Search Results (13)

Parasites play a significant role in biodiversity, yet research on these organisms remains limited, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. Parasites are also an essential aspect of domestic animal husbandry, and their prevalence depends on various factors, such as husbandry conditions and the environment. However, no studies have been conducted on parasites affecting domestic animals on Socotra Island. This study aimed to investigate parasites in selected goat populations on the island using intravital fecal diagnosis. A total of 406 samples from adult goats across different locations (lowlands and highlands) and seasons (dry and rainy) were collected, fixed in 10% formalin, and transported to the Czech Republic for coprological examination using flotation and ether sedimentation methods. Statistical analyses, including partial canonical correspondence analysis (pCCA), the Monte Carlo permutation test, and the chi-squared test, revealed a high prevalence of gastrointestinal parasite infections, with 89% of goats infected. Eimeria spp. had the highest prevalence (76%). Co-infection was common, with 55.9% of goats infected with multiple parasites. Seasonality influenced parasitism, with other Protostrongylidae, Muellerius spp., and Trichuris spp. predominating during the rainy season, and Eimeria spp. and gastrointestinal strongylids predominating during the dry season. This first study on Socotra Island, Yemen, provides crucial insights into effective intervention strategies for controlling goat parasite infections. Full article

Factors responsible for species distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates, including responses at different spatial scales, have been previously investigated. The aim of the present research was to review the most relevant factors explaining chironomid species distribution focusing on factors operating at different spatial scales, such as latitude, longitude, altitude, substrate, salinity, water temperature, current velocity, conductivity, acidity, dissolved oxygen, nutrient content etc. acting at regional levels and at a large or small water basin level. Data including chironomid species abundances from different lentic and lotic waters in Italy and other surrounding countries were analyzed using partial canonical correspondence analysis (pCCA) and multiple discriminant analysis (DISCR). Spatial analyses, including univariate Moran’s I correlograms, multivariate Mantel correlograms and Moran’s eigenvector maps (MEMs), were thereafter carried out. The results showed that habitat type, including different types of lotic waters (i.e., kryal, crenal, rhithral, potamal) and different lake types (i.e., littoral, sublittoral, profundal zones), is the most significant factor separating chironomid assemblages, while spatial factors act only as indirect influencers. Full article

In the realms of ecology and biogeography, the interaction between biodiversity and environmental factors is a critical area of research. This intersection highlights how biological communities, especially among groups like bryophytes, are influenced and shaped by their surrounding environmental conditions. This study presents a pioneering investigation into the diversity and community structure of mosses in Qinhuangdao, Hubei Province, China, a region marked by its diverse topography and climate. Employing extensive field surveys across 30 plots, we gathered and analyzed the relationship between moss species distribution and environmental variables, including topographical, climatic, and soil factors. Utilizing a range of analytical techniques, such as cluster analysis, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), and partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM), we characterized the intricate relationships between moss biodiversity and environmental gradients. The research has documented 84 species distributed among 36 genera and 13 families. Solar radiation has a great impact on moss diversity. There were significant differences between Form. Entodon compressus and Form. Plagiobryum demissum. Climate has a great impact on the community structure of mosses. Geographical factors were also identified as key secondary influences, affecting moss community structures both directly and indirectly by creating suitable microenvironments and influencing climate and soil properties. Additionally, the study highlights the indirect impact of spatial factors on these environmental variables, which in turn shape the structure of biological communities. The findings indicate that the annual temperature range is a key factor influencing the distribution and formation of moss community structures. The findings provide new insights into the ecological adaptation of mosses in diverse environmental settings and lay a crucial foundation for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management in the Qinhuangdao area. Full article

The Toce River (Northern Italy) is characterized by legacy contamination of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), mercury, and arsenic deriving from an industrial plant active between ca. 1915 and 1996. Chironomidae taxa assemblages and sediments were collected in 2014 and 2019 upstream and downstream of the industrial area to analyze species responses to toxic substances in a river stretch with relatively uniform natural (i.e., hydro-morphological) characteristics. A total of 32 chironomid taxa were identified. Sediment concentrations reached levels potentially toxic for benthic invertebrates: 15.7 µg kg⁻¹ 1% organic carbon for DDT, 197 µg kg⁻¹ dry weight (d.w.) for Hg, and 55.7 mg kg⁻¹ d.w. for As. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) revealed a predominant seasonal gradient, followed by an upstream-downstream gradient. Partial CCA indicated that 5.2% of the total variation was associated with sediment contamination. Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs) were used to represent species responses to toxicants. Most species appeared to be tolerant, e.g., Chironomus riparius, Micropsectra atrofasciata, Conchapelopia pallidula, and Polypedilum spp. Sensitivity to contaminants was observed in only a few species: Diamesa spp., Sympotthastia spinifera, and Prodiamesa olivacea to DDT; Potthastia longimanus to Hg; Odontomesa fulva and Microtendipes pedellus to As. The chironomid community was characterized in presence of contamination levels commonly observed in freshwater ecosystems. Full article

