Recent plant diversity changes on Europe's mountain summits.

In mountainous regions, climate warming is expected to shift species' ranges to higher altitudes. Evidence for such shifts is still mostly from revisitations of historical sites. We present recent (2001 to 2008) changes in vascular plant species richness observed in a standardized monitoring network across Europe's major mountain ranges. Species have moved upslope on average. However, these shifts had opposite effects on the summit floras' species richness in boreal-temperate mountain regions (+3.9 species on average) and Mediterranean mountain regions (-1.4 species), probably because recent climatic trends have decreased the availability of water in the European south. Because Mediterranean mountains are particularly rich in endemic species, a continuation of these trends might shrink the European mountain flora, despite an average increase in summit species richness across the region.

Towards a connectome mapping pipeline for neonates using high-resolution MP2RAGE and DTI

Exploring the anatomical and functional connectivities between different regions of the brain (the "Connectome") is a core challenge in neuroscience. While robust methods are available for the adult brain, mapping the connectome in neonates is highly challenging. The purpose of this pilot study is to present a methodological approach for analyzing structural connectivity of a neonate brain and to exploit the MP2RAGE sequence with its advantageous contrast properties

Wandel der Biodiversität in der Schweiz seit 1900: ist die Talsohle erreicht?

Die Biodiversität ist unsere Lebensgrundlage - ihr ökonomischer, ökologischer, sozialer und ästhetischer Wert kann nicht hoch genug eingeschätzt werden. Im Jahr 2003 beschlossen die Umweltminister Europas daher, den Verlust der Biodiversität bis ins Jahr 2010 zu stoppen. Haben wir dieses Ziel erreicht?Die vorliegende Studie des Forum Biodiversität Schweiz gibt fundierte Antworten auf diese Frage. Die umfassende Analyse zeigt auf Basis der besten verfügbaren Daten und differenziert für unterschiedliche Aspekte der biologischen Vielfalt, wie sich die Biodiversität in der Schweiz seit 1900 entwickelt hat. Die Resultate zeigen, dass weiterhin ein großer Handlungsbedarf besteht.

The Alps Vegetation Database - a geo-referenced community-level archive of all terrestrial plants occurring in the Alps.

Mountain ranges are biodiversity hotspots worldwide and provide refuge to many organisms under contemporary climate change. Gathering field information on mountain biodiversity over time is of primary importance to understand the response of biotic communities to climate changes. For plants, several long-term observation sites and networks of mountain biodiversity are emerging worldwide to gather field data and monitor altitudinal range shifts and community composition changes under contemporary climate change. Most of these monitoring sites, however, focus on alpine ecosystems and mountain summits, such as the global observation research initiative in alpine environments (GLORIA). Here we describe the Alps Vegetation Database, a comprehensive community level archive (GIVD ID EU-00-014) which aims at compiling all available geo-referenced vegetation plots from lowland forests to alpine grasslands across the greatest mountain range in Europe: the Alps. This research initiative was funded between 2008 and 2011 by the Danish Council for Independent Research and was part of a larger project to compare cross-scale plant community structure between the Alps and the Scandes. The Alps Vegetation Database currently harbours 35,731 geo-referenced vegetation plots and 5,023 valid taxa across Mediterranean, temperate and alpine environments. The data are mainly used by the main contributors of the Alps Vegetation Database in an ecoinformatics approach to test hypotheses related to plant macroecology and biogeography, but external proposals for joint collaborations are welcome.

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L'analyse globale (tab. 1) révèle qu'à quelques rares exceptions, la biodiversité s'est notablement appauvrie entre 1900 et 1990. Durant les vingt dernières années, le recul des effectifs de nombreuses espèces et l'érosion de la surface de certains habitats ont pu être ralentis. Dans de rares cas une évolution positive a même été constatée. Ces développements, encourageants en soi, ne se sont toutefois opérés qu'à partir d'un très faible niveau de biodiversité. Sur le Plateau suisse notamment, son état est très préoccupant.Dans l'ensemble, il n'a pas été possible d'enrayer le déclin de la biodiversité; nous n'avons pas encore touché le fond. Selon nos prévisions pour 2020 une tendance générale à la hausse, voire un véritable inversement de tendance, n'est pas possible dans les conditions actuelles (lois, instruments et mesures, respectivement mise en oeuvre de ces outils). La persistance de cet appauvrissement est notamment imputable à l'intensification de l'exploitation agricole des régions de montagne, à l'extension du milieu urbain et à l'accroissement des activités de tourisme et de loisir. A cela s'ajoutent de nouveaux facteurs de menace, tels que l'expansion des espèces invasives et les répercussions directes et indirectes des changements climatiques qui augmenteront encore la pression sur les espèces et les écosystèmes déjà menacés.

