Introduction and establishment of Euwallacea fornicatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in Brazil.

Euwallacea fornicatus is an invasive tree pest able to infest healthy plants and cause damage to many host plants. This beetle has become established in several countries where it was introduced. It has now become established in Brazil, and while the original introduction site remains uncertain, there is a possibility of multiple introductions. We report the first evidence for the establishment of E. fornicatus with molecular confirmation, as well as its distribution, and host plants in Brazil. Euwallacea fornicatus has spread to main commercial avocado groves, other monocultures, and native vegetation in the country, and its pest status puts it as a threat, mainly to Brazilian avocado producers.

Extraordinary levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in vertebrate animals at a New Mexico desert oasis: Multiple pathways for wildlife and human exposure.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment pose persistent and complex threats to human and wildlife health. Around the world, PFAS point sources such as military bases expose thousands of populations of wildlife and game species, with potentially far-reaching implications for population and ecosystem health. But few studies shed light on the extent to which PFAS permeate food webs, particularly ecologically and taxonomically diverse communities of primary and secondary consumers. Here we conducted >2000 assays to measure tissue-concentrations of 17 PFAS in 23 species of mammals and migratory birds at Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico, USA, where wastewater catchment lakes form biodiverse oases. PFAS concentrations were among the highest reported in animal tissues, and high levels have persisted for at least three decades. Twenty of 23 species sampled at Holloman AFB were heavily contaminated, representing middle trophic levels and wetland to desert microhabitats, implicating pathways for PFAS uptake: ingestion of surface water, sediments, and soil; foraging on aquatic invertebrates and plants; and preying upon birds or mammals. The hazardous long carbon-chain form, perfluorooctanosulfonic acid (PFOS), was most abundant, with liver concentrations averaging >10,000 ng/g wet weight (ww) in birds and mammals, respectively, and reaching as high 97,000 ng/g ww in a 1994 specimen. Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) averaged thousands of ng/g ww in the livers of aquatic birds and littoral-zone house mice, but one order of magnitude lower in the livers of upland desert rodent species. Piscivores and upland desert songbirds were relatively uncontaminated. At control sites, PFAS levels were strikingly lower on average and different in composition. In sum, legacy PFAS at this desert oasis have permeated local aquatic and terrestrial food webs across decades, severely contaminating populations of resident and migrant animals, and exposing people via game meat consumption and outdoor recreation.

Uncharted Territories: First report of Euwallacea fornicatus (Eichhoff) in South America with new reproductive hosts records.

We report the presence of the invasive ambrosia beetle, Euwallacea fornicatus (Eichhoff, 1868), for the first time in South America. The identity is established by morphological and molecular methods, although the sequences suggest that it represents a separate haplotype from the populations that have caused significant damage in South Africa, Israel, and California, and is most phylogenetically similar to specimens from Asia and greenhouses in Europe. This pest is one of the most successful invaders, causing high economic and ecological impacts in the regions where it is introduced. Our records are from the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, one of the most populated and largest port cities in South America, where attacks by this beetle are present on a wide range of living street trees. The large number of trees attacked and the new records of reproductive host species suggest that the beetle is already established and widespread in the citys urban forest. This context implies that the beetle may pose a threat to the urban and natural environment, as well as to the forests and fruit production of the region. Informamos la presencia del escarabajo invasor de ambrosa, Euwallacea fornicatus (Eichhoff, 1868), por primera vez en Sudamrica. La identificacin se estableci mediante mtodos morfolgicos y moleculares, si bien las secuencias sugieren que representa un haplotipo distinto de las poblaciones que han causado daos significativos en Sudfrica, Israel y California, resulta filogenticamente ms similar a especmenes de Asia e invernaderos de Europa. Esta plaga es una de las especies invasoras ms exitosas, causando altos impactos econmicos y ecolgicos en las regiones donde es introducida. Nuestros registros provienen de la ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, una de las ciudades portuarias ms pobladas y grandes de Sudamrica, donde los ataques de este coleptero estn presentes en una amplia diversidad de especies pertenecientes al arbolado urbano. El gran nmero de rboles atacados y los nuevos registros de especies hospedadoras reproductoras sugieren que el coleptero ya est establecido y extendido en el bosque urbano de la ciudad. Este contexto implica que el coleptero puede suponer una amenaza para el medio urbano y natural, as como para los bosques y la produccin frutcola de la regin.

Movement patterns of free-roaming dogs on heterogeneous urban landscapes: Implications for rabies control.

In 2015, a case of canine rabies in Arequipa, Peru indicated the re-emergence of rabies virus in the city. Despite mass dog vaccination campaigns across the city and reactive ring vaccination and other control activities around positive cases (e.g. elimination of unowned dogs), the outbreak has spread. Here we explore how the urban landscape of Arequipa affects the movement patterns of free-roaming dogs, the main reservoirs of the rabies virus in the area. We tracked 23 free-roaming dogs using Global Positioning System (GPS) collars. We analyzed the spatio-temporal GPS data using the time- local convex hull method. Dog movement patterns varied across local environments. We found that water channels, an urban feature of Arequipa that are dry most of the year, promote movement. Dogs that used the water channels extensively move on average 7 times further (p = 0.002) and 1.2 times more directionally (p = 0.027) than dogs that do not use the water channels at all. They were also 1.3 times faster on average, but this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.197). Our findings suggest that water channels can be used by dogs as 'highways' to transverse the city and have the potential to spread disease far beyond the radius of control practices. Control efforts should focus on a robust vaccination campaign attuned to the geography of the city, and not limited to small-scale rings surrounding cases.