In order to study the vertical distribution characteristics of phytoplankton in the Danjiangkou Reservoir, the water source of the Middle Route Project of the South-North Water Diversion, seven sampling sites were set up in the Reservoir for quarterly sampling from 2017 to 2019, and water environment surveys were conducted simultaneously. The results showed that 157 species (including varieties) were identified, belonging to 9 phyla and 88 genera. In terms of species richness, Chlorophyta had the largest number of species, accounting for 39.49% of the total species. The Bacillariophyta and Cyanobacteria accounted for 28.03% and 13.38% of the total species, respectively. From the whole Danjiangkou Reservoir, the total phytoplankton abundance varied from 0.09 × 10² to 20.01 × 10⁶ cells/L. In the vertical distribution, phytoplankton were mainly observed in the surface–thermospheric layer (I–II layer) and the bottom layer, while the Shannon–Wiener index showed a trend of gradually decreasing from the I–V layer. The Surfer model analysis showed that there was no significant stratification in the Q site’s water temperature (WT) and dissolved oxygen (DO) levels in the water diversion area during the dynamic water diversion process. A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that DO, WT, pH, electrical conductivity (Cond), chemical oxygen demand (COD_Mn), total phosphorus (TP), ammonia nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N), and total nitrogen (TN) had significant effects on the vertical distribution of phytoplankton (p < 0.05). A partial Mantel analysis showed that the vertical distribution of the phytoplankton community was related to WT, and the phytoplankton community structure at the other sites, except for Heijizui (H) and Langhekou (L), was affected by DO. This study has positive significance for exploring the vertical distribution characteristics of a phytoplankton community in a deep-water dynamic water diversion reservoir. Full article

Climate is critical for plant altitudinal distribution patterns. Non-climatic factors also have important effects on vegetation altitudinal distribution in mountain regions. The purpose of this study was to explore the current distribution of plant diversity along the altitudinal gradient in the Taihang Mountain range of northern China and to estimate the effects of climatic and non-climatic factors on the elevational pattern. Through a field survey, a total of 480 sampling plots were established in the central Taihang Mountain range. Alpha diversities (the Shannon–Weiner index and Simpson index) and beta diversities (the Jaccard index and Cody index) were measured based on the survey data. Plant community structure change based on the altitudinal gradient was explored by measuring the diversity indices. Canonical correspondence analysis was carried out to determine the factors influencing plant altitudinal distribution. The contributions of climatic and non-climatic factors on plant distribution were determined by partial methods. The results showed that the plant diversity of the elevational gradient complied with a “hump-shaped” pattern, in which communities in the medium altitude area with higher plant diversity had a higher species turnover rate, and non-climatic factors, particularly the anthropogenic factors, had an important influence on the plant altitudinal pattern. In conclusion, climatic and non-climatic factors both had important effects on the plant altitudinal pattern. It is strongly recommended to reduce human interference in mountain vegetation protection and management. Full article

Soil microbes play important roles in determining plant community composition and terrestrial ecosystem functions, as well as the direction and extent of terrestrial ecosystem feedback to environmental changes. Understanding the distribution patterns of plant and soil microbiota along elevation gradients is necessary to shed light on important ecosystem functions. In this study, soil bacteria along an elevation gradient in an alpine meadow ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau were investigated using Illumina sequencing and GeoChip technologies. The community structure of the soil bacteria and plants presented a continuous trend along the elevation gradient, and their alpha diversity displayed different distribution patterns; however, there were no linkages between them. Beta diversity of the soil bacteria and plants was significantly influenced by elevational distance changes (p < 0.05). Functional gene categories involved in nitrogen and phosphorus cycling had faster changes than those involved in carbon degradation, and functional genes involved in labile carbon degradation also had faster variations than those involved in recalcitrant carbon degradation with elevational changes. According to Pearson’s correlation, partial Mantel test analysis, and canonical correspondence analysis, soil pH and mean annual precipitation were important environmental variables in influencing soil bacterial diversity. Soil bacterial diversity and plant diversity had different distribution patterns along the elevation gradient. Full article

