Large ecosystem-scale effects of restoration fail to mitigate impacts of land-use legacies in longleaf pine savannas.

Ecological restoration is a global priority, with potential to reverse biodiversity declines and promote ecosystem functioning. Yet, successful restoration is challenged by lingering legacies of past land-use activities, which are pervasive on lands available for restoration. Although legacies can persist for centuries following cessation of human land uses such as agriculture, we currently lack understanding of how land-use legacies affect entire ecosystems, how they influence restoration outcomes, or whether restoration can mitigate legacy effects. Using a large-scale experiment, we evaluated how restoration by tree thinning and land-use legacies from prior cultivation and subsequent conversion to pine plantations affect fire-suppressed longleaf pine savannas. We evaluated 45 ecological properties across four categories: 1) abiotic attributes, 2) organism abundances, 3) species diversity, and 4) species interactions. The effects of restoration and land-use legacies were pervasive, shaping all categories of properties, with restoration effects roughly twice the magnitude of legacy effects. Restoration effects were of comparable magnitude in savannas with and without a history of intensive human land use; however, restoration did not mitigate numerous legacy effects present prior to restoration. As a result, savannas with a history of intensive human land use supported altered properties, especially related to soils, even after restoration. The signature of past human land-use activities can be remarkably persistent in the face of intensive restoration, influencing the outcome of restoration across diverse ecological properties. Understanding and mitigating land-use legacies will maximize the potential to restore degraded ecosystems.

Exploring Associations Between Self-Compassion, Self-Criticism, Mental Health, and Quality of Life in Adults with Cystic Fibrosis: Informing Future Interventions.

Self-compassion is increasingly recognised as an important and beneficial factor in quality of life and mental health-related research, but research within the adult cystic fibrosis (CF) population is scarce. In a cross-sectional study, 114 (56 female, 58 male) adults with CF completed and returned a series of validated questionnaires that assessed CF-related quality of life, negative emotional states (depression, anxiety and stress), self-compassion, and self-criticism. Quality of life and self-compassion were positively correlated, and each in turn were inversely correlated with negative emotional states and self-criticism. Negative emotional states correlated positively to self-criticism. Self-compassion and/or self-criticism moderated ten relationships between various sub-domains of quality of life and negative emotions. Psychological interventions that increase self-compassion may be beneficial for enhancing mental health and quality of life for adults with CF.

Mindfulness moderates the relationship between emotional eating and body mass index in a sample of people with cystic fibrosis.

PURPOSE: Self-regulation in eating is significant for enhancing life expectancy of people with cystic fibrosis (CF), but research with this population is scarce. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, adults with CF completed a number of psychometric scales exploring typical eating behaviours that may increase calorific intake including motivations to eat palatable foods and scales that may be associated with decreased calorific intake: mindfulness, mindful eating and self-compassion. RESULTS: Findings suggested that motivations to eat palatable foods and eating behaviours correlate with higher BMI, while mindfulness, mindful eating and self-compassion did not reach significance. Mindfulness and mindful eating moderated the relationship between emotional eating and BMI, while self-compassion did not moderate this relationship. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to develop healthy and effective means of enhancing calorific intake, where this is indicated, adapting mindful eating principles to focus on increasing both self-regulation and pleasure in eating while reducing emotional eating may be one means of doing this. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

Agricultural land-use history does not reduce woodland understory herb establishment.

Agricultural land use is a leading cause of habitat degradation, leaving a legacy of ecological impacts long after agriculture has ceased. Yet the mechanisms for legacy effects, such as altered plant community composition, are not well understood. In particular, whether plant community recovery is limited by an inability of populations to establish within post-agricultural areas, owing to altered environmental conditions within these areas, remains poorly known. We evaluated this hypothesis of post-agricultural establishment limitation through a field experiment within longleaf pine woodlands in South Carolina (USA) and a greenhouse experiment using field-collected soils from these sites. In the field, we sowed seeds of 12 understory plant species associated with remnants (no known history of agriculture) into 27 paired remnant and post-agricultural woodlands. We found that post-agricultural woodlands supported higher establishment, resulting in greater species richness of sown species. These results were context dependent, however, with higher establishment in post-agricultural woodlands only when sites were frequently burned, had less leaf litter, or had less sandy soils. In the greenhouse, we found that agricultural history had no impact on plant growth or survival, suggesting that establishment limitation is unlikely driven by differences in soils associated with agricultural history when environmental conditions are not stressful. Rather, the potential for establishment in post-agricultural habitats can be higher than in remnant habitats, with the strength of this effect determined by fire frequency and soil characteristics.

