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Four new species, Troglodytella gracilis , T. virunga , T. dolium , and Gorilloflasca longior were described from the mountain gorillas in Rwanda. The three Troglodytella species share a retractable adoral ciliary zone, four non-retractable ciliary arches, two broad skeletal plates, a skeletal rod plate, numerous longitudinal cortical grooves, and four contractile vacuoles. The anterior ciliary arch is the longest of the four arches, extending transversely on the left body surface. T. gracilis and T. virunga are characterized by an elongated body, a tail flap, and a wedge-shaped macronucleus. T. virunga can be distinguished from T . gracilis by a trifurcate dorsal lobe, three right lobes, and two ventral spines. T. dolium has a barrel-shaped body and a rod-shaped or boomerang-shaped macronucleus. The buccal infraciliature of the three Troglodytella is composed of an adoral polybrachykinety, a perivestibular polybrachykinety, and paralabial kineties. G. longior has a long flask-shaped body, a vestibulum, a frontal lobe, a posterior cavity, an ellipsoidal or peanut-shaped macronucleus, a contractile vacuole, non-retractable adoral and vestibular ciliary zones in buccal area, a cavity ciliary zone, and two longitudinal dorsal ciliary zones. The infraciliature of G. longior is the same as that of G. africana . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

California’s Mediterranean ecosystem has been identified as one of the Earth’s biodiversity hotspots. The high degree of rapid urbanization along the southern California coastline has resulted in the loss of significant natural areas over the last century and protected areas that do exist may be further threatened by climate change, drought, and fire. We use Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor at a 250 m pixel resolution and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to monitor temporal/spatial patterns from 2000 to 2016 within Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Channel Islands National Park. We test the hypothesis that there should be no significant long-term change in protected areas since 2000 and compare impacts of seasonality, drought, and fire. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area has experienced a long-term decline in vegetation greenness, vegetation types, and is the most significantly impacted with short-term declines during the summer with or without the impacts of fire. Change detection maps show areas of significant decline in NDVI in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area especially during the summer. The Channel Islands have relatively stable NDVI possibly due to the removal of non-native herbivores and the maritime climate around the Channel Islands may buffer some of the impacts of the regional drought. The MODIS sensors appears appropriate for identifying landscape patterns, time series, change detection maps, and the potential impacts from climate change for each park. Results suggest that all National Park landscapes and vegetation types can be inventoried at a 250 m resolution and monitored at a high temporal resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We examined the unequal drought impact on urban vegetation in Los Angeles. • Neighborhoods of disadvantaged groups had severer vegetation degradation in drought. • Decreased vegetation greenness induced higher heat exposure of Hispanics and Blacks. • Urban vegetation's cooling effect in drought is linked to socioeconomic conditions. Urban vegetation is valuable in alleviating local heatwaves. However, drought may decrease vegetation health and limit this cooling effect. Here we use satellite-based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) to investigate the sensitivity of urban vegetation to drought in Coastal Greater Los Angeles (CGLA) from 2001 to 2020. We applied four statistical models to analyze the relations between 15 socioeconomic variables and the vegetation's sensitivity to drought. We then examined the changes in the cooling effect of the urban vegetation during drought and non-drought periods using remotely sensed land surface temperature (LST) data. The results suggest that economically disadvantaged areas with higher proportions of Hispanics and Blacks are typified by vegetation more sensitive to drought, which is likely linked to inequality in water use. Moreover, these populations experience a lower degree of vegetation cooling effects and higher exposure to heatwaves. The findings of this study imply that the potential of a community's vegetation in mitigating heatwaves is significantly influenced by the socioeconomic conditions of the community. Increasing the resilience of urban vegetation to drought in disadvantaged communities may help promote environmentally sustainable and socially resilient cities under a warming climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the observation process is key to effective use of opportunistic biodiversity data from low-structure citizen science. We investigated how observer