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Relational values associated with meaningful and just human–environment relationships (e.g. care and responsibility) have been proposed as motivating ‘upstream’ participation in Payments for Watershed Services (PWS). However, the way relational values are affected by and interact with PWS remains poorly understood. We reviewed 50 studies of social outcomes of PWS and found that approximately half assessed or discussed relational values. This included changes in relational values presented positively, such as amplifying values and norms around care for land; negatively, such as undermining traditional practices and intergenerational learning; and influencing other outcomes, such as links between land ties and human health. To improve understanding of the full suite of outcomes linked to the effectiveness, durability, and equity of PWS, we propose a research agenda based on locally-based relational value systems that include, for example, place-based conceptualizations of responsibility, care, and relation to the natural world.

Despite the increasing use of left main (LM) percutaneous coronary intervention (LM-PCI), there have been no pathological studies devoted to understanding the causes of LM stent failure. We aimed to systematically determine the pathological mechanisms of LM stent failure.From the CVPath Stent registry, a total of 46 lesions were identified to have LM-PCI. Pathologic stent failure (PSF) was defined as stent thrombosis, restenosis and in-stent chronic total occlusion (CTO). Failed and patent LM stented lesions were pathologically assessed to determine predictors of PSF. Malapposition and uncovered struts were numerically greater in the LM ostium, body, and bifurcation while neointimal thickness was relatively greater in bifurcation and proximal circumflex. In this study cohort, half of the lesions (n = 23) showed PSF. Stent thrombosis (ST, n = 18) was the major mode of PSF followed by in-stent CTO (n = 4) and restenosis (n = 1). Failed lesions showed significantly greater prevalence of malapposition20% of struts/section (65% vs. 13%, P 0.01), stent struts crossing an ostial side branch30% of the circumference (48% vs. 13%, P 0.01) and uncovered struts30% (57% vs. 18%, P = 0.03). In multivariate analysis, the prevalence of malapposition20% was the strongest risk factor for PSF (Odds ratio 8.0, 95% confidence interval 1.8-45.4, P 0.01) followed by struts crossing an ostial side branch30% (Odds ratio 4.2, 95% confidence interval 0.8-24.7, P = 0.09).Our data demonstrate the main pathological predictors for LM stent failure are malapposition and struts crossing an ostial side branch and suggest that imaging-guided PCI may be important.

A comprehensive inventory of ecosystem services across the entire Great Lakes basin is currently lacking and is needed to make informed management decisions. A greater appreciation and understanding of ecosystem services, including both use and non-use services, may have avoided misguided resource management decisions in the past that have resulted in legacies inherited by future generations. Given the interest in ecosystem services and lack of a coherent approach to addressing this topic in the Great Lakes, a summit was convened involving 28 experts working on various aspects of ecosystem services in the Great Lakes. The invited attendees spanned a variety of social and natural sciences. Given the unique status of the Great Lakes as the world's largest collective repository of surface freshwater, and the numerous stressors threatening this valuable resource, timing was propitious to examine ecosystem services. Several themes and recommendations emerged from the summit. There was general consensus that 1) a comprehensive inventory of ecosystem services throughout the Great Lakes is a desirable goal but would require considerable resources; 2) more spatially and temporally intensive data are needed to overcome our data gaps, but the arrangement of data networks and observatories must be well-coordinated; 3) trade-offs must be considered as part of ecosystem services analyses; and 4) formation of a Great Lakes Institute for Ecosystem Services, to provide a hub for research, meetings, and training is desirable. Several challenges also emerged during the summit, which are discussed in the paper.

The assessment of the impacts of land-use and management on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics is a major environmental concern, as the soil carbon cycle underpins key ecosystem services. However, assessments based on short-term SOC dynamics face methodological and experimental difficulties. Hurisso et al. (2016) proposed a method to assess SOC dynamics by coupling two methods: Permanganate Oxidizable Carbon (POXC) and Basal Soil Respiration (BSR). This method has been used in laboratory on dried and re-wetted soil samples from temperate regions mainly. In our study, we adapted this method to the field and proposed a cost-effective in-field indicator combining the POXC and in situ Basal Soil Respiration (SituResp (R) method). We tested the indicator at four study sites (n = 169 points) within various tropical land-use and management contexts based on rubber, soybean and oil palm cropping systems respectively in Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia. The results demonstrated the relevance, sensitivity and robustness of the POXC-SituResp (R) indicator to characterize the impact of a gradient of disturbance on SOC dynamics. The results also highlighted the potential of conservation agriculture (no-tillage and crops residues) and compost amendments to accumulate SOC. Rock-Eval (R) analysis showed that POXC-SituResp (R) indicator is negatively linked to excess of potentially mineralizable labile carbon. Carbon pools targeted by the POXC were specified by Rock-Eval (R) pyrolysis measurements to be a rather thermal resistant pool of SOC. Our study confirms that the integrated indicator based on POXC and BSR assess a relative carbon stabilization of SOC pools. This indicator can be measured in the field by a rapid and cost-effective method.

