scholarly journals Predicting the effects of climate change on freshwater cyanobacterial blooms requires consideration of the complete cyanobacterial life cycle

Author(s):  
Kathryn L Cottingham ◽  
Kathleen C Weathers ◽  
Holly A Ewing ◽  
Meredith L Greer ◽  
Cayelan C Carey

Abstract To date, most research on cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater lakes has focused on the pelagic life stage. However, examining the complete cyanobacterial life cycle—including benthic life stages—may be needed to accurately predict future bloom dynamics. The current expectation, derived from the pelagic life stage, is that blooms will continue to increase due to the warmer temperatures and stronger stratification associated with climate change. However, stratification and mixing have contrasting effects on different life stages: while pelagic cyanobacteria benefit from strong stratification and are adversely affected by mixing, benthic stages can benefit from increased mixing. The net effects of these potentially counteracting processes are not yet known, since most aquatic ecosystem models do not incorporate benthic stages and few empirical studies have tracked the complete life cycle over multiple years. Moreover, for many regions, climate models project both stronger stratification and increased storm-induced mixing in the coming decades; the net effects of those physical processes, even on the pelagic life stage, are not yet understood. We therefore recommend an integrated research agenda to study the dual effects of stratification and mixing on the complete cyanobacterial life cycle—both benthic and pelagic stages—using models, field observations and experiments.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernan Santiago Mejía-Alvarado ◽  
Thaura Ghneim-Herrera ◽  
Carmenza E. Góngora ◽  
Pablo Benavides ◽  
Lucio Navarro-Escalante

The coffee berry borer (CBB); Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is widely recognized as the major insect pest of coffee crops. Like many other arthropods, CBB harbors numerous bacteria species that may have important physiological roles in host nutrition, detoxification, immunity and protection. To date, the structure and dynamics of the gut-associated bacterial community across the CBB life cycle is not yet well understood. A better understanding of the complex relationship between CBB and its bacterial companions may provide new opportunities for insect control. In the current investigation, we analyzed the diversity and abundance of gut microbiota across the CBB developmental stages under field conditions by using high-throughput Illumina sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Overall, 15 bacterial phyla, 38 classes, 61 orders, 101 families and 177 genera were identified across all life stages, including egg, larva 1, larva 2, pupa, and adults (female and male). Proteobacteria and Firmicutes phyla dominated the microbiota along the entire insect life cycle. Among the 177 genera, the 10 most abundant were members of Ochrobactrum (15.1%), Pantoea (6.6%), Erwinia (5.7%), Lactobacillus (4.3%), Acinetobacter (3.4%), Stenotrophomonas (3.1%), Akkermansia (3.0%), Agrobacterium (2.9%), Curtobacterium (2.7%), and Clostridium (2.7%). We found that the overall bacterial composition is diverse, variable within each life stage and appears to vary across development. About 20% of the identified OTUs were shared across all life stages, from which 28 OTUs were consistently found in all life stage replicates. Among these OTUs there are members of genera Pantoea, Erwinia, Agrobacterium, Ochrobactrum, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Brachybacterium, Sphingomonas and Methylobacterium, which can be considered as the gut-associated core microbiota of H. hampei. Our findings bring additional data to enrich the understanding of gut microbiota in CBB and its possible use for development of insect control strategies.


Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1901
Author(s):  
Viktoria Mannheim ◽  
Zoltan Simenfalvi

This paper assesses the environmental burdens of a polypropylene product throughout the product’s life cycle, especially focusing on the injection-moulding stage. The complete life cycle model of the polypropylene product has been developed from the raw material extraction and production phase through its usage to the end-of-life stage with the help of the life cycle assessment method. To find the answers to the posed problems, different impacts were analysed by GaBi 8.0 software. The analysis lasted from the cradle to the grave, expanding the analysis of the looping method. The aim of the research was to determine the energy and material resources, emissions, and environmental impact indicators. Basically, the article tried to answer three questions: (1) How can we optimize the production phase for the looping method? (2) Which materials and streams are recyclable in the design of the production process? (3) What is the relationship between life cycle stages and total life cycle of the product? As we inspect the life cycle of the product, the load on the environment was distributed as follows: 91% in the production phase, 3% in the use phase, and 6% in the end-of-life phase. The results of the research can be used to develop technologies, especially the injection-moulding process, with a lower environmental impact.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent L. Lockwood ◽  
Tarun Gupta ◽  
Rosemary Scavotto