characteristics, including activity level (enthusiastic, moderate, or short-term) and primary location (resident or visitor), influenced spatial and taxonomic patterns of iNaturalist participation in the Hawaiian Islands from 2008 to 2021. We found that visitors represented nearly two-thirds of all observers and 96% of the enthusiastic group. Sampling bias toward developed areas, sites near roads or trails, and areas with fewer protections was relatively stronger for residents, most of whom were short-term participants. However, observations by enthusiastic residents had the greatest taxonomic diversity. Participation grew exponentially through 2019, then decreased in spring 2020. Though resident participation was comparatively steady during COVID-19 travel restrictions, it did not compensate for the decline in visitor activity. Once restrictions ended in 2021, participation recovered quickly among enthusiastic visitors but continued to be lower than expected for residents. Our results indicate that the majority and diversity of sampling relies on a small group of highly active observers, most of whom are unlikely to live in the region. Fostering sustained, local participation could improve the consistency and quality of iNaturalist observations and thus their utility in biodiversity conservation. • Majority of iNaturalist observers in Hawaii are likely to be visitors. • Visitors tend to be more active on the app than resident observers. • Resident observations contain relatively higher spatial sampling bias. • Resident activity was steadier during pandemic, but visitors show greater recovery. • More sustained participation from local community could improve data quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new entodiniomorphid ciliate species, Gorilloflasca africana n. g., n. sp. was described from the Virunga mountain gorillas, Gorilla beringei beringei , in Rwanda. It is characterized by a flask-shaped body, a long tubular vestibulum, a round frontal lobe, a large posterior cavity, an ellipsoidal or peanut-shaped macronucleus and a single contractile vacuole. G. africana has the adoral and the vestibular ciliary zones in the buccal area. The adoral ciliary zone is non-retractable, encircling the vestibular opening. The vestibular ciliary zone extends posteriorly in the vestibulum. The somatic ciliary zones are the cavity ciliary zone in the posterior cavity along the ventral side of its opening and two longitudinal ciliary zones on the dorsal body surface. The buccal infraciliary bands of G. africana are a C-shaped adoral polybrachykinety, a stick-shaped vestibular kinety band, and paralabial kineties. The anterior region of the vestibular kinety band is composed of short kineties whereas, kineties in the remaining region are longitudinal. The somatic infraciliary bands are a cavity polybrachykinety and two longitudinal polybrachykineties. Gorilloflasca is a member of the family Blepharocorythidae based on the non-retractable adoral ciliary zone, the frontal lobe, the large posterior cavity and the vestibular longitudinal kineties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present global plant extinction rates are 100–1000 times greater than pre-human levels and this is especially true on oceanic islands. There is a great need to model the distributions of endangered plants for reintroduction on oceanic islands, however, there are still questions concerning what is the most appropriate spatial scale and which environmental metrics should be included in order to guide restoration efforts. We examine the impact of spatial scale (1 km, 250 m, 10 m), environmental metrics (climate, topography, soils), and species overlap for 11 rare and endangered species in the dry forest of Oahu, Hawaii, which is one of the world’s most endangered ecosystems, and contains some of the highest resolution data on species locations and environmental metrics for an oceanic island. At all spatial scales, the species distribution models reliably differentiated between occupied habitat and background for all 11 species (AUC ⩾ 0.92). The relative importance of the environmental metrics did not vary across spatial scales with soil great group contributing most to the models followed by elevation, and mean precipitation of the driest quarter. The percent of the total island area with niche overlap for two or more species did not show any pattern with grain size, however, the 10 m model contained the largest areas of niche overlap for two or more species. There were 1292 10 m pixels on Oahu where models predict niche overlap for eight endangered species, however, only 1.2% of the total area is currently in protected areas. Results suggests that species distribution models are useful for predicting habitat suitability at all scales (1 km, 250 m, 10 m), environmental metrics do not change across scales but high resolution data on soils, topography, and precipitation are needed, and 10 m resolution data are the best for informing restoration decisions for the endangered species on Hawaii and other oceanic islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The