Agricultural land-use history causes persistent loss of plant phylogenetic diversity.

Intensive land use activities, such as agriculture, are a leading cause of biodiversity loss and can have lasting impacts on ecological systems. Yet, few studies have investigated how land-use legacies impact phylogenetic diversity (the total amount of evolutionary history in a community) or how restoration activities might mitigate legacy effects on biodiversity. We studied ground-layer plant communities in 27 pairs of Remnant (no agricultural history) and Post-agricultural (agriculture abandoned >60 yr ago) longleaf pine savannas, half of which we restored by thinning trees to reinstate open savanna conditions. We found that agricultural history had no impact on species richness, but did alter community composition and reduce phylogenetic diversity by 566 million years/1,000 m2 . This loss of phylogenetic diversity in post-agricultural savannas was due to, in part, a reduction in the average evolutionary distance between pairs of closely related species, that is, increased phylogenetic clustering. Habitat restoration increased species richness by 27% and phylogenetic diversity by 914 million years but did not eliminate the effects of agricultural land use on community composition and phylogenetic structure. These results demonstrate the persistence of agricultural legacies, even in the face of intensive restoration efforts, and the importance of considering biodiversity broadly when evaluating human impacts on ecosystems.

Plant domestication slows pest evolution.

Agricultural practices such as breeding resistant varieties and pesticide use can cause rapid evolution of pest species, but it remains unknown how plant domestication itself impacts pest contemporary evolution. Using experimental evolution on a comparative phylogenetic scale, we compared the evolutionary dynamics of a globally important economic pest - the green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) - growing on 34 plant taxa, represented by 17 crop species and their wild relatives. Domestication slowed aphid evolution by 13.5%, maintained 10.4% greater aphid genotypic diversity and 5.6% higher genotypic richness. The direction of evolution (i.e. which genotypes increased in frequency) differed among independent domestication events but was correlated with specific plant traits. Individual-based simulation models suggested that domestication affects aphid evolution directly by reducing the strength of selection and indirectly by increasing aphid density and thus weakening genetic drift. Our results suggest that phenotypic changes during domestication can alter pest evolutionary dynamics.

Ecological effects of aphid abundance, genotypic variation, and contemporary evolution on plants.

Genetic variation and contemporary evolution within populations can shape the strength and nature of species interactions, but the relative importance of these forces compared to other ecological factors is unclear. We conducted a field experiment testing the effects of genotypic variation, abundance, and presence/absence of green peach aphids (Myzus persicae) on the growth, leaf nitrogen, and carbon of two plant species (Brassica napus and Solanum nigrum). Aphid genotype affected B. napus but not S. nigrum biomass explaining 20 and 7% of the total variation, respectively. Averaging across both plant species, the presence/absence of aphids had a 1.6× larger effect size (Cohen's d) than aphid genotype, and aphid abundance had the strongest negative effects on plant biomass explaining 29% of the total variation. On B. napus, aphid genotypes had different effects on leaf nitrogen depending on their abundance. Aphids did not influence leaf nitrogen in S. nigrum nor leaf carbon in either species. We conducted a second experiment in the field to test whether contemporary evolution could affect plant performance. Aphid populations evolved in as little as five generations, but the rate and direction of this evolution did not consistently vary between plant species. On one host species (B. napus), faster evolving populations had greater negative effects on host plant biomass, with aphid evolutionary rate explaining 23% of the variation in host plant biomass. Together, these results show that genetic variation and evolution in an insect herbivore can play important roles in shaping host plant ecology.

The impact of domestication on resistance to two generalist herbivores across 29 independent domestication events.

The domestication of crops is among the most important innovations in human history. Here, we test the hypothesis that cultivation and artificial selection for increased productivity of crops reduced plant defenses against herbivores. We compared the performance of two economically important generalist herbivores - the leaf-chewing beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua) and the phloem-feeding green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) - across 29 crop species and their closely related wild relatives. We also measured putative morphological and chemical defensive traits and correlated them with herbivore performance. We show that, on average, domestication significantly reduced resistance to S. exigua, but not M. persicae, and that most independent domestication events did not cause differences in resistance to either herbivore. In addition, we found that multiple plant traits predicted resistance to S. exigua and M. persicae, and that domestication frequently altered the strength and direction of correlations between these traits and herbivore performance. Our results show that domestication can alter plant defenses, but does not cause strong allocation tradeoffs as predicted by plant defense theory. These results have important implications for understanding the evolutionary ecology of species interactions and for the search for potential resistance traits to be targeted in crop breeding.

