| 1. |
- Abila, R., et al.
(författare)
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Oil extraction imperils Africa’s Great Lakes
- 2016
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 354:6312, s. 561-562
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- As the world's demands for hydrocarbons increase (1), remote areas previously made inaccessible by technological limitations are now being prospected for oil and gas deposits. Virtually unnoticed by the public, such activities are ongoing in the East African Great Lakes region, threatening these ecosystems famed for their hyper-diverse biota, including the unique adaptive radiations of cichlid fishes (2). Countries in the region see exploitation of hydrocarbon reserves as a vital economic opportunity. In the Lake Albert region of Uganda, for example, the government foresees a $3.6 billion oil profit per year starting in 2018—a sum almost as high as the country's current annual budget (3). However, oil extraction in the East African Great Lakes region poses grave risks to the environment and local communities.
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| 2. |
- Fox, Anthony D., et al.
(författare)
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Recent changes in the abundance of Common Pochard Aythya ferina breeding in Europe
- 2016
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Ingår i: Wildfowl. - 0954-6324. ; 66, s. 22-40
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- National accounts suggest that the Common Pochard Aythya ferina was an uncommon breeding bird throughout western Europe before 1850. Extensions to the breeding range in the late 19th century were potentially aided by the rapid development of managed fish-ponds in eastern Europe, which provided suitable novel habitat at that time. Expansion into western Europe followed in subsequent decades. Wetland and waterbody eutrophication throughout Europe, which likely provided food and cover for the birds, may have accelerated the rapid expansion from the 1950s until the early 1980s. Widespread declines in the last 30 years, especially in eastern Europe, where breeding numbers are highest, are possibly linked to intensification and/or abandonment of freshwater fish farming and changes in water quality. Studies show that Pochard gain fitness benefits from nesting in Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus colonies and hence has been affected by major losses of European gull colonies in the last 30 years. The spread of alien fish species such as the Carp Cyprinus carpio, which compete with Pochard for food resources, is a problem in the Mediterranean region. Changing predation pressures (in some cases linked to invasive alien mammals) are also implicated in some areas. Relatively modest numbers breeding in the UK, France and the Netherlands have remained stable or increased over the same recent span of years, confirming that different factors currently affect Pochard breeding abundance throughout its range. We urgently need better information relating to key factors affecting Pochard breeding success and abundance, which is currently showing an unfavourable conservation status throughout much of Europe.
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| 3. |
- Abdelmagid, N., et al.
(författare)
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Von Willebrand Factor Gene Variants Associate with Herpes simplex Encephalitis
- 2016
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Ingår i: Plos One. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 11:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) is a rare complication of Herpes simplex virus type-1 infection. It results in severe parenchymal damage in the brain. Although viral latency in neurons is very common in the population, it remains unclear why certain individuals develop HSE. Here we explore potential host genetic variants predisposing to HSE. In order to investigate this we used a rat HSE model comparing the HSE susceptible SHR (Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats) with the asymptomatic infection of BN (Brown Norway). Notably, both strains have HSV-1 spread to the CNS at four days after infection. A genome wide linkage analysis of 29 infected HXB/BXH RILs (recombinant inbred lines-generated from the prior two strains), displayed variable susceptibility to HSE enabling the definition of a significant QTL (quantitative trait locus) named Hse6 towards the end of chromosome 4 (160.89-174Mb) containing the Vwf (von Willebrand factor) gene. This was the only gene in the QTL with both cis-regulation in the brain and included several non-synonymous SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphism). Intriguingly, in human chromosome 12 several SNPs within the intronic region between exon 43 and 44 of the VWF gene were associated with human HSE pathogenesis. In particular, rs917859 is nominally associated with an odds ratio of 1.5 (95% CI 1.11-2.02; p-value = 0.008) after genotyping in 115 HSE cases and 428 controls. Although there are possibly several genetic and environmental factors involved in development of HSE, our study identifies variants of the VWF gene as candidates for susceptibility in experimental and human HSE.
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| 4. |
- Gaget, Elie, et al.
(författare)
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Benefits of protected areas for nonbreeding waterbirds adjusting their distributions under climate warming
- 2021
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Ingår i: Conservation Biology. - : Wiley. - 0888-8892 .- 1523-1739. ; 35:3, s. 834-845
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate warming is driving changes in species distributions and community composition. Many species have a so-called climatic debt, that is, shifts in range lag behind shifts in temperature isoclines. Inside protected areas (PAs), community changes in response to climate warming can be facilitated by greater colonization rates by warm-dwelling species, but also mitigated by lowering extirpation rates of cold-dwelling species. An evaluation of the relative importance of colonization-extirpation processes is important to inform conservation strategies that aim for both climate debt reduction and species conservation. We assessed the colonization-extirpation dynamics involved in community changes in response to climate inside and outside PAs. To do so, we used 25 years of occurrence data of nonbreeding waterbirds in the western Palearctic (97 species, 7071 sites, 39 countries, 1993–2017). We used a community temperature index (CTI) framework based on species thermal affinities to investigate species turnover induced by temperature increase. We determined whether thermal community adjustment was associated with colonization by warm-dwelling species or extirpation of cold-dwelling species by modeling change in standard deviation of the CTI (CTISD). Using linear mixed-effects models, we investigated whether communities in PAs had lower climatic debt and different patterns of community change than communities outside PAs. For CTI and CTISD combined, communities inside PAs had more species, higher colonization, lower extirpation, and lower climatic debt (16%) than communities outside PAs. Thus, our results suggest that PAs facilitate 2 independent processes that shape community dynamics and maintain biodiversity. The community adjustment was, however, not sufficiently fast to keep pace with the large temperature increases in the central and northeastern western Palearctic. Our results underline the potential of combining CTI and CTISD metrics to improve understanding of the colonization-extirpation patterns driven by climate warming.
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| 5. |
- Patterson, Nick, et al.
(författare)
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Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; , s. 588-594
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Present-day people from England and Wales harbour more ancestry derived from Early European Farmers (EEF) than people of the Early Bronze Age1. To understand this, we generated genome-wide data from 793 individuals, increasing data from the Middle to Late Bronze and Iron Age in Britain by 12-fold, and Western and Central Europe by 3.5-fold. Between 1000 and 875 BC, EEF ancestry increased in southern Britain (England and Wales) but not northern Britain (Scotland) due to incorporation of migrants who arrived at this time and over previous centuries, and who were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from France. These migrants contributed about half the ancestry of Iron Age people of England and Wales, thereby creating a plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain. These patterns are part of a broader trend of EEF ancestry becoming more similar across central and western Europe in the Middle to Late Bronze Age, coincident with archaeological evidence of intensified cultural exchange2-6. There was comparatively less gene flow from continental Europe during the Iron Age, and Britain's independent genetic trajectory is also reflected in the rise of the allele conferring lactase persistence to ~50% by this time compared to ~7% in central Europe where it rose rapidly in frequency only a millennium later. This suggests that dairy products were used in qualitatively different ways in Britain and in central Europe over this period.
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