morphology of Prototapirella fosseyi n. sp., P. rwanda n. sp. and P. gorillae Imai, Ikeda, Collet, and Bonhomme, 1991 in the Entodiniomorphida were described from the mountain gorillas, Gorilla beringei beringei , in Rwanda. The ciliates have a retractable adoral ciliary zone, four non-retractable ciliary tufts in four caudalia, and one broad skeletal plate beneath the body surface. P. rwanda has a dorsal lobe and ventral lobes in two rows whereas P. fosseyi has no lobes. These two new species have an elongated body, a flat tail flap leaning to the ventral, a macronucleus with a tapering anterior end, a round posterior end and a shallow depression on the dorsal side, a micronucleus lying near the anterior end of macronucleus, a thin left region of the skeletal plate, a distinct skeletal rod plate, and four contractile vacuoles. P. gorillae has some variations in the nuclei and the skeletal plate. The infraciliary bands of three Prototapirella species were the same as some Triplumaria species; a C-shaped adoral polybrachykinety, a slender perivestibular polybrachykinety, and paralabial kineties in their retractable adoral ciliary zone and short lateral polybrachykineties in their four caudalia. The perivestibular polybrachykinety is joined only to the right end of adoral polybrachykinety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Mangrove forests of Senegambia are a major focus of conservation efforts in West Africa. [•] Landsat imagery from 1986 to 2010 shows areas where coverage severely decreased. [•] Mangrove destruction is due to urban firewood demand and illicit trans-border trade. [•] Tanbi National Park mangrove coverage remained stable over the study period. [•] Regional scale is significant for framing remote-sensing analyses of mangroves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: The clinical pulmonary infection score (CPIS) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) are 2 tools that have been validated to diagnose pneumonia in critically ill patients. However, the role of the CPIS in diagnosing trauma-associated pneumonia (TAP) remains in question. Methods: This prospective observational study included all trauma patients who were ventilated for longer than 48 hours from September 2008 to September 2009. The CPIS and quantitative culture results from the BAL were collected and used to define pneumonia. Results: A total of 162 patients were identified. In all, 58 (35.8%) and 104 (64.2%) had a CPIS greater than 5 and a CPIS of 5 or less, respectively. There were 95 (58.6%) patients who had a BAL completed regardless of CPIS. There were 65 patients who met the bacteriologic definition of pneumonia (≥104 colonies/mL), for an overall TAP incidence of 40.1%. Conclusions: The CPIS is unreliable as a clinical tool to predict a positive BAL at 104 or 105 or higher threshold. Therefore, BAL should be used for the diagnosis of TAP based on clinical rationale and not the CPIS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Environmental heterogeneity is considered to be one of the main factors associated with biodiversity given that areas with highly heterogeneous environments can host more species due to their higher number of available niches. In this view, spatial variability extracted from remotely sensed images has been used as a proxy of species diversity, as these data provide an inexpensive means of deriving environmental information for large areas in a consistent and regular manner. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the state of the art in the use of spectral heterogeneity for estimating species diversity. We will examine a number of issues related to this theme, dealing with: i) the main sensors used for biodiversity monitoring, ii) scale matching problems between remotely sensed and field diversity data, iii) spectral heterogeneity measurement techniques, iv) types of species taxonomic diversity measures and how they influence the relationship between spectral and species diversity, v) spectral versus genetic diversity, and vi) modeling procedures for relating spectral and species diversity. Our review suggests that remotely sensed spectral heterogeneity information provides a crucial baseline for rapid estimation or prediction of biodiversity attributes and hotspots in space and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors report a case of a 21-year-old woman taking oral contraceptives for severe dysmenorrhea who presented with a hepatic mass and worsening right upper quadrant pain. The oral contraceptives could not be discontinued because of her pelvic symptoms, necessitating treatment of the liver lesion for symptomatic relief. Computed tomography and percutaneous biopsy demonstrated the mass to be focal nodular hyperplasia. The patient opted for radiofrequency ablation rather than surgical enucleation for symptomatic relief. The ablation proved to be a safe and effective alternative to surgery to treat the benign tumor, and permitted more aggressive therapy of the dysmenorrhea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ecological overlap may increase the risks of microbial exchange between humans and wild non-human primates. Escherichia coli bacteria were collected from chimpanzees and humans in Kibale National Park, western Uganda, in May and June 2004, in order to examine whether interaction between humans and apes in the wild might affect gastrointestinal bacterial communities in the two species. Chimpanzees harbored bacteria genetically more similar to those of humans employed in chimpanzee-directed research and tourism than to those of humans from a local village. Most humans (81. 