Abstract
Islands are global hotspots for biodiversity and extinction, representing ~ 5% of Earth’s land area alongside 40% of globally threatened vertebrates and 61% of global extinctions since the ...1500s. Invasive species are the primary driver of native biodiversity loss on islands, though eradication of invasive species from islands has been effective at halting or reversing these trends. A global compendium of this conservation tool is essential for scaling best-practices and enabling innovations to maximize biodiversity outcomes. Here, we synthesize over 100 years of invasive vertebrate eradications from islands, comprising 1550 eradication attempts on 998 islands, with an 88% success rate. We show a significant growth in eradication activity since the 1980s, primarily driven by rodent eradications. The annual number of eradications on islands peaked in the mid-2000s, but the annual area treated continues to rise dramatically. This trend reflects increases in removal efficacy and project complexity, generating increased conservation gains. Our synthesis demonstrates the collective contribution of national interventions towards global biodiversity outcomes. Further investment in invasive vertebrate eradications from islands will expand biodiversity conservation while strengthening biodiversity resilience to climate change and creating co-benefits for human societies.
Achieving conservation objectives is time critical, but the vast number of threats and potential actions means some form of ranking is necessary to aid prioritization. Objective methods for ranking ...conservation actions based on when they are differentially likely to become feasible, or to succeed, are currently unavailable within existing decision‐making frameworks but are critical for making informed management decisions. We demonstrate how statistical tools developed for survival (or time‐to‐event) analysis can be used to rank conservation actions over time, through the lens of invasive mammal eradications on islands. Here we forecast the probability of eradicating commensal rat species (Rattus rattus, R. norvegicus, R. exulans) from the New Zealand archipelago by the government's stated target of year 2050. Our methods provide temporally ranked eradication trajectories for the entire country, thus facilitating meeting nationwide policy goals. This demonstration highlights the relevance and applicability of such an approach and its utility for prioritizing globally effective conservation actions.
Objective methods for ranking conservation actions based on when they are differentially likely to become feasible, or to succeed, are currently unavailable within existing decision‐making frameworks but are critical for making informed management decisions. Here, we forecast the probability of eradicating commensal rat species from the New Zealand archipelago by the government's stated target of year 2050 using survival (or time‐to‐event) methods. Our study demonstrates that New Zealand requires greater magnitudes of eradication step‐change than has ever been experienced in the past in order to ensure this conservation initiative is successful.
During chronic stress, persistent activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) occurs, which can contribute to protective or maladaptive changes in the heart. We sought to understand the effect ...of persistent PKA activation on NaV1.5 channel distribution and function in cardiomyocytes using adult rat ventricular myocytes as the main model. PKA activation with 8CPT-cAMP and okadaic acid (phosphatase inhibitor) caused an increase in Na+ current amplitude without altering the total NaV1.5 protein level, suggesting a redistribution of NaV1.5 to the myocytes' surface. Biotinylation experiments in HEK293 cells showed that inhibiting protein trafficking from intracellular compartments to the plasma membrane prevented the PKA-induced increase in cell surface NaV1.5. Additionally, PKA activation induced a time-dependent increase in microtubule plus-end binding protein 1 (EB1) and clustering of EB1 at myocytes' peripheral surface and intercalated discs (ICDs). This was accompanied by a decrease in stable interfibrillar microtubules but an increase in dynamic microtubules along the myocyte surface. Imaging and coimmunoprecipitation experiments revealed that NaV1.5 interacted with EB1 and β-tubulin, and both interactions were enhanced by PKA activation. We propose that persistent PKA activation promotes NaV1.5 trafficking to the peripheral surface of myocytes and ICDs by providing dynamic microtubule tracks and enhanced guidance by EB1. Our proposal is consistent with an increase in the correlative distribution of NaV1.5, EB1, and β-tubulin at these subcellular domains in PKA-activated myocytes. Our study suggests that persistent PKA activation, at least during the initial phase, can protect impulse propagation in a chronically stressed heart by increasing NaV1.5 at ICDs.
Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular bacterium that elicits robust CD8+ T-cell responses. Despite the ongoing development of L. monocytogenes-based platforms as cancer vaccines, our ...understanding of how L. monocytogenes drives robust CD8+ T-cell responses remains incomplete. One overarching hypothesis is that activation of cytosolic innate pathways is critical for immunity, as strains of L. monocytogenes that are unable to access the cytosol fail to elicit robust CD8+ T-cell responses and in fact inhibit optimal T-cell priming. Counterintuitively, however, activation of known cytosolic pathways, such as the inflammasome and type I IFN, lead to impaired immunity. Conversely, production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) downstream of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is essential for optimal L. monocytogenes T-cell priming. Here, we demonstrate that vacuole-constrained L. monocytogenes elicit reduced PGE2 production compared to wild-type strains in macrophages and dendritic cells ex vivo. In vivo, infection with wild-type L. monocytogenes leads to 10-fold increases in PGE2 production early during infection whereas vacuole-constrained strains fail to induce PGE2 over mock-immunized controls. Mice deficient in COX-2 specifically in Lyz2+ or CD11c+ cells produce less PGE2, suggesting these cell subsets contribute to PGE2 levels in vivo, while depletion of phagocytes with clodronate abolishes PGE2 production completely. Taken together, this work demonstrates that optimal PGE2 production by phagocytes depends on L. monocytogenes access to the cytosol, suggesting that one reason cytosolic access is required to prime CD8+ T-cell responses may be to facilitate production of PGE2.
Aim
Island isolation is measured in many ways. We seek to determine what the underlying latent factors characterizing these measures are, in order to understand how they mechanistically drive island ...biogeographical patterns and in order to recommend the most parsimonious measures. We then test the discriminatory power of the identified components against hypotheses generated from the biogeographical patterns of invasive rats.
Location
The 890 offshore islands (≥1 hectare area) of the New Zealand archipelago (latitude: 34.1–47.3°S, longitude: 166.2–178.4°E).
Taxon
Mammals.
Methods
We identified 16 measures that have been frequently used to characterize isolation in the past, including Euclidean‐based distance metrics, landscape connectivity metrics derived from least‐cost and circuit theory modelling, landscape buffers, stepping stones and insular area. We used principal components analysis (PCA) to synthesize the underlying structure of insular isolation with respect to terrestrial mammal dispersal. Finally, we tested the discriminatory power of retained principal components (PCs) using permutational multivariate analyses of variance (PERMANOVA). Tests include comparison of historical rat distributions, islands targeted for rat eradication and islands reinvaded by rats.
Results
The underlying structure of island isolation as characterized in the 16 metrics was described by three independent PCA components. Variable clustering suggests that PC1 captured distance from the mainland source to the focal island (PC1 Distance), PC2 described stepping stones available along the dispersal pathway (PC2 Stepping Stones) and PC3 described the focal island's position in the landscape (PC3 Insular Network). Each discriminatory test affirmed its respective biogeographical pattern hypothesis.
Main conclusions
The three underlying components we identify form the basis of a robust description of insular isolation that is of broad importance to understanding island biogeography dynamics. Moreover, these components can be applied across taxa without extensive structural or functional assumptions because the highest loading variables are not biologically informed.
Conservation decision makers must negotiate social and technical complexities to achieve desired biodiversity outcomes. Quantitative models can inform decision making, by evaluating and predicting ...management outcomes, so that comparisons can be made between alternative courses of action. However, whether a proposed action is appropriate for implementation, regardless of its contribution to management outcomes, also requires consideration. Existing quantitative models have yet to fully incorporate the suitability of proposed management actions, which hinders their ability to inform decision making.
We used gradient boosted decision trees – a machine‐learning technique – to determine the suitability of alternative management actions available to a biodiversity conservation programme. We demonstrate our approach using the Predator Free 2050 programme – a large and complex conservation initiative that seeks to eradicate selected invasive vertebrates from the entirety of New Zealand by 2050. We created a nationally contiguous network of management tools to suppress populations of invasive species across the entire country. We then used our suitability predictions to explore three scenarios for selecting invasive species management tools, based on maximising (a) implementation probability, (b) humaneness and (c) cost‐savings.
Our models highlighted that an interplay of factors influence where management tools can potentially be implemented. Our management scenarios revealed what different contiguous management networks could look like for New Zealand over the next 10–15 years as an interim step to achieving Predator Free 2050. Each scenario differed in the tools selected for implementation in different places and in the overall economic costs associated with creating a contiguous management network. Some locations were identified as unsuitable for any existing management tools, indicating that future transformative technologies may be required to create a contiguous network.
Synthesis and applications. Conservation decision making must not only consider biodiversity outcomes but also whether selected management actions are appropriate in the first place. Here, we used machine‐learning techniques to determine the suitability of competing managements actions that are proposed to meet biodiversity objectives. Our approach provides an objective, transparent and reproducible framework to determine the suitability of actions at sites across large spatial extents, under complex social and technical constraints.