While earthworms’ feeding behavior has been shown to be a key driver of greenhouse gas like nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions for temperate species, this assessment remains to be demonstrated for tropical ones. This study constitutes a comparative assessment of the impact of different feeding strategies of tropical earthworms on their cast emissions of N 2 O and the characterization of microbial communities associated with these emission dynamics. N 2 O flux was determined in vitro from casts of 2 epigeic ( Dichogaster annae and Eisenia andrei ) and 4 endogeic/epiendogeic ( Metaphire houlleti , Octolasion tyrtaeum , Pontoscolex corethrurus and Amynthas corticis ) earthworm species in the presence or absence of acetylene. Casts of epigeic earthworms, fed on fresh coffee pulp, emitted about 392-fold higher amounts of N 2 O than those of endogeic ones, fed on a tropical soil. Acetylene exposure significantly increased the cast emission rates indicating that (i) apart from N 2 O, dinitrogen (N 2 ) is also emitted by earthworm casts, particularly by the epigeic guild (45%) and (ii) denitrification is the major microbial process responsible for these N-gas emissions from casts. Total bacteria were 10-fold higher in epigeic casts than endogeic but the relative abundance of nitrifier (AOB) and denitrifiers (nirK and nirS) was many times higher in endogeic casts than epigeic ones. The relative gene density of nosZ to (nirK + nirS) was 4-fold higher in epigeic casts than endogeic ones. Moreover, bacterial amoA gene abundance was higher in casts of all species than for their archaeal counterparts. Cast N 2 O emission was positively correlated with nitrifier as well as denitrifier gene abundance, while it was positively correlated with epigeic nitrate and negatively with endogeic nitrate contents. Ammonium contents did not show any relationship with cast emissions. Mean ammonium and nitrate contents were many times higher in casts than food substrates except nitrate in endogeic casts which was 4-fold less than parent food substrate.

To provide a better understanding of soil–atmosphere gas exchange processes, this study describes the atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) uptake by xylophagous termites and the biological process involved. The N2O consumption rates of three xylophagous termite species (Hodotermes mossambicus, Nasutitermes voeltzkowi and Hodotermopsis sjoestedti) were determined in incubation vials with ambient, artificially enhanced N2O concentrations in the headspace. Live individuals of the three termite species significantly decreased N2O concentrations (88%) in the headspace of the vials after 24 h incubation in the dark. The acetylene reduction assay method applied to N. voeltzkowi, a xylophagous termite species, showed a decrease in N2O uptake in acetylene-treated individuals, indicating the potential involvement of termite gut denitrifying microbes. The N2 formed is potentially subjected to assimilation via nitrogenase reductase into termite biomass through biological fixation as demonstrated by the reduction of acetylene to ethylene at an average rate of 18.21 ± 1.34 nmol C2H4 g−1 dw d−1. Further studies should focus on measurements of N2O-reductase (nosZ) gene activity in termite guts to gain a better understanding of the N2O reduction process in xylophagous termite species.

Forest conversion in tropical montane landscapes is widespread and has potentially large implications for both biological and physical processes. Understanding the ecohydrologic processes that affect water can help efforts to predict the downstream effects of parcel-scale land use change. Differences in evapotranspiration between trees and grasses in humid, low wind environments are understudied, however. We analyze predictions of the Penman–Monteith model of potential evapotranspiration (PET) based on hourly meteorological inputs and direct measurements of stomatal resistance for leeward Hawai‘i Island. While evapotranspiration is very low in all of these forest and pasture ecosystems, modeled PET from pasture is higher than is PET from forest. The balance between aerodynamically and stomatally controlled evapotranspiration differs significantly between the two vegetation types in such a way that the weighted sum of the two components yields lower overall PET at the forest sites. The interaction of aerodynamic and stomatal control on PET, in conjunction with tropical meteorology characterized by low wind speeds and low vapor pressure deficit (VPD) causes this unexpected phenomenon. Vegetation structure plays an important role: evapotranspiration from forest is increased considerably by contributions from the understory, while the shorter the stature of pasture grass, the higher its rate of PET. In tropical regions that do not experience water stress, grassland has the potential to transport as much or more water vapor to the atmosphere than does forest.

