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Forests contribute to climate change mitigation through carbon storage and uptake, but the extent to which this carbon pool varies in space and time is still poorly known. Several Earth Observation missions have been specifically designed to address this issue, e.g. NASA's GEDI, NASA-ISRO's NISAR and ESA's BIOMASS. Yet, all these missions' products require independent and consistent validation. A permanent, global, in situ, site-based forest biomass reference measurement system relying on ground data of the highest possible quality is therefore needed. Here, we have assembled a list of almost two hundred high-quality sites through an in-depth review of the literature and expert knowledge. In this study, we explore how representative these sites are in terms of their coverage of environmental conditions, geographical space and biomass-related forest structure, compared to those experienced by forests worldwide. This work also aims at identifying which sites are the most representative, and where to invest to improve the representativeness of the proposed system. We show that the environmental coverage of the system does not seem to improve after at least the 175 most representative sites are included, but geographical and structural coverages continue to improve as more sites are added. We highlight areas of poor environmental, geographical or structural coverage, including, but not limited to, Canada, the western half of the USA, Mexico, Patagonia, Angola, Zambia, eastern Russia, tropical and subtropical highlands (e.g. in Colombia, the Himalayas, Borneo, Papua). For the proposed system to succeed, we stress that (1) data must be collected and processed applying the same standards across all countries and continents; (2) system establishment and management must be inclusive and equitable, with careful consideration of working conditions; (3) training and site partner involvement in downstream activities should be mandatory.

Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modifications of the content of this paper are prohibited., [EN] The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of fish meal replacement with a mixture of plant, and animal protein supplemented with a commercial nucleotide NucleofomeFish (TM), on growth, feed utilization, whole-body composition, biometric indices; liver mitochondrial enzyme activities, selected gene expression and influence on the gut micmbiome of gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata. Six hundred and thirty gilthead seabream with an average initial body weight of 0.358 +/- 0.002 g/fish, were used. Six experimental diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous, 45% crude protein (CP) and isocaloric 20 MJ/kg gross energy (GE). The control diet (Dl) contained 25% of fish meal (FM25) and had no NucleoforceFish (TM) added (FM25/0), diets 2-3 contained FM at a level of 25% and supplemented with 250 (FM25/250) and 500 (FM25/500) mg/kg NucleoforceFish (TM), respectively. Diets 4-6 were a non-fishmeal formulation and had no NucleoforceFish (TM), (diet 4, FM0/0), 0%FM with 250mg/kg NucleoforceFish (TM) (diet 5, FM0/250), and 0%FM with 500mg/kg NucleofomeFish (TM) (diet 6, FM0/500). The results revealed that dietary nucleotides supplemented at 250mg/kg or 500mg/kg enhanced final body weight, weight gain, and specific growth rate of seabream either with dietary level of 25% FM diet (FM25) or non-fishmeal diet (FM0). All mitochondrial liver complex enzyme activities were recorded as having a significant positive response to the nucleotide dietary supplement. Gilthead seabream fingerlings fed FM0/250 diet for 150 days had significantly elevated liver mitochondrial enzyme (Complex III, Complex IV, Complex I and II) activities. In addition, gilthead seabream fed FM(0/500 )had significantly increased the gene expression of TCR-B and IL1-B, while fish fed FM25/250 increased significantly the gene expression of IGF1, while fish fed FM(25/500 )increased significantly the gene expression of Hepcidin (Hep) and the iron homeostasis hormone. There was a marked influence on specifi

Ecology cannot yet fully explain why so many tree species coexist in natural communities such as tropical forests. A major difficulty is linking individual-level processes to community dynamics. We propose a combination of tree spatial data, spatial statistics and dynamical theory to reveal the relationship between spatial patterns and population-level interaction coefficients and their consequences for multispecies dynamics and coexistence. Here we show that the emerging population-level interaction coefficients have, for a broad range of circumstances, a simpler structure than their individual-level counterparts, which allows for an analytical treatment of equilibrium and stability conditions. Mechanisms such as animal seed dispersal, which result in clustering of recruits that is decoupled from parent locations, lead to a rare-species advantage and coexistence of otherwise neutral competitors. Linking spatial statistics with theories of community dynamics offers new avenues for explaining species coexistence and calls for rethinking community ecology through a spatial lens.

Allometric equations for calculation of tree aboveground biomass (AGB) form the basis for estimates of forest carbon storage and exchange with the atmosphere. While standard models exist to calculate forest biomass across the tropics, we lack a standardized tool for computing AGB across boreal and temperate regions that comprise the global extratropics. Here we present an integrated R package, allodb, containing systematically selected published allometric equations and proposed functions to compute AGB. The data component of the package is based on 701 woody species identified at 24 large Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) forest-dynamics plots representing a wide diversity of extratropical forests. A total of 570 parsed allometric equations to estimate individual tree biomass were retrieved, checked, and combined using a weighting function designed to ensure optimal equation selection over the full tree size range with smooth transitions across equations. The equation dataset can be customized with built-in functions that subset the original dataset and add new equations. Although equations were curated based on a limited set of forest communities and number of species, this resource is appropriate for large portions of the global extratropics and can easily be expanded to cover novel forest types.