Global biodiversity management is of concern due to invasive plant species that dramatically disturb the native communities causing biological homogenization. Therefore, the present research investigated the impacts of Silybum marianum, an aggressive invasive alien species, on communities’ diversity and environmental variables in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Phytosociological characteristics and diversity indices of the communities were sampled in seventy-five sites using the quadrate method. These sites were categorized based on invasion intensities, i.e., fully invaded sites with a 100% importance value index of the selected species, severely invaded sites with >60% of IVI, and partially invaded sites with >30% of the chosen species. The community composition significantly changes with changes in invasion intensity. Similarly, S. marianum invasion has a pronounced impact on the community’s diversity showing significant differences among the three categorized groups (p < 0.05). The canonical correspondence analysis revealed 29.9% variance where soil texture, nutrients, and elevations were influential variables in maintaining the community’s structure and composition. The study concludes that S. marianum dominated well-established communities in the existing soil and environmental variables; therefore, it was found to be influential in disturbing the native communities and may severely harm the crop plant and agricultural system in the future. Full article

This study investigated the potential of using the changes in polyphenol composition of red wine to enable a more comprehensive chemometric differentiation and suitable identification of authentication markers. Based on high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) data collected from Feteasca Neagra, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon finished wines, phenolic profiles of relevant classes were investigated immediately after vinification (Stage 1), after three months (Stage 2) and six months (Stage 3) of storage, respectively. The data were subjected to multivariate analysis, and resulted in an initial vintage differentiation by principal component analysis (PCA), and variety grouping by canonical discriminant analysis (CDA). Based on polyphenol common biosynthesis route and on the PCA correlation matrix, additional descriptors were investigated. We observed that the inclusion of specific compositional ratios into the data matrix allowed for improved sample differentiation. We obtained simultaneous discrimination according to the considered oenological factors (variety, vintage, and geographical origin) as well as the respective clustering applied during the storage period. Subsequently, further discriminatory investigations to assign wine samples to their corresponding classes relied on partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA); the classification models confirmed the clustering initially obtained by PCA. The benefits of the presented fingerprinting approach might justify its selection and warrant its potential as an applicable tool with improved authentication capabilities in red wines. Full article

Egypt is characterized by its hyper-arid desert environment with high temperature, scanty rainfall, high evapotranspiration rate, and patchy scattered precipitation-dependent vegetation. Located in this peculiar ecosystem, the northeastern part of the eastern desert occupies vast areas where this study was conducted. Despite some protection in this area, destruction of plant cover, soil erosion, and degradation of natural habitat are still occurring. Among the complex array of anthropogenic disturbances that directly affect species diversity, over-grazing, road construction, over-collection of plants, salinization, over-cutting, military activities, urbanization, and industrialization were encountered. The aim of this study was to assess the effect on long-lasting anthropopressure on the current floristic and ecological status of the unprotected area in comparison to the protected one. Two areas were chosen for detailed studies: protected (Wadi Degla; WD) and unprotected (Cairo-Suez road, SR). Fourteen soil variables were used to assess the soil–vegetation relationships in the two areas. An assessment of seven human activities (over-grazing, over-collection, introduced species, land degradation, urbanization, solid wastes, and military activities) was carried out at four levels of disturbance intensities. A floristic presence/absence data set of 25 plots × 56 species, including 14 plots for SR and 11 plots for WD, was employed in the analyses. The application of multivariate analysis techniques such as cluster analysis (for classification), indicator species analysis (ISA) and the multi-response permutation procedure (MRPP), canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), and redundancy analysis (RDA) for ordination were performed in the data analysis. Generally, a total of 85 plant species belonging to 68 genera and 30 families was recorded. Asteraceae, Chenopodiaceae, Fabaceae, Zygophyllaceae, Poaceae, Brassicaceae, and Geraniaceae were the largest families, constituting more than 50% of the total flora. Chamaephytes, therophytes, hemicryptophytes, and phanerophytes prevail in the life form spectrum. Chorological analysis showed that the Saharo-Arabian element, whether pure or combined with other chorotypes, dominated the current flora, whereas the Mediterranean chorotype was very poorly represented. Application of cluster analysis yielded eight vegetation groups: I–IV for the Cairo-Suez road, and V–VIII for Wadi Degla. This study indicated the disappearance of several plant communities that were previously of common occurrence such as Retama raetam, Anabasis articulata, Ephedra alata, Artemisia monosperma, Zygophyllum decumbens, Lasiurus hirsutus, and Panicum turgidum. Partial CCA (pCCA) for the unprotected area revealed that most of the variance (45.7%) was attributed to the anthropogenic variables more than soil factors (14.5%). Like what was revealed in other unprotected areas, a clear relationship between anthropogenic pressure and habitat fragmentation was observed. Long-term, intensive human activities caused vegetation degradation, species loss, and a decline in plant richness. Hence, the highest species richness value was recorded in the protected area. Over-grazing, land degradation, and military activities were not correlated with the diversity indices, whereas over-collection of plant species, urbanization, and solid wastes were significantly negatively correlated with both α-diversity and the Shannon–Wiener index. Suitable protection measures should be taken to reduce the anthropogenic pressures in this ecosystem as well as some conservation programs and management plans should be implemented to save biodiversity. Full article