Predicting risks from down-the-drain chemicals in a developing country: Mexico and linear alkylbenzene sulfonate as a case study.

It is recognized that the amount of natural dilution available can make a significant difference in the exposure and risk assessment of chemicals that emanate from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, data availability is a common limiting factor in exposure assessments for emerging markets. In the present study, we used a novel approach to derive dilution factors for the receiving waters within 5 km of wastewater discharge points in Mexico by combining locally measured river volumes, ecoregion categorization, data on WWTP capacity, and global river network models. Distributions of wastewater effluent into receiving stream dilution factors were developed for the entire country and organized by ecoregion type to explore spatial differences. The distribution of dilution factors in Mexico ranged from >1000 in tropical and temperate ecoregions to 1 in desert ecoregions. To demonstrate its utility, dilution factors were used to develop a probabilistic model to explore the potential ecological risks of the high-volume surfactant linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), commonly used in down-the-drain cleaning products. The predicted LAS river exposure values were below the predicted no-effect concentration in all regions. The methodology developed for Mexico can be used to derive refined exposure assessments in other countries with emerging markets throughout the world, resulting in more realistic risk assessments. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:2475-2486. © 2018 SETAC.

Publisher Correction: Virtual Genome Walking across the 32 Gb Ambystoma mexicanum genome; assembling gene models and intronic sequence.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

Virtual Genome Walking across the 32 Gb Ambystoma mexicanum genome; assembling gene models and intronic sequence.

Large repeat rich genomes present challenges for assembly using short read technologies. The 32 Gb axolotl genome is estimated to contain ~19 Gb of repetitive DNA making an assembly from short reads alone effectively impossible. Indeed, this model species has been sequenced to 20× coverage but the reads could not be conventionally assembled. Using an alternative strategy, we have assembled subsets of these reads into scaffolds describing over 19,000 gene models. We call this method Virtual Genome Walking as it locally assembles whole genome reads based on a reference transcriptome, identifying exons and iteratively extending them into surrounding genomic sequence. These assemblies are then linked and refined to generate gene models including upstream and downstream genomic, and intronic, sequence. Our assemblies are validated by comparison with previously published axolotl bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) sequences. Our analyses of axolotl intron length, intron-exon structure, repeat content and synteny provide novel insights into the genic structure of this model species. This resource will enable new experimental approaches in axolotl, such as ChIP-Seq and CRISPR and aid in future whole genome sequencing efforts. The assembled sequences and annotations presented here are freely available for download from https://tinyurl.com/y8gydc6n . The software pipeline is available from https://github.com/LooseLab/iterassemble .

Diversity, abundance, and host relationships of avian malaria and related haemosporidians in New Mexico pine forests.

Avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites (genera Haemoproteus, Plasmodium, and Leucocytozoon) affect bird demography, species range limits, and community structure, yet they remain unsurveyed in most bird communities and populations. We conducted a community-level survey of these vector-transmitted parasites in New Mexico, USA, to describe their diversity, abundance, and host associations. We focused on the breeding-bird community in the transition zone between piñon-juniper woodland and ponderosa pine forests (elevational range: 2,150-2,460 m). We screened 186 birds representing 49 species using both standard PCR and microscopy techniques to detect infections of all three avian haemosporidian genera. We detected infections in 68 out of 186 birds (36.6%), the highest proportion of which were infected with Haemoproteus (20.9%), followed by Leucocytozoon (13.4%), then Plasmodium (8.0%). We sequenced mtDNA for 77 infections representing 43 haplotypes (25 Haemoproteus, 12 Leucocytozoon, 6 Plasmodium). When compared to all previously known haplotypes in the MalAvi and GenBank databases, 63% (27) of the haplotypes we recovered were novel. We found evidence for host specificity at the avian clade and species level, but this specificity was variable among parasite genera, in that Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon were each restricted to three avian groups (out of six), while Plasmodium occurred in all groups except non-passerines. We found striking variation in infection rate among host species, with nearly universal infection among vireos and no infection among nuthatches. Using rarefaction and extrapolation, we estimated the total avian haemosporidian diversity to be 70 haplotypes (95% CI [43-98]); thus, we may have already sampled ∼60% of the diversity of avian haemosporidians in New Mexico pine forests. It is possible that future studies will find higher diversity in microhabitats or host species that are under-sampled or unsampled in the present study. Fortunately, this study is fully extendable via voucher specimens, frozen tissues, blood smears, parasite images, and documentation provided in open-access databases (MalAvi, GenBank, and ARCTOS).

Short-term hurricane impacts on a neotropical community of marked birds and implications for early-stage community resilience.

Populations in fragmented ecosystems risk extirpation through natural disasters, which must be endured rather than avoided. Managing communities for resilience is thus critical, but details are sketchy about the capacity for resilience and its associated properties in vertebrate communities. We studied short-term resilience in a community of individually marked birds, following this community through the catastrophic destruction of its forest habitat by Hurricane Iris in Belize, Central America. We sampled for 58 d immediately before the storm, 28 d beginning 11 d after Hurricane Iris, and for 69 d approximately one year later. Our data showed that the initial capacity for resilience was strong. Many banded individuals remained after the storm, although lower post-hurricane recapture rates revealed increased turnover among individuals. Changes occurred in community dynamics and in abundances among species and guilds. Survivors and immigrants both were critical components of resilience, but in a heterogeneous, species-specific manner. Delayed effects, including higher fat storage and increased species losses, were evident one year later.