Search results for "model."
showing 10 items of 23664 documents
Virus epidemics can lead to a population-wide spread of intragenomic parasites in a previously parasite-free asexual population
2014
Sexual reproduction is problematic to explain due to its costs, most notably the twofold cost of sex. Yet, sex has been suggested to be favourable in the presence of proliferating intragenomic parasites given that sexual recombination provides a mechanism to confine the accumulation of deleterious mutations. Kraaijeveld et al. compared recently the accumulation of transposons in sexually and asexually reproducing lines of the same species, the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina clavipes. They discovered that within asexually reproducing wasps, the number of gypsy-like retrotransposons was increased fourfold, whereas other retrotransposons were not. Interestingly, gypsy-like retrotransposons are cl…
Incorporating Biotic Information in Species Distribution Models: A Coregionalized Approach
2021
In this work, we discuss the use of a methodological approach for modelling spatial relationships among species by means of a Bayesian spatial coregionalized model. Inference and prediction is performed using the integrated nested Laplace approximation methodology to reduce the computational burden. We illustrate the performance of the coregionalized model in species interaction scenarios using both simulated and real data. The simulation demonstrates the better predictive performance of the coregionalized model with respect to the univariate models. The case study focus on the spatial distribution of a prey species, the European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), and one of its predator spe…
Tracking management-related water quality alterations by phytoplankton assemblages in a tropical reservoir
2015
Water quality improvement and suppression of cyanobacterial blooms were planned in a eutrophic reservoir in southern China through ecological engineering measures from 2006 to 2011. This consisted in (i) a hydraulic resetting of inflows and outflows to increase the distance between inlet and outlet and the water residence time in the reservoir, and in (ii) the installation of floating frames hosting wetland vegetation to promote an alteration in phytoplankton composition. The environmental changes were therefore followed through the analysis of biotic responses in phytoplankton assemblages. Ecological engineering was effective in reducing phytoplankton total biomass, in re-establishing more…
Distance decay 2.0 – a global synthesis of taxonomic and functional turnover in ecological communities
2021
AbstractUnderstanding the variation in community composition and species abundances, i.e., β-diversity, is at the heart of community ecology. A common approach to examine β-diversity is to evaluate directional turnover in community composition by measuring the decay in the similarity among pairs of communities along spatial or environmental distances. We provide the first global synthesis of taxonomic and functional distance decay along spatial and environmental distance by analysing 149 datasets comprising different types of organisms and environments. We modelled an exponential distance decay for each dataset using generalized linear models and extracted r2 and slope to analyse the streng…
The response of cultured meiofaunal and benthic foraminiferal communities to lead exposure: Results from mesocosm experiments
2018
Lead (Pb) has been regarded as a very toxic element that poses a serious threat to biota. A mesocosm experiment is performed to assess the influence of Pb on meiofaunal (metazoans within 45-500 µm) and benthic foraminiferal (protozoans) communities. To this end, sediments bearing such communities are incubated in mesocosms, exposed to different levels of Pb in seawater, and monitored for up to eight weeks. Concentrations of Pb below 1 ppm in water do not promote a significant increase of this metal in sediments. Relatively high concentrations of Pb seem to affect meiofaunal and benthic foraminiferal communities by reducing their richness or diversity, and the abundance of the most sensitive…
Linking species interactions with phylogenetic and functional distance in European bird assemblages at broad spatial scales
2017
Aim Understanding the relative contribution of different species interactions in shaping community assembly has been a pivotal aim in community ecology. Biotic interactions are acknowledged to be important at local scales, although their signal is assumed to weaken over longer distances. We examine the relationship between positive, neutral and negative pairwise bird abundance distributions and the phylogenetic and functional distance between these pairs after first controlling for habitat associations. Location France and Finland. Time period 1984 to 2011 (Finland), 2001 to 2012 (France). Major Taxa studied Birds. Methods We used results from French and Finnish land bird monitoring program…
Ecology, Phylogeny, and Potential Nutritional and Medicinal Value of a Rare White “Maitake” Collected in a Mediterranean Forest
2020
Albino Grifola frondosa (Dicks.) Gray &ldquo
The effect of the quality of diet on the functional response of Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819): Implications for integrated multitrophic a…
2017
Abstract The integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (i.e., IMTA) is a practice combining organisms with different trophic levels with the final purpose of transforming the continuous waste of food by targeting species into nutrient input for other non-target species. This practice very often involves filter feeders, such as bivalves, by the use of which bioenergetics budgets are strongly influenced by the quality and quantity of different foods. However, to date, scant information is available, to really understand the rebounds of food availability on the growth performances of these harvested biomasses in the natural environment. By choosing the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis as a model, t…
Dynamic Mathematical Modelling of the Removal of Hydrophilic VOCs by Biotrickling Filters
2015
A mathematical model for the simulation of the removal of hydrophilic compounds using biotrickling filtration was developed. The model takes into account that biotrickling filters operate by using an intermittent spraying pattern. During spraying periods, a mobile liquid phase was considered, while during non-spraying periods, a stagnant liquid phase was considered. The model was calibrated and validated with data from laboratory- and industrial-scale biotrickling filters. The laboratory experiments exhibited peaks of pollutants in the outlet of the biotrickling filter during spraying periods, while during non-spraying periods, near complete removal of the pollutant was achieved. The gaseou…
Deletion of GLX3 in Candida albicans affects temperature tolerance, biofilm formation and virulence.
2018
Candida albicans is a predominant cause of fungal infections in mucosal tissues as well as life-threatening bloodstream infections in immunocompromised patients. Within the human body, C. albicans is mostly embedded in biofilms, which provides increased resistance to antifungal drugs. The glyoxalase Glx3 is an abundant proteomic component of the biofilm extracellular matrix. Here, we document phenotypic studies of a glx3Δ null mutant concerning its role in biofilm formation, filamentation, antifungal drug resistance, cell wall integrity and virulence. First, consistent with its function as glyoxalase, the glx3 null mutant showed impaired growth on media containing glycerol as the carbon sou…