AbstractMany terrestrial ectothermic species exhibit limited variation in upper thermal tolerance across latitude. However, these trends may not signify limited adaptive capacity to increase thermal tolerance in the face of climate change. Instead, thermal tolerance may be similar among populations because behavioral thermoregulation by mobile organisms or life stages may buffer natural selection for thermal tolerance. We compared thermal tolerance of adults and embryos among natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster from a broad range of thermal habitats around the globe to assess natural variation of thermal tolerance in mobile vs. immobile life stages. We found no variation among populations in adult thermal tolerance, but embryonic thermal tolerance was higher in tropical strains than in temperate strains. Average maximum temperature of the warmest month of the year predicted embryonic thermal tolerance in tropical but not temperate sites. We further report that embryos live closer to their upper thermal limits than adultso—i.e., thermal safety margins are smaller for embryos than adults. F1 hybrid embryos from crosses between temperate and tropical populations had thermal tolerance that matched that of tropical embryos, suggesting dominance of heat-tolerant alleles. Together our findings suggest that thermal selection has led to divergence in embryonic thermal tolerance but that selection for divergent thermal tolerance may be limited in adults. Further, our results suggest that thermal traits should be measured across life stages in order to better predict adaptive limits.Impact SummaryClimate change may threaten the extinction of many ectothermic species, unless populations can evolutionarily adapt to rising temperatures. Natural selection should favor individuals with higher heat tolerances in hotter environments. But recent studies have found that individuals from hot and cold places often have similar heat tolerances. This pattern may indicate that the evolution of heat tolerance is constrained. If this were true, then it would have dire consequences for species persistence under novel thermal conditions.An alternative explanation for lack of variation in heat tolerance is that mobile organisms don’t need higher heat tolerances to survive in hotter places. The majority of studies have focused on heat tolerance of the adult life stage. Yet, adults in many species are mobile organisms that can avoid extreme heat by seeking shelter in cooler microhabitats (e.g., shaded locations). In contrast, immobile life stages (e.g., insect eggs) cannot behaviorally avoid extreme heat. Thus, mobile and immobile life stages may face different thermal selection pressures that lead to disparate patterns of thermal adaptation across life stages.Here, we compared heat tolerances of fruit fly adults and eggs (Drosophila melanogaster) from populations in temperate North America and tropical locations around the globe. Consistent with previous studies, we found no differences among populations in adult heat tolerance. However, eggs from tropical flies were consistently more heat tolerant than eggs from North American flies. Further, eggs had lower heat tolerance than adults. Consequently, fly eggs in the hotter tropics may experience heat death more frequently than adult flies later in life. This may explain why patterns of divergence in heat tolerance were decoupled across life stages. These patterns indicate that thermal adaptation may be life-stage-specific and suggest that future work should characterize thermal traits across life stages to better understand the evolution of thermal limits.


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suthirat Kittipongvises

Abstract Environmental impacts of the mineral extraction have been a public concern. Presently, there is widespread global interest in the area of mining and its sustainability that focused on the need to shift mining industry to a more sustainable framework. The aim of this study was to systematically assess all possible environmental and climate change related impacts of the limestone quarrying operation in Thailand. By considering the life cycle assessment method, the production processes were divided into three phases: raw material extraction, transportation, and comminution. Both IMPACT 2002+ and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol methods were used. Results of IMPACT 2002+ analysis showed that per 1 ton crushed limestone rock production, the total depletion of resource and GHGs emissions were 79.6 MJ and 2.76 kg CO2 eq., respectively. Regarding to the four damage categories, ‘resources’ and ‘climate change’ categories were the two greatest environmental impacts of the limestone rock production. Diesel fuel and electricity consumption in the mining processes were the main causes of those impacts. For climate change, the unit of CO2 eq. was expressed to quantify the total GHGs emissions. Estimated result was about 3.13 kg CO2 eq. per ton limestone rock product. The results obtained by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol were also similar to IMPACT 2002+ method. Electrical energy consumption was considered as the main driver of GHGs, accounting for approximately 46.8 % of total fossil fuel CO2 emissions. A final point should be noted that data uncertainties in environmental assessment over the complete life cycle of limestone quarrying operation have to be carefully considered.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0256792
Author(s):  
Jeffrey C. Jorgensen ◽  
Colin Nicol ◽  
Caleb Fogel ◽  
Timothy J. Beechie

An investigation into the causes of species decline should include examination of habitats important for multiple life stages. Integrating habitat impacts across life stages with life-cycle models (LCMs) can reveal habitat impairments inhibiting recovery and help guide restoration efforts. As part of the final elements of the Habitat Restoration Planning model (HARP; Beechie et al. this volume), we developed LCMs for four populations of three species of anadromous salmonids (Oncorhynchus kisutch, O. tshawytscha, and O. mykiss), and ran diagnostic scenarios to examine effects of barrier removal, fine sediment reduction, wood augmentation, riparian shade, restoration of the main channel and bank conditions, beaver pond restoration, and floodplain reconnection. In the wood scenario, spawner abundance for all populations increased moderately (29–48%). In the shade scenario, spring-run Chinook salmon abundance increased the most (48%) and fall-run Chinook salmon and steelhead were much less responsive. Coho responded strongly to the beaver pond and floodplain scenarios (76% and 54%, respectively). The fine sediment scenario most benefitted fall- and spring-run Chinook salmon (32–63%), whereas steelhead and coho were less responsive (11–21% increase). More observations are needed to understand high fine sediment and its impacts. Our LCMs were region-specific, identifying places where habitat actions had the highest potential effects. For example, the increase in spring-run Chinook salmon in the wood scenario was driven by the Cascade Mountains Ecological Region. And, although the overall response of coho salmon was small in the barrier removal scenario (6% increase at the scale of the entire basin), barrier removals had important sub-regional impacts. The HARP analysis revealed basin-wide and regional population-specific potential benefits by action types, and this habitat-based approach could be used to develop restoration strategies and guide population rebuilding. An important next step will be to ground-truth our findings with robust empirically-based estimates of life stage-specific survivals and abundances.