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Il est maintenant accepté par une large part de la communauté scientifique que le climat est en train de changer sous l'influence des gaz à effet de serre émis par les activités humaines. Pour la Suisse, cela correspond à une augmentation des températures et à une diminution probable des précipitations estivales.Etant donné le manque de recul et de données historiques précises, l'influence des changements climatiques sur la biodiversité n'est encore connue que d'études ponctuelles limitées à certaines espèces. Celles-ci nous livrent néanmoins des signaux clairs de changement dans la distribution et la phénologie des espèces, généralement cohérents avec les résultats des modèles prédictifs pour le futur.Globalement, les espèces montrent une tendance à migrer vers les altitudes supérieures. Celles qui occupent aujourd'hui les altitudes les plus élevées vont probablement voir leur domaine se rétrécir. De grands risques d'extinction planent donc sur les espèces alpines, pour lesquelles la Suisse a une responsabilité toute particulière. Parallèlement, la diminution des précipitations estivales va augmenter les problèmes de sécheresses, ce qui pourrait conduire, par exemple, à une réduction des forêts en Valais central et à un assèchement prématuré des lieux de ponte des amphibiens. Inversement, certaines espèces thermophiles de basses altitudes pourraient profiter des nouvelles conditions en accroissant leur domaine de répartition, comme déjà observé chez certains insectes.En plus des changements climatiques, d'autres facteurs menacent indirectement les espèces. La forte fragmentation du territoire limitera la capacité des espèces à coloniser de nouveaux territoires par manque de connexions entre les milieux favorables. Un climat plus chaud permettra une intensification de l'agriculture en montagne, accompagnée des effets néfastes déjà bien connus en plaine, ou pourrait favoriser certaines maladies. De plus, les printemps plus précoces décaleront le développement de certaines espèces, ce qui pourrait fortement modifier les interactions entre espèces et les chaînes trophiques.Les conséquences des changements climatiques sur la biodiversité dépendront aussi des décisions prises au niveau national et international et des mesures prises pour la protection du climat. Afin de limiter les pertes, il est important de mettre en place des corridors favorisant la colonisation de nouvelles aires par les espèces et d'utiliser les synergies possibles entre protection de la biodiversité et lutte contre les changements climatiques. De plus, le monitoring des espèces les plus sensibles aidera à développer, avant qu'il ne soit trop tard, les mesures complémentaires nécessaires à leur conservation.

An integrated encyclopedia of DNA elements in the human genome.

The human genome encodes the blueprint of life, but the function of the vast majority of its nearly three billion bases is unknown. The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project has systematically mapped regions of transcription, transcription factor association, chromatin structure and histone modification. These data enabled us to assign biochemical functions for 80% of the genome, in particular outside of the well-studied protein-coding regions. Many discovered candidate regulatory elements are physically associated with one another and with expressed genes, providing new insights into the mechanisms of gene regulation. The newly identified elements also show a statistical correspondence to sequence variants linked to human disease, and can thereby guide interpretation of this variation. Overall, the project provides new insights into the organization and regulation of our genes and genome, and is an expansive resource of functional annotations for biomedical research.

Cross-scale analysis of the region effect on vascular plant species diversity in southern and northern European mountain ranges.