Whakarāpopototanga
Kia whakatutuki i ngā putanga kanorau koiora, arā anō ngā piki me ngā heke ā‐pāpori, ā‐hangarau hoki hei urungi mā ngā mana whakatau i te atawhainga o te ao tūroa nei. Auau tonu nei te whakamahinga o ngā tauira ine rahi ki te tautoko i ngā whiriwhiri whakataunga, mā te matapae i ngā putanga whakahaere, kia taea ai ngā whakatauritenga i waenga i ngā momo kōkiritanga mahi. Heoi anō, ahakoa kua tika rānei te mahi kua whakatakoto mō te whakatinanatanga, ahakoa hoki te pitomata o taua mahi ki te tautoko i ngā putanga whakahaere, me aromatawai tonu. Kāore anō kia kōkuhua katoatia e ngā tauira ine rahi onāianei te hāngaitanga o ngā mahi whakahaere kua whakatakoto, he mea whakaroiroi i tā rātou āhei ki te tautoko i te mahi whakatau.
I whakamahia e mātou ngā rākau whakapiki whakatau ā‐ronaki ‐ he āhuatanga ako‐ā‐pūrere ‐ i te whakamahinga āhua rerekē nei ki te whiriwhiri i te hāngaitanga o ngā mahi whakahaere kē kua whakatakoto mō tētahi kaupapa atawhai nuku kanorau koiora. Ka whakaaturia e mātou te ngā painga o tō mātou momo kōkiri e whakamahi ana i te kaupapa Predator Free 2050 ‐ he kaupapa kōkiri atawhai nuku nui, matatini anō hoki e whai ana ki te whakakore atu i ētahi momo kararehe urutomo i Aotearoa nei i mua i te tau 2050. Tā mātou i konei he aro ki te hanga whatunga haere tonu ā‐motu o ngā utauta whakahaere ki te kaupēhi, tāmi hoki i ngā tini kararehe urutomo puta katoa i te whenua. Kātahi ka whakamahia e mātou ā mātou matapae hāngaitanga ki te tūhura i ngā wheako whakaari i whakapikihia takitahitia nei i (i) te tūponotanga whakatinanatanga, (ii) te ngākau atawhaitanga, ka mutu, (iii) te pai o te utu, he take matua ēnei kua whakaarohia e ngā mana whakatau i te tīpakotanga o ngā utauta whakahaere kararehe urutomo.
He mea whakapuaki ō mātou tauira i te whitiwhitinga matatini o ngā take e whiriwhiri ki hea pea whakatinanahia ai ngā utauta whakahaere. I whakakitea e ō mātou wheako whakaari whakahaere he pēhea te āhua o ngā whatunga whakahaere haere tonu i Aotearoa i roto i te 10 ki te 15 tau e tū mai nei. He rerekē ia wheako whakaari i ngā utauta i tīpakona mō te whakatinanatanga ki tēnā wāhi, ki tēnā wāhi, i ngā utu whai pānga hoki ki te hanganga o tētahi whatunga whakahaere haere tonu. I tautuhia ētahi wāhi kāore e pai mō ngā utauta whakahaere onāianei, e tohu ana ka hiahiatia pea ngā momo hangarau panonitanga o nga rā ki tua ki te hanga i te whatunga haere tonu.
Te kōtuitui me ngā whakamahinga. I whakatauria e mātou te hāngaitanga o ngā momo mahi whakahaere ki te whakatutuki i ngā whāinga atawhai nuku kua whakatakoto mā te whakamahi i ngā āhuatanga ako‐ā‐pūrere. Ko te āhua o tā mātou momo kōkiri he whakatakoto i te poutarāwaho hei whiriwhiri i te hāngaitanga o ngā momo mahi ki tētahi wāhi ahakoa ko tēhea puta noa i ngā whānuitanga mokowā nui, i raro hoki i ngā herenga a‐pāpori, ā‐hangarau matatini rawa anō.
Conservation decision making must not only consider biodiversity outcomes but also whether selected management actions are appropriate in the first place. Here, we used machine‐learning techniques to determine the suitability of competing managements actions that are proposed to meet biodiversity objectives. Our approach provides an objective, transparent and reproducible framework to determine the suitability of actions at sites across large spatial extents, under complex social and technical constraints.
