Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties.

Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change.

A retrospective review of cutaneous vascular lesions referred to a teledermatology clinic.

INTRODUCTION Most cutaneous vascular lesions are benign and do not require treatment. Many are referred to specialist dermatologists from primary care. AIM This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of cutaneous vascular lesions and the reasons for their referral from primary care. METHODS Lesions diagnosed as cutaneous vascular abnormalities or dermatoses were retrospectively selected from a database of patients attending the Waikato Virtual Lesion Clinic. Demographic data, diagnosis and clinic outcome were recorded for each imaged lesion. Primary care referrals were reviewed to determine the reasons for referral. RESULTS In total, 229 referrals for vascular lesions were received between January 2010 and February 2019. Patient ages ranged from 6 to 95 years and 64.2% of patients were female. Nearly half the lesions (47.2%) were located on the head and neck; 64.1% had a dermatological diagnosis of a vascular tumour and 18.7% had a malformation. The most common reason for referral was pigmentation (45.7%) and bleeding was least common (8.2%). No diagnosis was given in 34.2% of referrals and less than one-quarter had a correct diagnosis. Malignancy was suspected in 40.2% of referrals; however, the dermatologists found that 95.2% of patients did not require further treatment. Half of excisions (n=2) were for bleeding and all were histologically benign. DISCUSSION Diagnostic uncertainty and suspected malignancy commonly result in referral of benign cutaneous vascular lesions to public dermatology services. This study highlights the usefulness of teledermatology in the timely access of specialist input, minimising the need for intervention or excision.

Iodine allergy: Common misperceptions.

PURPOSE: The current evidence regarding iodine-containing compounds and iodine allergy cross-reactivity is reviewed. SUMMARY: Iodine is an essential human nutrient found in the thyroid gland. It is used in the synthesis of the thyroid hormones thyroxine and triiodothyroxine. Patients who report having adverse reactions to iodine-containing substances are often labelled as having an "iodine allergy," which can result in delays in care or patients being denied essential iodinated contrast media (ICM) or other iodine-containing drugs. A literature review was conducted to evaluate the evidence regarding iodine allergy and iodine-containing drugs. Of 435 articles considered potentially appropriate for full review (plus 12 additional articles included on the basis of references from the eligible articles), 113 could not be obtained. After exclusion of 353 articles that did not meet all inclusion criteria, the remaining 81 articles were included in the review. The results of the literature review indicated that iodine has not been shown to be the allergen responsible for allergic reactions to iodinated contrast media, amiodarone, povidone-iodine, and other iodine-containing compounds. CONCLUSION: There is a lack of evidence to support cross-reactivity between iodine-containing compounds in so called iodine-allergic individuals.

Global distribution of earthworm diversity.

Soil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass. We found that local species richness and abundance typically peaked at higher latitudes, displaying patterns opposite to those observed in aboveground organisms. However, high species dissimilarity across tropical locations may cause diversity across the entirety of the tropics to be higher than elsewhere. Climate variables were found to be more important in shaping earthworm communities than soil properties or habitat cover. These findings suggest that climate change may have serious implications for earthworm communities and for the functions they provide.

The unseen invaders: introduced earthworms as drivers of change in plant communities in North American forests (a meta-analysis).

Globally, biological invasions can have strong impacts on biodiversity as well as ecosystem functioning. While less conspicuous than introduced aboveground organisms, introduced belowground organisms may have similarly strong effects. Here, we synthesize for the first time the impacts of introduced earthworms on plant diversity and community composition in North American forests. We conducted a meta-analysis using a total of 645 observations to quantify mean effect sizes of associations between introduced earthworm communities and plant diversity, cover of plant functional groups, and cover of native and non-native plants. We found that plant diversity significantly declined with increasing richness of introduced earthworm ecological groups. While plant species richness or evenness did not change with earthworm invasion, our results indicate clear changes in plant community composition: cover of graminoids and non-native plant species significantly increased, and cover of native plant species (of all functional groups) tended to decrease, with increasing earthworm biomass. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that introduced earthworms facilitate particular plant species adapted to the abiotic conditions of earthworm-invaded forests. Further, our study provides evidence that introduced earthworms are associated with declines in plant diversity in North American forests. Changing plant functional composition in these forests may have long-lasting effects on ecosystem functioning.