Employment in adults with cystic fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: Chronic ill-health may significantly impact on an individual's ability to work. This not only relates to disease severity but also to psychosocial factors such as illness perception and coping strategies. AIMS: To explore the factors associated with employment status in adults with cystic fibrosis (CF). METHODS: Subjects recruited from adult CF clinics in Aberdeen, Birmingham and Newcastle completed questionnaires assessing health-related quality of life (HRQoL), workplace productivity (presenteeism) and employment. Clinical data indicative of disease severity were also recorded. RESULTS: A total of 254 subjects were recruited, 41 from Aberdeen, 63 from Birmingham and 150 from Newcastle. Sixty-five per cent of subjects were in employment or education. If employed/self-employed, median hours worked was 37.3h/week. Forty per cent reported stopping a job due to CF; 47% felt CF had affected career choice and 24% changed duties because of CF. Ten per cent had taken a pay cut and 23% reported workplace discrimination due to CF. Multivariate modelling demonstrated that employment status was independently associated with educational attainment, centre and the HRQoL domains of role and health perception and is independent of clinical parameters of disease severity. CONCLUSIONS: Adults with CF reported that CF impacted on their ability to work. Employment appeared to be most strongly associated with educational attainment, locality and HRQoL domains and not clinical parameters of severity. Specific guidance is needed for both adults with CF and potential employers, with appropriate targeted interventions aimed at improving health perceptions and coping strategies.

Contemporary evolution of plant growth rate following experimental removal of herbivores.

Herbivores are credited with driving the evolutionary diversification of plant defensive strategies over macroevolutionary time. For this to be true, herbivores must also cause short-term evolution within plant populations, but few studies have experimentally tested this prediction. We addressed this gap using a long-term manipulative field experiment where exclosures protected 22 plant populations from natural rabbit herbivory for <1 to 26 years. We collected seeds of Rumex acetosa L. (Polygonaceae) from our plots and grew them in a common greenhouse environment to quantify evolved differences among populations in individual plant growth rate, tolerance to herbivory, competitive ability, and the concentration of secondary metabolites (tannins and oxalate) implicated in defense against herbivores. In 26 years without rabbit herbivory, plant growth rate decreased linearly by 30%. We argue that plant growth rate has evolved as a defense against intense rabbit herbivory. In contrast, we found no change in tolerance to herbivory or concentrations of secondary metabolites. We also found no change in competitive ability, suggesting that contemporary evolution may not feed back to alter ecological interactions within this plant community. Our results combined with those of other studies show that the evolution of gross morphological traits such as growth rate in response to herbivory may be common, which calls into question assumptions about some of the most popular theories of plant defense.

A longitudinal experiment demonstrates that honey bee colonies managed organically are as healthy and productive as those managed conventionally.

Honey bee colony management is critical to mitigating the negative effects of biotic and abiotic stressors. However, there is significant variation in the practices implemented by beekeepers, which results in varying management systems. This longitudinal study incorporated a systems approach to experimentally test the role of three representative beekeeping management systems (conventional, organic, and chemical-free) on the health and productivity of stationary honey-producing colonies over 3 years. We found that the survival rates for colonies in the conventional and organic management systems were equivalent, but around 2.8 times greater than the survival under chemical-free management. Honey production was also similar, with 102% and 119% more honey produced in conventional and organic management systems, respectively, than in the chemical-free management system. We also report significant differences in biomarkers of health including pathogen levels (DWV, IAPV, Vairimorpha apis, Vairimorpha ceranae) and gene expression (def-1, hym, nkd, vg). Our results experimentally demonstrate that beekeeping management practices are key drivers of survival and productivity of managed honey bee colonies. More importantly, we found that the organic management system-which uses organic-approved chemicals for mite control-supports healthy and productive colonies, and can be incorporated as a sustainable approach for stationary honey-producing beekeeping operations.

Long-term impact of liver transplantation on respiratory function and nutritional status in children and adults with cystic fibrosis.

