A combination of factors including migration, climate change and the encroachment of growing cities are associated with the extinction of species and a reduction in biodiversity. In Mexico maize landraces are an important source of germplasm that could be invaluable for future breeding programs in response a changing environment. Efforts to develop conservation strategies are hampered by the costs of housing and maintaining large germplasm collections. Effective criteria are therefore needed to identify rare genotypes that are in danger of being lost and to define minimal cost -effective core collections. With this aim a large-scale genotyping analysis of Mexican maize landraces was carried out to determine relationships at the genotype level and identify rare germplasm. Using this methodology, a core subset of 56 accessions from a total number of 1338 carrying all 333 distinct alleles identified in the study was determined.
Due to its deep modification of biotic and abiotic elements compared to natural habitats, the urban environment, which is extending every year with human population expansion, causes problems for bird survival.
This article will look at seasonal associations with light pollution trends and their effect on nocturnally migrating bird populations. The research was published in Ecosphere.
Frontiers | Dragonfly Conservation in the Increasingly Stressed African Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems frontiersin.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from frontiersin.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Frontiers | Genomic Diversity of the Ostreid Herpesvirus Type 1 Across Time and Location and Among Host Species frontiersin.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from frontiersin.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
2Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Oban, United Kingdom This study compares the noise levels at the cold-water coral Tisler reef, before and after the closure of the border between Norway and Sweden, which occurred as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tisler reef is a marine protected area located under a ferry “highway” that connects Norway and Sweden. Cold-water coral reefs are recognised as being important hotspots of both biodiversity and biomass, they function as breeding and nursing grounds for commercially important fish and are essential in providing ecosystem functions. Whilst studies have shown that fishery, ocean warming, and acidification threaten them, the effects of noise pollution on cold-water coral reefs remains unstudied. To study the severity of noise pollution at the Tisler reef, a long-term acoustic recorder was deployed from 29 January 2020 until 26 May 2020. From 15 March COVID-19 lockdown measures stopped passenger vessel traffic between Norway and Sweden. This study found that the overall noise levels were significantly lower after border closure, due to reduced ferry traffic, wind speeds, and sea level height. When comparing the median hourly noise levels of before vs. after border closure, this study measured a significant reduction in the 63–125 Hz 1/3 octave band noise levels of 8.94 ± 0.88 (MAD) dB during the day (07:00:00–19:59:59) and 1.94 ± 0.11 (MAD) dB during the night (20:00:00–06:59:59). Since there was no ferry traffic during the night, the drop in noise levels at night was likely driven by seasonal changes, i.e., the reduction in wind speed and sea level height when transitioning from winter to spring. Taking into account this seasonal effect, it can be deduced that the COVID-19 border closure reduced the noise levels in the 63–125 Hz 1/3 octave bands at the Tisler reef by 7.0 ± 0.99 (MAD) dB during the day. While the contribution of, and changes in biological, weather-related and geophysical sound sources remain to be assessed in more detail, understanding the extent of anthropogenic noise pollution at the Tisler cold-water coral reef is critical to guide effective management to ensure the long-term health and conservation of its ecosystem functions.