International audience; Bacterial-feeding nematodes represent an important driver of the soil microbial activity and diversity. This study aimed at characterizing the impact of nematode grazing on a model functional bacterial guild involved in N-cycling, the denitrifiers. Bacterial-feeding nematodes (Cephalobus pseudoparvus) were inoculated into soil microcosms whose indigenous nematofauna had previously been removed. The size, genetic structure and activity of the soil denitrifier community were characterized 15 and 45 days after nematodes inoculation using quantitative PCR of the nirK, nirS and nosZ denitrification genes, fingerprinting of the nirK and nirS genes and denitrification enzyme activity measurements, respectively. A significant impact of C. pseudoparvus was observed on genetic structure of the nirK community, mainly due to shifts in the relative abundance of the dominant populations, but not on the nirS community. The grazing pressure also tended to decrease the density of all denitrification genes as well as that of 16S rRNA genes. Despite being non-significant, the extent of this decline in gene copy numbers ranged between 60 and 80% of the control microcosm genes densities. Finally, compared to non-inoculated microcosms, denitrification activity significantly decreased by 8% in response to the nematodes inoculation. The herewith data showed that predation by a single species of bacterial-feeding nematode can affect the soil denitrifier community

Vegetation can play a major role in the hydrologic ecosystem service tradeoffs resulting from land use change: by affecting the volume of rain water that reaches the ground surface, vegetation affects water supply. But because canopy interception of rainfall is affected in complex and competing ways by forest structure and ambient weather conditions, both of which vary at small and large scales, predicting the impacts of vegetation change is challenging. We explore rainfall and cloud interception in two native forests sites on leeward Hawai’i Island and find that although our study forests are superficially similar, with identical dominant species and no history of logging, throughfall in one forest is nearly double that in the other. Using micrometeorological and vegetation data collected over 20 months, we examine the dominance of different hydrologic processes at each site. Direct fog water input accounted for at least 12% of total water input in the North forest site, an average of about 0.1 mm/day, and 27% of total water input in the South forest, an average of 0.3 mm/day. In the North forest, canopy interception of rainfall dominates, and annual throughfall amounts to only 64% of rainfall. A large canopy surface area and low rainfall rates cause the high rate of interception. Direct interception of clouds by the canopy dominates in the South forest, where throughfall is 113% of rainfall. Increased throughfall at this site is not attributable to increased fogginess. Instead, taller trees and a denser mid-canopy increase canopy surface area, causing increased cloud interception. The denser forest structure is likely a result of cattle exclusion and limited grazing in this forest. This study illustrates the effects of subtle differences in vegetation structure on hydrologic fluxes and, by extension, the hydrologic effects of land use change. It also underscores the importance of replicate sites in ecohydrologic investigations.

International audience; In Sahelian savannas, fungus-growing termites form biogenic structures made of soil or sheetings, on the soil surface and inside the soil, to protect themselves against heat, desiccation and predators while collecting food. The purpose of this study was to determine if analysis of the nematofauna can show differences in the way termites construct sheetings according to termite species or organic material harvested. In this study, soil nematodes, which were inactive during the experiment, were passively transported in soil. pellets by termites when they built sheetings. Composition of the soil nematofauna was analyzed in sheetings produced when harvesting the four different types of different organic matter and in the soil around which these structures were produced. Three of the four organic materials were applied on soil as mulch whereas wood Logs were inserted in the soil. Nematode density and diversity in sheetings produced by the three different termite species present (Ancistrotermes guineensis, Ondontotermes nilensis and Macrotermes subhyalinus) were similar in the four organic treatments except for sheetings constructed within the wood by A. guineensis. Nematode densities in sheetings were about ten-fold lower than in the 0-10 cm upper soil layer. Moreover, the composition of the nematofauna in sheetings was very different from that of the upper 10cm, except for the sheetings built on wood. A finer comparison of the soil nematofauna in the top 7cm of soil (separated in 0-0.25, 0.25-3.0 and 3.0-7.5cm), and of fresh surface sheetings (produced within 24h) showed that nematode composition of sheetings was very similar to that of the soil. in the superficial strata (0-3 cm). Analysis of the nematofauna led us to conclude that the soil. used by termites to construct biogenic structures when harvesting organic matter originates from soil layers as close as possible to the area where the organic resource is located. Moreover, there were no differences in the soil or the three type of surface-applied organic matter used for the three fungus-growing termites. (