Early liver transplant (LT) has been advocated for patients with cystic fibrosis liver disease (CFLD) and evidence of deterioration in nutritional state and respiratory function to prevent further decline. However, the impact of single LT on long-term respiratory function and nutritional status has not been adequately addressed. We performed a retrospective analysis of the outcomes of 40 (21 adult/19 pediatric) patients with CFLD transplanted between 1987 and 2009 with median follow-up of 47.8 months (range 4-180). One and five-year actuarial survival rates were 85%/64% for adult and 90%/85% for pediatric LT cohorts, respectively. Lung function remained stable until 4 years (FEV(1) % predicted; pretransplant 48.4% vs. 45.9%, 4 years posttransplant) but declined by 5 years (42.4%). Up to 4 years posttransplant mean annual decline in FEV(1) % was lower (0.74%; p = 0.04) compared with the predicted 3% annual decline in CF patients with comorbidity including diabetes. Number of courses of intravenous antibiotics was reduced following LT, from 3.9/year pretransplant to 1.1/year, 5 years posttransplant. Body mass index was preserved posttransplant; 18.0 kg/m(2) (range 15-24.3) pretransplant versus 19.6 kg/m(2) (range 16.4-22.7) 5 years posttransplant. In conclusion, LT is an effective treatment for selected patients with cirrhosis due to CFLD, stabilizing aspects of long-term lung function and preserving nutritional status.

Habitat patch shape, not corridors, determines herbivory and fruit production of an annual plant.

Habitat corridors confer many conservation benefits by increasing movement of organisms between habitat patches, but the benefits for some species may exact costs for others. For example, corridors may increase the abundance of consumers in a habitat to the detriment of the species they consume. In this study we assessed the impact of corridors on insect herbivory of a native plant, Solanum americanum, in large-scale, experimentally fragmented landscapes. We quantified leaf herbivory and assessed fruit production as a proxy for plant fitness. We also conducted field surveys of grasshoppers (Orthoptera), a group of abundant, generalist herbivores that feed on S. americanum, and we used exclosure cages to explicitly link grasshopper herbivory to fruit production of individual S. americanum. The presence of corridors did not increase herbivory or decrease plant fruit production. Likewise, corridors did not increase grasshopper abundance. Instead, patches in our landscapes with the least amount of edge habitat and the greatest amount of warmer "core" area had the highest levels of herbivory, the largest cost to plant fruit production as a result of herbivory, and the most grasshoppers. Thus habitat quality, governed by patch shape, can be more important than connectivity for determining levels of herbivory and the impact of herbivory on plant fitness in fragmented landscapes.

Outcomes of patients with cystic fibrosis undergoing lung transplantation with and without cystic fibrosis-associated liver cirrhosis.

People with severe cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease with co-existent CF-associated liver disease (CFLD) are often excluded from consideration of sole lung transplantation, largely because of the concerns that they will subsequently develop hepatic decompensation. This retrospective cohort study aimed at determining whether patients with severe cirrhosis caused by CFLD have any differences in perioperative and relevant post-transplant outcomes compared to CF patients without CFLD when undergoing sole lung transplantation. Six patients with CFLD were matched with 18 CF patients without CFLD undergoing sole lung transplant at the same institution. There were no differences in total operative time or intra-operative requirements for cardiopulmonary bypass or blood products. Over a period of five yr post-transplant, no differences were observed between the two groups in body mass index, six-min walk, lung function, and survival. None of the CFLD subjects developed variceal bleeding; however, one developed hepatocellular and renal failure at four yr post-transplant and is being assessed for liver-kidney transplant. One additional patient with CFLD required repeat lung transplantation for bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome. This study provides evidence that CF patients with liver cirrhosis caused by CFLD can safely be considered for sole lung transplantation provided there is no evidence of significant hepatocellular dysfunction with decompensated cirrhosis or hepatic synthetic failure.

Six years of wild bee monitoring shows changes in biodiversity within and across years and declines in abundance.

Wild bees form diverse communities that pollinate plants in both native and agricultural ecosystems making them both ecologically and economically important. The growing evidence of bee declines has sparked increased interest in monitoring bee community and population dynamics using standardized methods. Here, we studied the dynamics of bee biodiversity within and across years by monitoring wild bees adjacent to four apple orchard locations in Southern Pennsylvania, USA. We collected bees using passive Blue Vane traps continuously from April to October for 6 years (2014-2019) amassing over 26,000 bees representing 144 species. We quantified total abundance, richness, diversity, composition, and phylogenetic structure. There were large seasonal changes in all measures of biodiversity with month explaining an average of 72% of the variation in our models. Changes over time were less dramatic with years explaining an average of 44% of the variation in biodiversity metrics. We found declines in all measures of biodiversity especially in the last 3 years, though additional years of sampling are needed to say if changes over time are part of a larger trend. Analyses of population dynamics over time for the 40 most abundant species indicate that about one third of species showed at least some evidence for declines in abundance. Bee family explained variation in species-level seasonal patterns but we found no consistent family-level patterns in declines, though bumble bees and sweat bees were groups that declined the most. Overall, our results show that season-wide standardized sampling across multiple years can reveal nuanced patterns in bee biodiversity, phenological patterns of bees, and population trends over time of many co-occurring species. These datasets could be used to quantify the relative effects that different aspects of environmental change have on bee communities and to help identify species of conservation concern.