Biological invasions are a major component of anthropogenic environmental change, incurring substantial economic costs across all sectors of society and ecosystems. There have been recent syntheses ...of costs for a number of countries using the newly compiled InvaCost database, but New Zealand-a country renowned for its approach to invasive species management-has so far not been examined. Here we analyse reported economic damage and management costs incurred by biological invasions in New Zealand from 1968 to 2020. In total, US$69 billion (NZ$97 billion) is currently reported over this ∼50-year period, with approximately US$9 billion of this considered highly reliable, observed (
projected) costs. Most (82%) of these observed economic costs are associated with damage, with comparatively little invested in management (18%). Reported costs are increasing over time, with damage averaging US$120 million per year and exceeding management expenditure in all decades. Where specified, most reported costs are from terrestrial plants and animals, with damages principally borne by primary industries such as agriculture and forestry. Management costs are more often associated with interventions by authorities and stakeholders. Relative to other countries present in the InvaCost database, New Zealand was found to spend considerably more than expected from its Gross Domestic Product on pre- and post-invasion management costs. However, some known ecologically (
economically) impactful invasive species are notably absent from estimated damage costs, and management costs are not reported for a number of game animals and agricultural pathogens. Given these gaps for known and potentially damaging invaders, we urge improved cost reporting at the national scale, including improving public accessibility through increased access and digitisation of records, particularly in overlooked socioeconomic sectors and habitats. This also further highlights the importance of investment in management to curtail future damages across all sectors.
The aggregation, mislocalization, and phosphorylation of TDP-43 are pathologic hallmarks of several neurodegenerative diseases and provide a defining criterion for the neuropathologic diagnosis of ...Limbic-predominant Age-related TDP-43 Encephalopathy (LATE). LATE neuropathologic changes (LATE-NC) are often comorbid with other neurodegenerative pathologies including Alzheimer’s disease neuropathologic changes (ADNC). We examined whether TDP-43 regulated cryptic exons accumulate in the hippocampus of neuropathologically confirmed LATE-NC cases. We found that several cryptic RNAs are robustly expressed in LATE-NC cases with or without comorbid ADNC and correlate with pTDP-43 abundance; however, the accumulation of cryptic RNAs is more robust in LATE-NC with comorbid ADNC. Additionally, cryptic RNAs can robustly distinguish LATE-NC from healthy controls and AD cases. These findings expand our current understanding and provide novel potential biomarkers for LATE pathogenesis.
Terrestrial vertebrate survey of Motukawanui Carter, Zachary T.; Bodey, Thomas W.; Russell, James C.
New Zealand journal of zoology,
04/2021, Volume:
48, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
We describe the history of Motukawanui, the largest island of the Cavalli Islands, off New Zealand’s Northland east coast, and report on a survey of terrestrial vertebrates undertaken in February ...2020. We compare our findings to the previous published survey conducted in December 1979–January 1980. Over the last 40 years, the island’s landscape has changed dramatically from one of farmland to predominantly native forest. As a result, the habitat has shifted toward supporting a larger assemblage of endemic and native birds, and away from supporting those that are non-native. Kiore, or Pacific rats (Rattus exulans), remain abundant across the island, though densities are lower compared to estimates of the previous survey. The richness of reptile species also appears to have declined over the past few decades. Overall, we suggest Motukawanui is a relatively straightforward island from which to eradicate rats. Such an eradication would require approval from local iwi but would directly contribute to meeting interim goals of the Predator Free 2050 initiative.
Over the past 2 decades, the Academy has witnessed an increase in new colleges and schools of pharmacy and, simultaneously, a decrease in student applications, resulting in a decline in enrollment ...across most institutions. Although the number of students pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree has been dropping, the Academy is responsible for bolstering recruitment to effectively prepare a robust pharmacy workforce to care for our ever-growing and complex patient populations. The 2023–2024 Student Affairs Committee (SAC) was convened to explore new ideas, develop innovative strategies, and gather supportive resources that can be utilized by colleges and schools of pharmacy to attract students to the pharmacy profession. The SAC was charged with developing a framework for a video mini-series that utilizes the art of storytelling to promote the pharmacy profession to prospective students. Secondarily, the SAC was charged with developing a plan to engage with students who apply but do not ultimately get accepted into nonpharmacy health professions programs and consider recommendations for targeting pharmacy technicians to pursue a PharmD degree. To accomplish this work, we created videos and proposed other innovative tools and flexible pathways to assist in recruiting students into the pharmacy profession. We also conducted a literature and website review, engaged in professional networking across the Academy, and proposed best practices to enhance student recruitment. In addition, we offered 8 recommendations to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and 7 suggestions to colleges and schools of pharmacy to attract students to the pharmacy profession.
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