Understanding the change pattern of soil respiration (SR) and its drivers under different bamboo species and land management practices is critical for predicting soil CO₂ emission and evaluating the carbon budget of bamboo forest ecosystems. A 24-month field study was performed in subtropical China to monitor SR in experimental plots of local bamboo (Phyllostachys glauca) without fertilization (PG) and commercial bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) with and without fertilization (PPF and PP, respectively). The SR rate and soil properties were measured on a monthly timescale. Results showed that the SR rate ranged from 0.38 to 8.53 µmol CO₂ m⁻²s⁻¹, peaking in June. The PPF treatment had higher SR rates than the PP and PG treatments for most months; however, there were no significant differences among the treatments. The soil temperature (ST) in the surface layer (0–10 cm) was found to be the predominant factor controlling the temporal change pattern of the monthly SR rate in the PG and PP treatments (i.e., those without fertilization). A bivariate model is used to show that a natural factor—comprised of ST and soil water content (SWC)—explained 44.2% of the variation in the monthly SR rate, whereas biological (i.e., bamboo type) and management (i.e., fertilization) factors had a much smaller impact (less than 0.1% of the variation). The annual mean SR showed a significant positive correlation with soil organic matter (SOM; r = 0.51, P < 0.05), total nitrogen (TN; r = 0.47, P < 0.05), total phosphorus (TP; r = 0.60, P < 0.01), clay content (0.72, P < 0.05) and below-ground biomass (r = 0.60*), which altogether explain 69.0% of the variation in the annual SR. Our results indicate that the fertilization effect was not significant in SR rate for most months among the treatments, but was significant in the annual rate. These results may help to improve policy decisions concerning carbon sequestration and the management of bamboo forests in China. Full article

From the west to the east across Northeast China, there are three major land use types, ranging from agricultural-pastoral interlaced land, crop land, and forest land. The soil microbial community of each land use type has been reported; however, a thorough comparison of the soil microbial ecology of soils from each land use type has not been made. In the current study, soil samples from agricultural-pastoral land, crop land, and an artificial economic forest were collected from Tongliao, Siping, and Yanji, respectively. The structure and composition of bacterial and fungal communities was investigated by a next generation sequencing protocol, and soil physicochemical properties were also determined. Pair-wise analysis showed some soil parameters were significantly different between agricultural-pastoral land and crop land or forest land, while those soil parameters shared more similarities in crop land and forest land soils. Principal coordinates analysis and dissimilarity analyses jointly indicated that bacterial and fungal communities from each sampling site were quite different. Canonical correspondence analysis and a partial Mantel test showed that the community structures of bacteria and fungi were mainly affected by clay, pH, water soluble organic carbon (WSOC), and total soluble nitrogen (TN). Co-occurrence network analysis and the associated topological features revealed that the network of the bacterial community was more complex than that of the fungal community. Clay, pH, WSOC, and NH₄⁺-N were major drivers and pH and WSOC were major factors in shaping the network of the bacterial community and the fungal community, respectively. In brief, our results indicated that microbial diversity, co-occurrence network patterns, and their shaping factors differed greatly among soils of distinct land use types in Northeast China. Our data also provided insights into the sustainable use of soils under different land use types. Full article

Viscosity loss of high-molecular-weight partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) solution was observed in a water injection pipeline before being injected into subterranean oil wells. In order to investigate the possible involvement of microorganisms in HPAM viscosity loss, both bacterial and archaeal community compositions of four samples collected from different points of the transportation pipeline were analyzed using PCR-amplification of the 16S rRNA gene and clone library construction method together with the analysis of physicochemical properties of HPAM solution and environmental factors. Further, the relationship between environmental factors and HPAM properties with microorganisms were delineated by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Diverse bacterial and archaeal groups were detected in the four samples. The microbial community of initial solution S1 gathered from the make-up tank is similar to solution S2 gathered from the first filter, and that of solution S3 obtained between the first and the second filter is similar to that of solution S4 obtained between the second filter and the injection well. Members of the genus Acinetobacter sp. were detected with high abundance in S3 and S4 in which HPAM viscosity was considerably reduced, suggesting that they likely played a considerable role in HPAM viscosity loss. This study presents information on microbial community diversity in the HPAM transportation pipeline and the possible involvement of microorganisms in HPAM viscosity loss and biodegradation. The results will help to understand the microbial community contribution made to viscosity change and are beneficial for providing information for microbial control in oil fields. Full article