Changes in land use affect soil properties. In most West-African farming systems forest-fallow management intended to restore soil fertility no longer functions efficiently because the duration of the fallow periods has been shortened and the fallow areas have been reduced. Alternative practices must, therefore, be adopted. This study tested the efficiency of short periods of improved fallows (Andropogon gayanus and Acacia holosericea) in regenerating soil microbial properties, compared to the efficiency of a natural long-term fallow. The microbial community was studied by cloning and sequencing 16S rDNA and by analyzing enzyme activities (alkaline phosphatase, p-glucosidase). The study was carried out at the soil aggregate scale to test how the microbial community in different micro-habitats reacted to the different fallow practices. The 4-year-old Acacia holosericea and Angropogon gayanus fallows did not regenerate soil properties as efficiently as the 21-year-old natural fallow. However, Andropogon gayanus could be used to restore soil properties quickly. Three different aggregate-size fractions were affected by fallow management: organic residues, the > 2000 mu m fraction and the 2-50 mu m fraction. These microhabitats were enriched with bacteria belonging to the Telluria genus and more generally to beta-Proteobacteria. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Bacterial-feeding nematodes are, with protozoa, the main grazers of soil bacteria. Interactions between bacteria and nematodes have important repercussions on soil functioning and particularly on nutrient availability. We assessed the influence of the bacterial strains ingested on bacterial-feeding nematodes population development and also the consequences of nematode feeding behaviour on the structure of the soil microbial community with a special attention to different soil micro-habitats for nematode and bacteria. In vivo studies conducted in the presence of single bacterial strains showed that the type of ingested bacteria conditioned the development of the different bacterial-feeding Cephalobidae nematode species tested and that the effect of bacteria differed between nematode species. The spatial distribution of soil nematodes between three soil habitats (fresh organic matter, inter-aggregates pores and aggregates) depended of the trophic behaviour of nematodes. Bacterial-feeding nematodes and fungal-feeding nematodes showed comparable distribution: being preferentially located in the fresh organic matter and in the inter-aggregate pores. Besides, the activity of inoculated bacterial-feeding nematodes modified the genetic structure of the soil microbial community. Bacterial community of the macroporosity was significantly influenced by the nematodes. On the contrary, no modification of the structure of the bacterial community linked with nematode activity was measured in the bulk soil.

The comparative distribution of organic components in different soil fractions as a result of the activities of two of the most representative species of termites (Cubitermes niokoloensis and Macrotermes bellicosus) in the semi-arid savanna of Senegal was assessed by physical fractionation. The impact of these two species on soil organic matter (SOM) differed. For the soil feeding C. niokoloensis, the internal and external wall of the mound contained five times higher carbon and 10 times higher nitrogen concentrations than the reference soil. In contrast, the mounds of the fungus-growing M. bellicosus had lower C content than the reference soil. Although both species select fine soil particles for mound construction, their strategy differs. Particle-size fractions finer than 50 μm represented 75% of the total mass of soil sampled from the internal and external walls of the mound of soil feeding termites, while clay size particles were the most abundant fraction of these compartments of the fungus growing mound. For the soil feeding species, the particle-size fractions contained 3–10 times higher C concentrations than the fractions isolated from the reference soil, the enrichment being the highest for clay fractions. About 60% of these clay particles remained aggregated within the coarser structures of the silt (2–50 μm) and the sand size particles (50–200 μm). The latter represented 60% of the total soil mass and contained 50% of the total carbon. No impact of M. bellicosus on soil aggregation was recorded. These results clearly reveal the contrasting effects (positive for soil feeding, negative for fungus feeder) of these two species on SOM dynamics. The use of the aggregate fraction of the coarse silt size (20–50 μm) as an indicator of the activity of soil feeding termites is suggested.

Even if termites are often considered as a pest due to the damage they cause to agriculture and architecture, they contribute to the soil humification process in the tropics. This impact on the soil organic matter humification process is due to the most important feeding habit in terms of species diversity, the soil feeding termites (∼1 200 species). Unlike other termites, their diet is not based on lignocellulosic plant degradation, but on the consumption of the mineral-containing horizons for the acquisition of nutrients. They are mostly distributed in humid forest or savannah equatorial zone. High structure and compartment with steep radial and axial gradients of O 2 , H 2 and pH characterize their gut and create a patchy biotope. Furthermore, the humic compounds ingested are submitted, during a sequential transit, to different chemical (alkaline hydrolysis) and microbial degradation processes (fermentation, anaerobic respiration and mineralization). During this gut transit, the soil organic matter is strongly modified in terms of nature (organic matter concentration, fulvic and humic acid ratio) and organization (formation of organo-mineral complexes with clay). The soil organic matter ingested is further included as faeces in the nest and the galleries which, as a whole, constitutes the termitosphere. Compared to the control soil, the soil organic matter in the termitosphere is more stable and protected from the intense mineralization, which occurs in the tropics. These shifts of the organic matter into long turnover pool generated by the termite gut transit and deposition in the termitosphere indicate that besides the earthworm, the soil feeding termite has a positive impact on the overall organic matter cycling in the tropics.

