15 research outputs found
Global distribution of earthworm diversity
No full textSoil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass. We found that local species richness and abundance typically peaked at higher latitudes, displaying patterns opposite to those observed in aboveground organisms. However, high species dissimilarity across tropical locations may cause diversity across the entirety of the tropics to be higher than elsewhere. Climate variables were found to be more important in shaping earthworm communities than soil properties or habitat cover. These findings suggest that climate change may have serious implications for earthworm communities and for the functions they provide.</p
Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties
No full textEarthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change
Global effects of land use on local terrestrial biodiversity
No full textHuman activities, especially conversion and degradation of habitats, are causing global biodiversity declines. How local ecological assemblages are responding is less clear--a concern given their importance for many ecosystem functions and services. We analysed a terrestrial assemblage database of unprecedented geographic and taxonomic coverage to quantify local biodiversity responses to land use and related changes. Here we show that in the worst-affected habitats, these pressures reduce within-sample species richness by an average of 76.5%, total abundance by 39.5% and rarefaction-based richness by 40.3%. We estimate that, globally, these pressures have already slightly reduced average within-sample richness (by 13.6%), total abundance (10.7%) and rarefaction-based richness (8.1%), with changes showing marked spatial variation. Rapid further losses are predicted under a business-as-usual land-use scenario; within-sample richness is projected to fall by a further 3.4% globally by 2100, with losses concentrated in biodiverse but economically poor countries. Strong mitigation can deliver much more positive biodiversity changes (up to a 1.9% average increase) that are less strongly related to countries' socioeconomic status
Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties
No full textEarthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change.Helen R. P. Phillips, Elizabeth M. Bach, Marie L. C . Bartz, Joanne M. Bennett, Rémy Beugnon ... Timothy Cavagnaro ... et al
Erratum for the Report 'Global distribution of earthworm diversity' by H. R. P. Phillips, C. A. Guerra, M. L. C. Bartz et al.
No full text202
The conservation value of forests and tree plantations for beetle (Coleoptera) communities: A global meta-analysis
No full textArt. 119201While mature forests are declining worldwide, tree plantations could provide habitats of conservation value for forest-adapted species. However, to what degree the fauna in tree plantations matches the diversity and composition of mature forest communities is still debated. In this meta-analysis, we used beetle species (Coleoptera) as biodiversity indicators to assess the conservation value (i.e. the log response ratio in species richness and abundance and the Soerensen similarity) of tree plantations versus reference old-growth forests. We tested the effects of biome, plantation age, tree species richness and origin, surrounding habitat and the trophic position of the focal guild on the diversity and composition of beetle communities. Our results showed that tree plantations generally harboured communities with 47% less individuals, 33% less species and a significantly distinct composition than old-growth forests. In the case that tree plantations had a similar number of species or individuals as old-growth forests, those plantations still displayed a 40% difference in species composition. Beetle abundance was significantly lower in tropical/subtropical plantations and for detrivorous species. We found no further significant drivers of beetle diversity and community composition in tree plantations. We conclude that, although tree plantations can provide crucial habitats for forest-adapted species, they generally harbour less diverse and significantly different communities, highlighting the conservation value of old-growth forests as biodiversity refuges. To properly assess the conservation value of plantations in different taxa, we propose the use of species composition instead of single diversity indices.49
Automated and Interpretable Detection of Hippocampal Sclerosis in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: AID-HS
No full text[EN] Objective: Hippocampal sclerosis (HS), the most common pathology associated with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), is not always visible on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), causing surgical delays and reduced postsurgical seizurefreedom. We developed an open-source software to characterize and localize HS to aid the presurgical evaluation of children and adults with suspected TLE.
Methods: We included a multicenter cohort of 365 participants (154 HS; 90 disease controls; 121 healthy controls). HippUnfold was used to extract morphological surface-based features and volumes of the hippocampus from T1-weighted MRI scans. We characterized pathological hippocampi in patients by comparing them to normative growth charts and analyzing within-subject feature asymmetries. Feature asymmetry scores were used to train a logistic
regression classifier to detect and lateralize HS. The classifier was validated on an independent multicenter cohort of 275 patients with HS and 161 healthy and disease controls.
Results: HS was characterized by decreased volume, thickness, and gyrification alongside increased mean and intrinsic curvature. The classifier detected 90.1% of unilateral HS patients and lateralized lesions in 97.4%. In patients with MRI negative histopathologically-confirmed HS, the classifier detected 79.2% (19/24) and lateralized 91.7% (22/24). The model achieved similar performances on the independent cohort, demonstrating its ability to generalize to new data. Individual patient reports contextualize a patient¿s hippocampal features in relation to normative growth trajectories, visualise feature asymmetries, and report classifier predictions.