Blood pressure (BP) and volume control are critical components of dialysis care and have substantial impacts on patient symptoms, quality of life, and cardiovascular complications. Yet, developing consensus best practices for BP and volume control have been challenging, given the absence of objective measures of extracellular volume status and the lack of high-quality evidence for many therapeutic interventions. In February of 2019, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) held a Controversies Conference titled Blood Pressure and Volume Management in Dialysis to assess the current state of knowledge related to BP and volume management and identify opportunities to improve clinical and patient-reported outcomes among individuals receiving maintenance dialysis. Four major topics were addressed: BP measurement, BP targets, and pharmacologic management of suboptimal BP; dialysis prescriptions as they relate to BP and volume; extracellular volume assessment and management with a focus on technology-based solutions; and volume-related patient symptoms and experiences. The overarching theme resulting from presentations and discussions was that managing BP and volume in dialysis involves weighing multiple clinical factors and risk considerations as well as patient lifestyle and preferences, all within a narrow therapeutic window for avoiding acute or chronic volume-related complications. Striking this challenging balance requires individualizing the dialysis prescription by incorporating comorbid health conditions, treatment hemodynamic patterns, clinical judgment, and patient preferences into decision-making, all within local resource constraints.Copyright © 2020 International Society of Nephrology

ForestGEO is a network of scientists and long-term forest dynamics plots (FDPs) spanning the Earth's major forest types. ForestGEO's mission is to advance understanding of the diversity and dynamics of forests and to strengthen global capacity for forest science research. ForestGEO is unique among forest plot networks in its large-scale plot dimensions, censusing of all stems ≥1 cm in diameter, inclusion of tropical, temperate and boreal forests, and investigation of additional biotic (e.g., arthropods) and abiotic (e.g., soils) drivers, which together provide a holistic view of forest functioning. The 71 FDPs in 27 countries include approximately 7.33 million living trees and about 12,000 species, representing 20% of the world's known tree diversity. With >1300 published papers, ForestGEO researchers have made significant contributions in two fundamental areas: species coexistence and diversity, and ecosystem functioning. Specifically, defining the major biotic and abiotic controls on the distribution and coexistence of species and functional types and on variation in species' demography has led to improved understanding of how the multiple dimensions of forest diversity are structured across space and time and how this diversity relates to the processes controlling the role of forests in the Earth system. Nevertheless, knowledge gaps remain that impede our ability to predict how forest diversity and function will respond to climate change and other stressors. Meeting these global research challenges requires major advances in standardizing taxonomy of tropical species, resolving the main drivers of forest dynamics, and integrating plot-based ground and remote sensing observations to scale up estimates of forest diversity and function, coupled with improved predictive models. However, they cannot be met without greater financial commitment to sustain the long-term research of ForestGEO and other forest plot networks, greatly expanded scientific capa

Forest biomass is an essential indicator for monitoring the Earth’s ecosystems and climate. It is a critical input to greenhouse gas accounting, estimation of carbon losses and forest degradation, assessment of renewable energy potential, and for developing climate change mitigation policies such as REDD+, among others. Wall-to-wall mapping of aboveground biomass (AGB) is now possible with satellite remote sensing (RS). However, RS methods require extant, up-to-date, reliable, representative and comparable in situ data for calibration and validation. Here, we present the Forest Observation System (FOS) initiative, an international cooperation to establish and maintain a global in situ forest biomass database. AGB and canopy height estimates with their associated uncertainties are derived at a 0.25ha scale from field measurements made in permanent research plots across the world's forests. All plot estimates are geolocated and have a size that allows for direct comparison with many RS measurements. The FOS offers the potential to improve the accuracy of RS-based biomass products while developing new synergies between the RS and ground-based ecosystem research communities. Live, most up-to-date dataset is available at https://forest-observation-system.net

Forest biomass is an essential indicator for monitoring the Earth’s ecosystems and climate. It is a critical input to greenhouse gas accounting, estimation of carbon losses and forest degradation, assessment of renewable energy potential, and for developing climate change mitigation policies such as REDD+, among others. Wall-to-wall mapping of aboveground biomass (AGB) is now possible with satellite remote sensing (RS). However, RS methods require extant, up-to-date, reliable, representative and comparable in situ data for calibration and validation. Here, we present the Forest Observation System (FOS) initiative, an international cooperation to establish and maintain a global in situ forest biomass database. AGB and canopy height estimates with their associated uncertainties are derived at a 0.25 ha scale from field measurements made in permanent research plots across the world’s forests. All plot estimates are geolocated and have a size that allows for direct comparison with many RS measurements. The FOS offers the potential to improve the accuracy of RS-based biomass products while developing new synergies between the RS and ground-based ecosystem research communities.

Several remote sensing missions will soon produce detailed carbon maps over all terrestrial ecosystems. These missions are dependent on accurate and representative in situ datasets for the training of their algorithms and product validation. However, long-term ground-based forest-monitoring systems are limited, especially in the tropics, and to be useful for validation, such ground-based observation systems need to be regularly revisited and maintained at least over the lifetime of the planned missions. Here we propose a strategy for a coordinated and global network of in situ data that would benefit biomass remote sensing missions. We propose to build upon existing networks of long-term tropical forest monitoring. To produce accurate ground-based biomass estimates, strict data quality must be guaranteed to users. It is more rewarding to invest ground resources at sites where there currently is assurance of a long-term commitment locally and where a core set of data is already available. We call these ‘supersites’. Long-term funding for such an inter-agency endeavour remains an important challenge, and we here provide costing estimates to facilitate dialogue among stakeholders. One critical requirement is to ensure in situ data availability over the lifetime of remote sensing missions. To this end, consistent guidelines for supersite selection and management are proposed within the Forest Observation System, long-term funding should be assured, and principal investigators of the sites should be actively involved.