6%) and 4. 4% of chimpanzees harbored at least one isolate resistant to locally available antibiotics. In isolates from both humans and chimpanzees, resistance was higher to five of these antibiotics than to Ceftiofur, an antibiotic not available in the region. These data indicate that humans and apes interacting in the wild can share genetically and phenotypically similar gastrointestinal bacteria, presumably originating from common environmental sources. Strategies to limit transmission of pathogens between humans and primates, whether that transmission is direct or indirect, would benefit both human health and primate conservation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the light of unprecedented change in global biodiversity, real-time and accurate ecosystem and biodiversity assessments are becoming increasingly essential. Nevertheless, estimation of biodiversity using ecological field data can be difficult for several reasons. For instance, for very large areas, it is challenging to collect data that provide reliable information. Some of these restrictions in Earth observation can be avoided through the use of remote sensing approaches. Various studies have estimated biodiversity on the basis of the Spectral Variation Hypothesis (SVH). According to this hypothesis, spectral heterogeneity over the different pixel units of a spatial grid reflects a higher niche heterogeneity, allowing more organisms to coexist. Recently, the spectral species concept has been derived, following the consideration that spectral heterogeneity at a landscape scale corresponds to a combination of subspaces sharing a similar spectral signature. With the use of high resolution remote sensing data, on a local scale, these subspaces can be identified as separate spectral entities, the so called "spectral species". Our approach extends this concept over wide spatial extents and to a higher level of biological organization. We applied this method to MODIS imagery data across Europe. Obviously, in this case, a spectral species identified by MODIS is not associated to a single plant species in the field but rather to a species assemblage, habitat, or ecosystem. Based on such spectral information, we propose a straightforward method to derive α - (local relative abundance and richness of spectral species) and β -diversity (turnover of spectral species) maps over wide geographical areas. • In-situ data on biodiversity are challenging. • Remote sensing (RS) is a powerful tool for studying biodiversity. • Spectral species can be detected in the electromagnetic spectrum. • Spectral communities can be used to calculate ecosystem diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, a high number of Entodiniomorphida species was discovered in Virunga mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Rwanda compared to other primates. Thirteen species of five genera (Troglocorys , Gorilloflasca , Prototapirella , Troglodytella , and Opisthotrichum) were identified with 10 species in Gorilloflasca , Prototapirella , and Troglodytella being host-specific, to our current knowledge. The remaining three species have been described for other herbivorous mammals; Prototapirella gorillae for western lowland gorillas; Troglocorys cava for western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, and guinea baboons; Opisthotrichum janus in the family Ophryoscolecidae is regarded as specific to African antelopes. Here, we show the first indication that wild herbivorous hindgut fermenting mammals might have rumen ophryoscolecids in the intestine sympatric with their native intestinal ciliates. We also describe three new Prototapirella species, P. sabyinyo , P. sulcata , and P. curiosa. The somatic ciliary zones of the three new species are atypical of Prototapirella while their buccal infraciliature is not different from that of other Prototapirella species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• More intensive site management is associated with higher seedling survival. • Recruitment is rarely reported or discussed. • Few studies report project costs or social outcomes. • Under-utilized remote sensing data could improve monitoring and increase its frequency. Active restoration may be necessary to the recovery of degraded tropical dry forests, which are highly threatened but relatively understudied compared to other forest ecosystems. A greater understanding of how different treatments affect various performance metrics and general outcomes is needed. A literature