Interpretation: Automated and Interpretable Detection of Hippocampal Sclerosis (AID-HS) is an open-source pipeline for detecting and lateralizing HS and outputting clinically-relevant reports.M.R. and S.A. are supported by the Rosetrees Trust (A2665) and Epilepsy Research Institute (P2208). K.W. is supported by the Wellcome Trust (301991/Z/23/Z). JD is supported by a Canada Research Chairs program (#950-231964), CIHR Project Grant (366062), and NSERC Discovery Grant (RGPIN-2023-05558). MHE is supported by the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation. S.G. and H.P. are supported by a Seed grant from Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi. P.S. and K.H. are supported by Health and Care Research Wales. HX is supported by the Hess Foundation. N.T.C. is supported by an AAN Career Development Award, Hess Foundation. I.W. is supported by NIH R01 NS109439. G.M.R. is supported by FONDECYT grants (#1210195, #1210176, #1220995). A.R. is supported by Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca PE0000006. A.V. and R.T. are supported by Fundación Iniciativa Para las Neurociencias. H.R.P. is supported by the NIH (R21NS117990). G.P.W. is supported by the Medical Research Council (G0802012, MR/M00841X/1). J.S.D. is supported by the NIHR. A.R.K. is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. This work is supported by the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity BRC. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.Ripart, M.;Dekraker, J.;Eriksson, MH.;Piper, RJ.;Gopinath, S.;Parasuram, H.;Mo, J.... (2025). Automated and Interpretable Detection of Hippocampal Sclerosis in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: AID-HS. Annals of Neurology. 97(1):62-75. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.27089S627597
The metropolitan police 1850-1914: targeting, harassment and the creation of a criminal class
No full textWithin Victorian society there was a public perception that within the wider field of
class there were a number of levels at the bottom of which was a criminal class.
This, a very diverse group growing out of the working class, was considered to be
responsible for the vast majority of offences ranging from begging to murder.
Following the ending of transportation in the 1850’s the Metropolitan Police were
faced with a number of new problems and responsibilities. These left them open to
allegations that they were so targeting sections of the community that they were
creating this criminal class from within the casual poor and those already known to
police.
As the period progressed the police were given wider powers to deal with the
changed situation as well as extra responsibility for the compilation of criminal
records and the supervision of released convicts. As a result of these changes
allegations were made that the police so harassed those on tickets of leave and under
supervision that it impossible for many to obtain employment. In order for this to
have the case it would have been necessary for the police to be able to identify those
with previous criminal convictions and to target their resources against them.
The way in which resources were to be used had been established in 1829 with the
objective of preventing crime, by way of uniformed officers patrolling beats and
concentrating on night duty. Police resources were not efficiently used and failed to
adapt to changing circumstances. In particular, whilst the available evidence
especially for the early years is not complete it will be argued that, despite the
allocation of considerable resources, the police were very poor at a very important
part of their role, that of the identification of criminals.
The concept of a criminal class has been examined in two ways. There was a
‘subjective’ public perception of the situation which included all those committing
offences but it is argued that in reality what happened was that there were a series of
legislative changes focussing on a gradually reducing group of habitual offenders
which can properly be called a criminal class. This small group was responsible for
the majority of serious crime during the period. As a result the police came to be
targeting a very narrowly defined group and they as the agents, the public face of the
changes, were the ones against whom complaints were most commonly made.
This research shows that the Metropolitan Police were very poor at some important
aspects of their role and that they were given additional responsibilities without
always having the proper backing of the legislative framework. It also shows that
the police were very aware of the difficulties they faced in dealing with released
convicts and took great pains not only to allay public fears but also made
contributions to the well being of many of those released from prison
Type-2 Endotypes in Severe Asthma Are Stable Over Time and Demonstrate Markedly Different Transcriptomic Responses to Corticosteroids
No full textHarmonizing biodiversity conservation and productivity in the context of increasing demands on landscapes
No full textBiodiversity conservation and agricultural production are often seen as mutually exclusive objectives. Strategies for reconciling them are intensely debated. We argue that harmonization between biodiversity conservation and crop production can be improved by increasing our understanding of the underlying relationships between them. We provide a general conceptual framework that links biodiversity and agricultural production through the separate relationships between land use and biodiversity and between land use and production. Hypothesized relationships are derived by synthesizing existing empirical and theoretical ecological knowledge. The framework suggests nonlinear relationships caused by the multifaceted impacts of land use (composition, configuration, and intensity). We propose solutions for overcoming the apparently dichotomous aims of maximizing either biodiversity conservation or agricultural production and suggest new hypotheses that emerge from our proposed framework