2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1964) ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly A. Albecker ◽  
Laetitia G. E. Wilkins ◽  
Stacy A. Krueger-Hadfield ◽  
Samuel M. Bashevkin ◽  
Matthew W. Hahn ◽  
...  

Complex life cycles, in which discrete life stages of the same organism differ in form or function and often occupy different ecological niches, are common in nature. Because stages share the same genome, selective effects on one stage may have cascading consequences through the entire life cycle. Theoretical and empirical studies have not yet generated clear predictions about how life cycle complexity will influence patterns of adaptation in response to rapidly changing environments or tested theoretical predictions for fitness trade-offs (or lack thereof) across life stages. We discuss complex life cycle evolution and outline three hypotheses—ontogenetic decoupling, antagonistic ontogenetic pleiotropy and synergistic ontogenetic pleiotropy—for how selection may operate on organisms with complex life cycles. We suggest a within-generation experimental design that promises significant insight into composite selection across life cycle stages. As part of this design, we conducted simulations to determine the power needed to detect selection across a life cycle using a population genetic framework. This analysis demonstrated that recently published studies reporting within-generation selection were underpowered to detect small allele frequency changes (approx. 0.1). The power analysis indicates challenging but attainable sampling requirements for many systems, though plants and marine invertebrates with high fecundity are excellent systems for exploring how organisms with complex life cycles may adapt to climate change.


2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (7) ◽  
pp. 2183-2199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aoqi Zhang ◽  
Yunfei Fu

Abstract We identified precipitating systems from May to August 2016 using data from the Global Precipitation Measurement mission Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar instrument. Then, using this set of cases, Himawari-8 10.4-μm brightness temperature data from before and after each precipitation event were used to identify three life stages of clouds: a developing stage, a mature stage, and a dissipating stage. Using statistical analysis and two case studies, we show that the precipitating systems at different life stages of the clouds have different systematic properties, including the area of precipitation, the convective ratio, the rain-top height, and the brightness temperature. The developing systems had the largest convective ratio, whereas the dissipating systems had the largest area of precipitation. The life stage of the cloud also influenced the vertical structure of the precipitation. The microphysical processes within each stage were unique, leading to various properties of the droplets in precipitation. The developing systems had large, but sparse, droplets; the mature systems had large and dense droplets; and the dissipating systems had small and sparse droplets. Our results suggest that the different properties of precipitating systems in each life cycle stage of clouds are linked to the cloud water content and the upward motion of air.


2021 ◽  
Vol 186 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 108-115
Author(s):  
Qigui Li ◽  
Lisa H Xie ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Brandon S Pybus

ABSTRACT Background The asexual blood stages of the Plasmodium berghei life cycle including merozoites are attractive targets for transmission blocking vaccines and drugs. Improved understanding of P. berghei life cycle stage growth and development would provide new opportunities to evaluate antimalarial vaccines and drugs. Methods Blood stage samples from C57BL/6 albino mice infected with P. berghei sporozoites were singly stained with a high binding affinity deoxyribonucleic acid dye, YOYO-1, and measured by flow cytometry (FCM). Duplicate slides were made from samples and stained with diluted Giemsa’s and YOYO-1, respectively. Correlated results were compared by FCM, light microscopy, and fluorescent microscopy. Results Complete life cycle stage determination and analysis by FCM is reported to include merozoites, ring forms, trophozoites, immature, and mature schizonts. FCM demonstrated a clear separation between each stage using their unique fluorescence distribution. When compared to light microscopy, a strong correlation (r 2 = 0.925 to 0.974) was observed in determining the ring forms, trophozoites, and schizonts phases, but only a moderate correlation (r 2 = 0.684 to 0.778) was observed for merozoites. The identification and measurement of merozoites suggest that FCM is a useful technique to monitor the entire life stage of the parasite. Initial stage-specific data demonstrated that mefloquine has a mode of action on mature parasite forms, and artesunic acid was rapidly effective against merozoites and other immature and mature parasite forms with higher killing. Conclusion Blood stage parasites in each individual life stage, including merozoites, are reliably identified and quantified quickly by FCM, making this technique an ideal alternative to microscopy. This integrated whole life stage model, particularly with confirmed determination of merozoite population, could widely be used for drug and vaccine research in malaria therapy and prophylaxis.


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