/science.aaa7031C. Polce, J. Maes, X. Rotllan-Puig, D. Michez, L. Castro, B. Cederberg, L. Dvorak, Ú.Fitzpatrick, F. Francis, J. Neumayer, A. Manino, J. Paukkunen, T. Pawlikowski, S. Roberts, J. Straka, P. Rasmont, Distribution of bumblebees across europe. One Ecosyst. 3, e28143 (2018). doi:10.3897/oneeco.3.e28143S. G. Potts, J. C. Biesmeijer, R. Bommarco, A. Felicioli, M. Fischer, P. Jokinen, D. Kleijn,A.-M. Klein, W. E. Kunin, P. Neumann, L. D. Penev, T. Petanidou, P. Rasmont, S. P. M. Roberts, H. G. Smith, P. B. Sørensen, I. Steffan-Dewenter, B. E. Vaissière, M. Vilà, A. Vujić, M. Woyciechowski, M. Zobel, J. Settele, O. Schweiger, Developing European conservation and mitigation tools for pollination services: Approaches of the STEP (Status and Trends of European Pollinators) project. J. Apic. Res. 50, 152–164 (2015). doi:10.3896/IBRA.1.50.2.07P. H. Williams, R. W. Thorp, L. L. Richardson, S. R. Colla, Bumble Bees of North America:An Identification Guide (Princeton Univ. Press, 2014).P. Rasmont, M. Franzen, T. Lecocq, A. Harpke, S. Roberts, K. Biesmeijer, L. Castro, B.Cederberg, L. Dvorak, U. Fitzpatrick, Y. Gonseth, E. Haubruge, G. Mahe, A. Manino, D. Michez, J. Neumayer, F. Odegaard, J. Paukkunen, T. Pawlikowski, S. Potts, M. Reemer,J. Settele, J. Straka, O. Schweiger, Climatic Risk and Distribution Atlas of European Bumblebees. BioRisk 10, 1–236 (2015). doi:10.3897/biorisk.10.4749The authors would like to thank all contributors to the bumble bee dataset, and the tireless hours of those who helped put it together, especially Alana Pindar, Paul Galpern, Laurence Packer, Simon G. Potts, Stuart M. Roberts, Pierre Rasmont, Oliver Schweiger, Sheila R. Colla, Leif L. Richardson, David L. Wagner, Lawrence F. Gall, Derek S. Sikes, and Alberto Pantoja. We are grateful to data contributors from North America: Bee Biology and Systematics Lab, USDA-ARS, Utah State University; John Ascher, National University of Singapore and American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA; Doug Yanega, University of California, Riverside (NSF-DBI #0956388 and #0956340), California, USA; Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois, USA; Packer Lab Research Collection, York University, Canada; Canadian National Collection, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Canada; Peabody Museum, Yale University; Sam Droege, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, USA; Boulder Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado, Colorado, USA. From Europe: Status and Trends of European Pollinators (STEP) Collaborative Project (grant 244090, www.STEP-project.net); Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society; BDFGM Banque de Données Fauniques (P. Rasmont & E. Haubruge); BWARS (UK, S.P.M. Roberts); SSIC (Sweden, B. Cederberg); Austria (J. Neumayer); EISN (Netherland, M. Reemer); CSCF (Suisse, Y. Gonseth); Poland (T. Pawlikowski); NBDC (Eire, U. FitzPatrick); FMNH (Finland, J. Paukkunen); Czech Republic (J. Straka, L. Dvorak); France (G. Mahé); NSIC (Norway, F. Odegaard); UK (S.P.M. Roberts); Italy (A. Manino); Spain (L. Castro) Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), http://gbif.org for records from North America and Europe. </div
Remnants and Revenants: politics and violence in the work of Agamben and Derrida
No full textThis is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Frazer, Elizabeth, and Kimberly Hutchings. "Remnants and revenants: politics and violence in the work of Agamben and Derrida." The British Journal of Politics & International Relations 13.2 (2011): 127-144, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-856X.2010.00428.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Jacques Derrida and Giorgio Agamben both consider the question of whether there can be politics without violence, offering contrasting responses. In the case of Agamben, the remnant (that which remains) is disruptive and destabilising of present institutions; in the case of Derrida the revenant, the spectre, promises a future that is open. This reading of the two theories suggests that Derrida's response to the question of politics and violence is more persuasive than Agamben's. But the abstraction of his argument, like the tensions and contradictions in Agamben's, means that we are not hereby furnished with the resources to think politically about violence
Programmed Death-1 Culls Peripheral Accumulation of High-Affinity Autoreactive CD4 T Cells to Protect against Autoimmunity
No full textSummarySelf-reactive CD4 T cells are incompletely deleted during thymic development, and their peripheral seeding highlights the need for additional safeguards to avert autoimmunity. Here, we show an essential role for the coinhibitory molecule programmed death-1 (PD-1) in silencing the activation of high-affinity autoreactive CD4 T cells. Each wave of self-reactive CD4 T cells that escapes thymic deletion autonomously upregulates PD-1 to maintain self-tolerance. By tracking the progeny derived from individual autoreactive CD4 T cell clones, we demonstrate that self-reactive cells with the greatest autoimmune threat and highest self-antigen affinity express the most PD-1. Reciprocally, PD-1 deprivation unleashes high-affinity self-reactive CD4 T cells in target tissues to exacerbate neuronal inflammation and autoimmune diabetes. Reliance on PD-1 to actively maintain self-tolerance may explain why exploiting this pathway by cancerous cells and invasive microbes efficiently subverts protective immunity, and why autoimmune side effects can develop after PD-1-neutralizing checkpoint therapies
Slow light induced by Stimulated Raman Scattering on spatial Kerr soliton
No full textInternational audienceWe present numerical and experimental results demonstrating the slow light process induced by the sharp resonance of the Raman gain medium during the propagation of a spatial Raman soliton in a Kerr planar waveguide
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