Activin, and its binding protein, follistatin, are up-regulated by mediators of inflammation, and recent studies have demonstrated that activin A can block the activity of the key inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6). These findings thereby implicate activin and follistatin in the control of the inflammatory cascade. In this study, interactions between interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-6 and activin were examined the human liver cell line, HepG2, for their effect on cell proliferation and the production of the acute phase proteins, haptoglobin and alpha1-acid glycoprotein (alpha1-AGP). IL-1beta and activin A, but not IL-6, inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells. Activin A together with IL-1beta caused a greater inhibition of proliferation than either factor alone, and the inhibitory effects of activin A were blocked by the addition of follistatin to the cultures. Activin A alone inhibited the production of haptoglobin but did not affect alpha1-AGP concentrations. However, activin A suppressed the stimulatory effects of IL-6 on the production of both haptoglobin and alpha1-AGP. Production of follistatin by HepG2 cells was stimulated by activin A, but was inhibited by both IL-1beta and IL-6, indicating a complex regulatory loop is operable to modulate the effects of activin A during inflammation. Taken together, these data suggest that activin A interacts with IL-1beta and IL-6 to regulate and coordinate the production of acute phase proteins during an inflammatory episode.

A new method of effecting collision induced dissociation (CID) of molecular ions for use in conjunction with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry is reported. Using an electronic circuit external to the ICR hardware and software, ions are continuously accelerated and decelerated for hundreds of milliseconds by repeatedly shifting the phase of the radiofrequency excitation driving signal by 180°. At low kinetic energies, a succession of collisions which transfer small amounts of energy favors the lowest energy fragmentation pathway and allows ions with large activation energies to fragment at internal energies within a few kilocalories per mole of threshold. This is demonstrated by the sole production of m/z 92 in the fragmentation of n -butylbenzene cation and by abnormally large secondary isotope effects in the dissociation of tert -butoxide- d 6 anion.

The reaction of hydroxide ion with a β-hydroxysilane, 2-trimethylsilylmethyl-2-propanol, has been studied in an ion cyclotron resonance Fourier transform mass spectrometer. Using labeled hydroxide, details of deprotonation of the hydroxyl group versus addition to silicon were established. The rate of deprotonation at the hydroxyl group is about one-half of addition to silicon.

Experiments indicate that the methanol/methoxide proton-transfer reaction is slower than expected. Quantum calculations indicate that the barrier for proton-transfer within the ion—molecule dimer{CH3OH…OCH3]s]− → {CH3O…HOCH3}− is strongly dependent on the oxygen—oxygen separation. We show that the dimer is formed with high orbital angular momentum and that this can lead to elongation of the O—O distance. The proton-transfer transition state with conservation of orbital angular momentum is ≈ 1 kcal mol− higher than the saddle point.

A formula is presented that gives the distribution of isotopes in the fragments of a molecule in which the isotopes are distributed statistically. This serves as a test for molecular fluxionality, provided that the parent molecule has been labeled in some nonstatistical manner.

Summary The increases in plasma renin activity (PRA) and in the plasma concentration in angiotensin II (AII), aldosterone (ALDO), vasopressin (ADH) after exercise were compared to the urine protein excretion of well-hydrated healthy subjects submitted to a 2-min supramaximal bicycle exercise. Venous blood and urine samples were obtained at rest and after exercise. PRA, AII and ALDO were increased to about 4, 2 and 2-fold respectively of the resting basal values. ALDO continued to rise following exercise while PRA and AII returned to resting values ( P 2 -microglobulin (β 2 -m) increased 7, 38 and 162-fold during the first 20 min postexercise period respectively. The enhanced total protein, albumin and (β 2 -m) excretion were related to a decrease in plasma volume at 20 min postexercise. A positive relationship ( r =0.515; P 2 -m excretion following exercise. It was concluded that: 1) postexercise proteinuria was negatively correlated with the reduction in plasma volume; 2) the PRA-AII-ALDO system does not develop concomitantly with this transient kidney impairment.

The anions formed by electron impact upon silicon tetrachloride in the 10 −6 torr range have been identified and their relative concentrations have been measured as a function of electron energy. Primary and secondary reaction products are distinguished. The results are compared with those from earlier studies, and they suggest an explanation for an unusual ion concentration observed with laser-induced fluorescence by plasma diagnostics researchers.