Background: The divergent glacial histories of southern and northern Europe affect present-day species diversity at coarse-grained scales in these two regions, but do these effects also penetrate to the more fine-grained scales of local communities?Methodology/Principal Findings: We carried out a cross-scale analysis to address this question for vascular plants in two mountain regions, the Alps in southern Europe and the Scandes in northern Europe, using environmentally paired vegetation plots in the two regions (n = 403 in each region) to quantify four diversity components: (i) total number of species occurring in a region (total gamma-diversity), (ii) number of species that could occur in a target plot after environmental filtering (habitat-specific gamma-diversity), (iii) pair-wise species compositional turnover between plots (plot-to-plot beta-diversity) and (iv) number of species present per plot (plot gamma-diversity). We found strong region effects on total gamma-diversity, habitat-specific gamma-diversity and plot-to-plot beta-diversity, with a greater diversity in the Alps even towards distances smaller than 50 m between plots. In contrast, there was a slightly greater plot alpha-diversity in the Scandes, but with a tendency towards contrasting region effects on high and low soil-acidity plots.Conclusions/Significance: We conclude that there are strong regional differences between coarse-grained (landscape- to regional-scale) diversity components of the flora in the Alps and the Scandes mountain ranges,but that these differences do not necessarily penetrate to the finest-grained (plot-scale) diversity component, at least not on acidic soils. Because different processes can lead to a similar pattern, we discuss the consistency of our results with Quaternary history and other divergent features between the two regions such as habitat connectivity, selection for vagility and environmental differences not accounted for in our analyses

The diagnostic challenge of progressive pseudorheumatoid dysplasia (PPRD): A review of clinical features, radiographic features, and WISP3 mutations in 63 affected individuals.

Progressive pseudorheumatoid dysplasia (PPRD) is a genetic, non-inflammatory arthropathy caused by recessive loss of function mutations in WISP3 (Wnt1-inducible signaling pathway protein 3; MIM 603400), encoding for a signaling protein. The disease is clinically silent at birth and in infancy. It manifests between the age of 3 and 6 years with joint pain and progressive joint stiffness. Affected children are referred to pediatric rheumatologists and orthopedic surgeons; however, signs of inflammation are absent and anti-inflammatory treatment is of little help. Bony enlargement at the interphalangeal joints progresses leading to camptodactyly. Spine involvement develops in late childhood and adolescence leading to short trunk with thoracolumbar kyphosis. Adult height is usually below the 3rd percentile. Radiographic signs are relatively mild. Platyspondyly develops in late childhood and can be the first clue to the diagnosis. Enlargement of the phalangeal metaphyses develops subtly and is usually recognizable by 10 years. The femoral heads are large and the acetabulum forms a distinct "lip" overriding the femoral head. There is a progressive narrowing of all articular spaces as articular cartilage is lost. Medical management of PPRD remains symptomatic and relies on pain medication. Hip joint replacement surgery in early adulthood is effective in reducing pain and maintaining mobility and can be recommended. Subsequent knee joint replacement is a further option. Mutation analysis of WISP3 allowed the confirmation of the diagnosis in 63 out of 64 typical cases in our series. Intronic mutations in WISP3 leading to splicing aberrations can be detected only in cDNA from fibroblasts and therefore a skin biopsy is indicated when genomic analysis fails to reveal mutations in individuals with otherwise typical signs and symptoms. In spite of the first symptoms appearing in early childhood, the diagnosis of PPRD is most often made only in the second decade and affected children often receive unnecessary anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive treatments. Increasing awareness of PPRD appears to be essential to allow for a timely diagnosis. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Continent wide response of mountain vegetation to climate change

Climate impact studies have indicated ecological fingerprints of recent global warming across a wide range of habitats. Whereas these studies have shown responses from various local case studies, a coherent large-scale account on temperature-driven changes of biotic communities has been lacking. Here we use 867 vegetation samples above the treeline from 60 summit sites in all major European mountain systems to show that ongoing climate change gradually transforms mountain plant communities. We provide evidence that the more cold-adapted species decline and the more warm-adapted species increase, a process described here as thermophilisation. At the scale of individual mountains this general trend may not be apparent, but at the¦larger, continental scale we observed a significantly higher abundance of thermophilic species in 2008, compared with 2001. Thermophilisation of mountain plant communities mirrors the degree of recent warming and is more pronounced in areas where the temperature increase has been higher. In view of the projected climate change the observed transformation suggests a progressive decline of cold mountain habitats and their biota.