A tiny fraction of all species forms most of nature: Rarity as a sticky state.

Using data from a wide range of natural communities including the human microbiome, plants, fish, mushrooms, rodents, beetles, and trees, we show that universally just a few percent of the species account for most of the biomass. This is in line with the classical observation that the vast bulk of biodiversity is very rare. Attempts to find traits allowing the tiny fraction of abundant species to escape rarity have remained unsuccessful. Here, we argue that this might be explained by the fact that hyper-dominance can emerge through stochastic processes. We demonstrate that in neutrally competing groups of species, rarity tends to become a trap if environmental fluctuations result in gains and losses proportional to abundances. This counter-intuitive phenomenon arises because absolute change tends to zero for very small abundances, causing rarity to become a "sticky state", a pseudoattractor that can be revealed numerically in classical ball-in-cup landscapes. As a result, the vast majority of species spend most of their time in rarity leaving space for just a few others to dominate the neutral community. However, fates remain stochastic. Provided that there is some response diversity, roles occasionally shift as stochastic events or natural enemies bring an abundant species down allowing a rare species to rise to dominance. Microbial time series spanning thousands of generations support this prediction. Our results suggest that near-neutrality within niches may allow numerous rare species to persist in the wings of the dominant ones. Stand-ins may serve as insurance when former key species collapse.

Evaluation of Culex quinquefasciatus wings asymmetry after exposure of larvae to sublethal concentration of ivermectin.

The surviving insects submitted to chemical control have morphological alterations that impact on their mechanisms of resistance and their final development. Those changes are detected and measured using physical features related to symmetry, specifically named fluctuating asymmetry. This is detected when deviations from the perfect bilateral symmetry for specific morphological characteristic is influenced by genetics or environmental stress. Thus, in this paper we analyze the wing in adult of Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera - Culicidae) after larvae exposure to ivermectin LC50. Three hundred larvae of C. quinquefasciatus were exposed to ivermectin in 1.5 µg/L (LC50) concentration during 30 min, and three hundred larvae were exposed to distilled pure water as control group. For fluctuating asymmetry, adult males and adult females were selected from each group (n = 83) from the untreated group and (n = 79) from treated group. Wings from adults of each group were mounted in glass microscope slides and coverslip in Canada's balsam and analyzed with a stereomicroscope with a video camera attached. The treatment effect on M3 + 4 was marginally significant with higher asymmetry values in the control group. The data obtained here suggest the importance of future experiments to elucidate the mechanisms associated with FA. Moreover, according to the results obtained, it may be suggested that FA is present in females in ornaments, or secondary sexual characters, as an indicator of phenotypic quality of the partners.

Platynosomum illiciens (Trematoda: Dicrocoeliidae) in Captive Black-Tufted Marmoset Callithrix penicillata (Primates: Cebidae) from Brazil: A Morphometric Analyses with Taxonomic Comments on Species of Platynosomum from Nonhuman Primates.

The trematodes belonging to the genus Platynosomum are biliary parasites of birds and mammals (domestic and wildlife) in tropical and subtropical areas of the globe. Despite several reports on platynosomosis in captive nonhuman primates, mainly in South America, the taxonomy of species of Platynosomum that infect these hosts remains confused, and it is not clear whether the species found in cats is the same that infects nonhuman primates. Because a detailed morphological study of Platynosomum from nonhuman primates is lacking, in this study we analyzed specimens of Platynosomum recovered from the biliary system of Callithrix penicillata kept in captivity in an animal facility. The helminths were submitted to morphological and morphometric analyses in a light microscope and measurements of 16 morphological traits were taken. A kernel density estimation (KDE) was used to estimate density distributions of the measurements obtained as well as the occurrence of overlap with the ranges of the measurements known to 2 other species of Platynosomum previously described from South American marmosets, Platynosomum amazonensis and Platynosomum marmoseti. A principal component analysis (PCA) was also performed in order to evaluate the position of each of the 3 species in the multivariate gradient of morphometric measurements. The occurrence of a growth gradient was also evaluated by analysis of correlation between the measurements. Besides a great morphological variability, all specimens obtained from marmosets in this study were identified as Platynosomum illiciens (Braun, 1901). In addition, the published ranges of the measurements of P. amazonensis and P. marmoseti were completely contained within the ranges found in this study as revealed by KDE. The PCA did not show the formation of groups, and the 3 species were distributed along a growth continuum, also corroborated by correlation analysis. Therefore, P. amazonensis and P. marmoseti are here synonymized with P. illiciens. The involvement of wildlife hosts to the epidemiology of feline platynosomosis and implications for its control are briefly discussed.

High temperatures and absence of light affect the hatching of resting eggs of Daphnia in the tropics.

Temperature and light are acknowledged as important factors for hatching of resting eggs. The knowledge of how they affect hatching rates of this type of egg is important for the comprehension of the consequences of warming waters in recolonization of aquatic ecosystems dependent on dormant populations. This study aimed at comparing the influence of different temperature and light conditions on hatching rates of Daphnia ambigua andDaphnia laevis resting eggs from tropical environments. The ephippia were collected in the sediment of three aquatic ecosystems, in southeastern Brazil. For each lake, the resting eggs were exposed to temperatures of 20, 24, 28 and 32 °C, under light (12 h photoperiod) and dark conditions. The results showed that the absence of light and high temperatures have a negative influence on the hatching rates. Statistical differences for hatching rates were also found when comparing the studied ecosystems (ranging from 0.6 to 31%), indicating the importance of local environmental factors for diapause and maintenance of active populations.

Arsenic biotransformation by cyanobacteria from mining areas: evidences from culture experiments.

Elucidating the role of cyanobacteria in the biotransformation of arsenic (As) oxyanions is crucial to understand the biogeochemical cycle of this element and indicate species with potential for its bioremediation. In this study, we determined the EC50 for As(III) and As(V) and evaluated the biotransformation of As by Synechococcus sp. through high-performance liquid chromatography hyphenated to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS) and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS). Synechococcus sp. exhibited higher sensitivity to As(III) with an EC(50, 96 h) of 6.64 mg L(-1) that was approximately 400-fold lower than that for As(V). Even though the cells were exposed to concentrations of As(III) (6 mg L(-1)) approximately 67-fold lower than those of As(V) (400 mg L(-1)), similar intracellular concentrations of As (60.0 µg g(-1)) were observed after 30 days. As(V) was the predominant intracellular As species followed by As(III). Furthermore, organic As species such as monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) were observed in higher proportions after exposure to As(III). The differential toxicity among As oxyanions indicates that determining the redox state of As in the environment is fundamental to estimate toxicity risks to aquatic organisms. Synechococcus sp. demonstrated potential for its application in bioremediation due to the high accumulation of As and production of As organic compounds notably after exposure to As(III).