review of active restoration from 2000 to 2019 identified 30 tropical dry forest restoration-related peer-reviewed articles. Grazing (50% of studies), fire (37%), and cultivation (27%) were the most frequent causes of dry forest ecosystem degradation, and invasive non-native species were reported present in the majority of studies. Common site management needs thus included control of competitive vegetation, as well as supplemental irrigation. Outplanted species were most often selected for their functional traits (57%) or local abundance (32%), while only three studies focused on reintroducing or enhancing populations of rare, endangered, or sensitive species. Survival was the most common metric used to measure outplanted seedling performance (88%) and ranged from 13% to 80% (mean 45%). Seedlings planted in mixed assemblages had significantly higher survival rates (median 63%) than those in single species plots (29%), and a moderately positive relationship was observed between survival and the number of species planted. Survival was significantly higher for treatments in which non-native vegetation was continuously controlled throughout the study (median 61%), as well as treatments that received supplemental water for a portion of (63%) or the entire (51%) monitoring period. Survival rates tended to be higher in protected sites (54%) than in sites without any protection status (30%), but this difference was not statistically significant. The cause of seedling mortality, reported in 63% of studies, was most often attributed to desiccation (including soil conditions, timing or lack of precipitation, competition for available water). In general, variation in the format and level of detail reported in the results limited the cross-study analysis that could be performed. Metrics other than survival were often underreported, particularly reproductive measures. The majority of papers also did not report project costs (80% of studies) or community engagement (73%). Results suggest that more diverse metrics and outcomes should be regularly reported in active restoration literature in order to improve best practices and broaden the scope of future research. Remotely-sensed metrics, for example, have the potential to complement field-based evaluations and increase the frequency of future monitoring efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social interactions are important in everyday life for primates and many other group-living animals; however, these essential exchanges also provide opportunities for parasites to spread through social groups. Network analysis is a unique toolkit for studying pathogen transmission in a social context, and recent primate–parasite network studies shed light on linkages between behavior and infectious disease dynamics, providing insights for conservation and public health. We review existing literature on primate–parasite networks, examining determinants of infection risk, issues of network scale and temporal dynamics, and applications for disease control. We also discuss analytical and conceptual gaps that should be addressed to improve our understanding of how individual and group-level factors affect infection risk, while highlighting interesting areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing biodiversity from field-based data is difficult for a number of practical reasons: (i) establishing the total number of sampling units to be investigated and the sampling design (e.g. systematic, random, stratified) can be difficult; (ii) the choice of the sampling design can affect the results; and (iii) defining the focal population of interest can be challenging. Satellite remote sensing is one of the most cost-effective and comprehensive approaches to identify biodiversity hotspots and predict changes in species composition. This is because, in contrast to field-based methods, it allows for complete spatial coverages of the Earth's surface under study over a short period of time. Furthermore, satellite remote sensing provides repeated measures, thus making it possible to study temporal changes in biodiversity. While taxonomic diversity measures have long been established, problems arising from abundance related measures have not been yet disentangled. Moreover, little has been done to account for functional diversity besides taxonomic diversity measures. The aim of this manuscript is to propose robust measures of remotely sensed heterogeneity to perform exploratory analysis for the detection of hotspots of taxonomic and functional diversity of plant species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amoebiasis, caused by Entamoeba histolytica , affects 50 million people worldwide, and results in 100,000 deaths annually. It is particularly prevalent in developing nations where poverty and poor sanitation contribute to contamination of food and water. E. histolytica is also a zoonotic protozoan parasite with the potential to infect non-human primates. Lemurs, primates endemic to Madagascar, are the most threatened mammalian group in the world due to habitat loss. As forests