Prevalence of elevated blood lead levels and risk factors among children living in Patna, Bihar, India 2020.

Childhood lead exposure remains a key health concern for officials worldwide, contributing some 600,000 new cases of intellectually disabled children annually. Most children affected by high exposure to lead live in low- and middle-income countries. The leaded gasoline phase out in India was completed in 2000. Yet, in 2020, an estimated 275 million children aged 0 to 9 years had blood lead levels (BLLs) ≥ 5 µg/dL known to adversely affect intelligence and behavior. Lead sources reported in India include spices, cookware, paint, traditional medicines and cosmetics, and lead-acid battery recycling and repair. However, their relative contribution has not been characterized. More than 200 lead pollution sites related to battery recycling and repair activities were identified in Bihar and Jharkhand, India. Ninety percent of the recycling sites had soil lead concentrations exceeding the US Environmental Protection Agency's standards. We compared blood and environmental lead levels in two groups of children in Patna, Bihar. Households in proximity to battery recycling operations (Proximal n = 67) versus households distal to these operations (Distal n = 68). The average age of children was 40 months; 46% were female. Overall, the geometric mean (GM) BLL was 11.6 µg/dL. GM BLLs of children in Proximal and Distal households were not significantly different (10.2 µg/dL vs. 13.1 µg/dL respectively; p≤0.07). About 87% children, 56 Proximal and 62 Distal had BLLs ≥5 µg/dl. Lead concentrations in environmental samples were significantly higher in Proximal households (soil mean 9.8 vs. 1.6 µg/ft2; dust mean 52.9 vs. 29.9 µg/ft2 p<0.001; Proximal vs. Distal respectively) whereas concentrations in all spices were higher in Distal households (mean 46.8 vs 134.5 ppm p<0.001; Proximal vs. Distal respectively), and turmeric (mean 59.4 vs. 216.9 ppm Proximal vs. Distal respectively). In multivariate analyses for all children lead in spices and turmeric and number of rooms in the house were significant while for the Proximal group only lead in spices remained in the model. The predictive value of these models was poor. For the Distal group, a model with lead concentration in spices, turmeric and soil and number of rooms in the house was a much better fit. Of the 34 water samples collected, 7 were above the Indian standard of 10 ppb for lead in drinking water (2 in the Proximal area, 5 in the Distal area). Children in Patna, Bihar, India are exposed to multiple sources of lead, with lead levels in house dust and loose, locally sourced spices the most likely to increase blood lead levels. A holistic approach to blood lead testing and source identification and remediation are necessary to prevent lead exposure.

Survival of Burkholderia cepacia sepsis following lung transplantation in recipients with cystic fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) lung transplant recipients infected with Burkholderia cenocepacia have a worse survival rate after lung transplantation than those who are not infected with this organism. The decreased survival is predominantly due to recurrent B. cenocepacia infection, with the majority of affected recipients succumbing within 3 months after transplant. B. cepacia complex (BCC) sepsis is one of the defining criteria for cepacia syndrome, an almost universally fatal necrotizing pneumonic illness. We report 2 CF patients who were long-term survivors of B. cenocepacia sepsis after lung transplantation. The aim of this report is to demonstrate that, although survival of B. cenocepacia sepsis after lung transplantation is extremely uncommon, with aggressive multidisciplinary management, long-term survival remains a realistic objective.

Stratospheric meteorological conditions in the arctic polar vortex, 1991 to 1992.

Stratospheric meteorological conditions during the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition II (AASE II) presented excellent observational opportunities from Bangor, Maine, because the polar vortex was located over southeastern Canada for significant periods during the 1991-1992 winter. Temperature analyses showed that nitric acid trihydrates (NAT temperatures below 195 k) should have formed over small regions in early December. The temperatures in the polar vortex warmed beyond NAT temperatures by late January (earlier than normal). Perturbed chemistry was found to be associated with these cold temperatures.