disappear, humans and lemurs come into more frequent contact, and the potential for E. histolytica to infect lemurs intensifies. Consequently, we screened 176 fecal samples from seven lemur species at eight sites in the rain forests of southeastern Madagascar for E. histolytica to determine if human proximity influenced lemur infection. Of samples examined, 4.0% (from three lemur species) were positive for E. histolytica . Of lemurs infected with E. histolytica , three (43%) exhibited diarrheal feces. Distance to human settlements explained the variation in E. histolytica infection seen in lemurs. These results provide the first evidence of E. histolytica in wild lemurs and highlight the need for additional work to better understand the eco-epidemiology of this potential threat to these species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parasitic diseases of humans and livestock are ubiquitous in the developing world and have substantial impacts on human wellbeing. For the estimated one billion people living in poverty who rely on livestock for their livelihoods, parasites steal valuable nutritional resources through multiple pathways. This diversion of nutrients ultimately contributes to chronic malnutrition, greater human disease burdens, and decreased productivity of both humans and livestock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historic rates of habitat change and growing exploitation of natural resources threaten avian biodiversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, a global biodiversity hotspot. We implemented a twostage framework for conservation planning in the Atlantic Forest. First, we used ecological niche modeling to predict the distributions of 23 endemic bird species using 19 climatic metrics and 12 spectral and radar remote sensing metrics. Second, we utilized the principle of complementarity to prioritize new sites to augment the Atlantic Forest's existing reserves. The best predictors of bird distributions were precipitation metrics (the seasonality of rainfall) and radar remote sensing metrics (QSCAT). The existing protected areas do not include 10% of the habitat of each of the 23 endemic species. We propose a more economical set of protected areas by reducing the extent to which new sites duplicate the biodiversity content of existing protected areas. There is a high concordance between the proposed conservation areas that we designed using computerized algorithms and Important Bird Areas prioritized by BirdLife International. Insofar as deforestation in the Atlantic Forest is similar to land conversion in other biodiversity hotspots, our methodology is applicable to conservation efforts elsewhere in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, started by Jane Goodall in 1960, provided pioneering accounts of chimpanzee behavior and ecology. With funding from multiple sources, including the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and grants from private foundations and federal programs, the project has continued for sixty years, providing a wealth of information about our evolutionary cousins. These chimpanzees face two main challenges to their survival: infectious disease — including simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVcpz), which can cause Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in chimpanzees — and the deforestation of land outside the park. A health monitoring program has increased understanding of the pathogens affecting chimpanzees and has promoted measures to characterize and reduce disease risk. Deforestation reduces connections between Gombe and other chimpanzee populations, which can cause loss of genetic diversity. To promote habitat restoration, JGI facilitated participatory village land use planning, in which communities voluntarily allocated land to a network of Village Land Forest Reserves. Expected benefits to people include stabilizing watersheds, improving water supplies, and ensuring a supply of forest resources. Surveys and genetic analyses confirm that chimpanzees persist on village lands and remain connected to the Gombe population. Many challenges remain, but the regeneration of natural forest on previously degraded lands provides hope that conservation solutions can be found that benefit both people and wildlife. Conservation work in the Greater Gombe Ecosystem has helped promote broader efforts to plan and work for conservation elsewhere in Tanzania and across Africa. • 60 years of chimpanzee research at Gombe NP, Tanzania, have provided a wealth of information about our evolutionary cousins • Chimpanzees at Gombe face two main challenges : infectious disease and the deforestation of land outside the park. • The health monitoring project at Gombe has improved understanding of chimpanzee and ecosystem health • Participatory village land use planning has resulted in a network of Village Land Forest Reserves near Gombe • Regeneration of natural forest in villages provides hope that conservation solutions can benefit both people and wildlife. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]