Glacier retreat is rapidly transforming some watersheds, with ramifications for water supply, ecological succession, important species such as Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), and cultural uses of ...landscapes. To advance a more holistic understanding of the evolution of proglacial landscapes, we integrate multiple lines of knowledge starting in the early 1900s with contemporary data from the Taaltsux̱éi (Tulsequah) Watershed in British Columbia, Canada. Our objectives were to: 1) synthesize recent historical geography and Indigenous Knowledge, including glacier dynamics, and hydrology; 2) describe the limnology of a proglacial lake; 3) quantify decadal-scale downstream physical floodplain change; and 4) characterize riverine physical, chemical, and biological differences relative to distance from the proglacial lake. Since 1982, the Tulsequah Glacier has receded 0.07 km/yr, exposing a cold, deep, and growing proglacial lake. The downstream floodplain is rapidly changing; satellite imagery analysis revealed a 14 % increase in vegetation from 2003 to 2017 and Indigenous Knowledge described increases in vegetation and wildlife habitat over the last century. Contemporary measurements of physical-chemical water properties differed across sites representing the upper and lower watershed, and mainstem and off-channel habitats. Catches of juvenile salmonids in the upper watershed (closer to the glacier) were mostly limited to warmer, clearer groundwater-fed channels, whereas in the lower watershed there were salmonids in both groundwater-fed and mainstem habitats. There was limited zooplankton taxa diversity from the proglacial lake and benthic macroinvertebrates in the river. Collectively, our synthesis suggests that the transformation of proglacial landscapes experiencing rapid ice loss can be influenced by interlinked abiotic processes of glacier retreat, lake formation, and altered hydrology, as well as corresponding biological processes such as beaver repopulation, wetland formation, and riparian vegetation growth. These factors, along with expected increases to proglacial lake productivity and salmon habitat suitability, are an important consideration for forward-looking watershed management of glacier-fed rivers.
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•Evolving proglacial lake watersheds link to biodiversity and societal needs.•We combined historical geography, Indigenous Knowledge, and contemporary analysis.•Physical-chemical and biological diversity unfolds at the stream-reach scale.•Ice retreat presents opportunities for increased biological productivity downstream.•Studies of proglacial landscapes are urgent as these ecosystems face rapid change.
Future ecological value of emerging habitats must be considered as climate change transforms the planet
As climate change warms Earth, the melting cryosphere creates nascent ecosystems that have ...future value as habitat but that are also the frontlines for resource extraction (
1
). For example, glacier retreat uncovers rivers and valleys that go through rapid ecological succession to provide new habitats for important species, such as moose and Pacific salmon (
2
–
5
). However, mining companies are looking to retreating glaciers for newly exposed mineral deposits (
6
). This proglacial mining is a global pressure, from Greenland to Kyrgyzstan to western Canada (
6
). Yet environmental and mining policies might fail to consider the future ecological value and capacity of emerging habitats. We illustrate these issues below by exploring the overlap of glacial retreat, Pacific salmon future habitats, and mining pressures in western Canada and southern Alaska. Stewardship of glacierized landscapes, and other ecosystems that are being transformed by climate change, urgently need forward-looking science and environmental policy.
Canada's mines pose transboundary risks Sexton, Erin K; Sergeant, Christopher J; Moore, Jonathan W ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
04/2020, Volume:
368, Issue:
6489
Journal Article
Mining provides resources for people but can pose risks to ecosystems that support cultural keystone species. Our synthesis reviews relevant aspects of mining operations, describes the ecology of ...salmonid-bearing watersheds in northwestern North America, and compiles the impacts of metal and coal extraction on salmonids and their habitat. We conservatively estimate that this region encompasses nearly 4000 past producing mines, with present-day operations ranging from small placer sites to massive open-pit projects that annually mine more than 118 million metric tons of earth. Despite impact assessments that are intended to evaluate risk and inform mitigation, mines continue to harm salmonid-bearing watersheds via pathways such as toxic contaminants, stream channel burial, and flow regime alteration. To better maintain watershed processes that benefit salmonids, we highlight key windows during the mining governance life cycle for science to guide policy by more accurately accounting for stressor complexity, cumulative effects, and future environmental change.
As climatic conditions change, species will be forced to move or adapt to avoid extinction. Exacerbated by ongoing climate change, California recently experienced a severe and exceptional drought ...from 2011 to 2017. To investigate whether an adaptive response occurred during this event, we conducted a “resurrection” study of the cutleaf monkeyflower (Mimulus laciniatus), an annual plant, by comparing trait means and variances of ancestral seed collections (“pre‐drought”) with contemporary descendant collections (“drought”). Plants were grown under common conditions to test whether this geographically restricted species has the capacity to respond evolutionarily to climate stress across its range. We examined if traits shifted in response to the recent, severe drought and included populations across an elevation gradient, including populations at the low‐ and high‐elevation edges of the species range. We found that time to seedling emergence in the drought generation was significantly earlier than in the pre‐drought generation, a response consistent with drought adaptation. Additionally, trait variation in days to emergence was reduced in the drought generation, which suggests selection or bottleneck events. Days to first flower increased significantly by elevation, consistent with climate adaptation across the species range. Drought generation plants were larger and had greater reproduction, which was likely a carryover effect of earlier germination. These results demonstrate that rapid shifts in trait means and variances consistent with climate adaptation are occurring within populations, including peripheral populations at warm and cold climate limits, of a plant species with a relatively restricted range that has so far not shifted its elevation distribution during contemporary climate change. Thus, rapid evolution may mitigate, at least temporarily, range shifts under global climate change. This study highlights the need for better understanding rapid adaptation as a means for plant communities to cope with extraordinary climate events.
Data on early determinants of outcome in infective endocarditis (IE) are limited. We evaluated the prognostic significance of early clinical characteristics in a large, prospective cohort of patients ...with IE.
Two hundred sixty-seven consecutive patients with definite or possible IE by modified Duke criteria and echocardiography performed within 7 days of presentation were evaluated. Acute physiology was assessed by the Acute Physiology, Age, Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score at the time of presentation, and early heart failure was diagnosed by Framingham criteria. In-hospital mortality rate in the cohort was 19% and similar for patients with definite or possible IE (20% versus 16%, respectively; P=0.464). Independent predictors of death determined by logistic regression modeling were diabetes mellitus (OR 2.48; 95% CI, 1.24 to 4.96), Staphylococcus aureus as causative organism (OR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.01 to 4.20), APACHE II score (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.12), and embolic event (OR, 2.79; 95% CI, 1.15 to 6.80). Early echocardiographic findings of the Duke criteria were not predictive of death.
Early in the course of IE, readily available clinical characteristics that reflect the host-pathogen interaction are predictive of in-hospital death. These factors may identify those patients with IE for more aggressive treatment.
Fire is an integral component of ecosystems globally and a tool that humans have harnessed for millennia. Altered fire regimes are a fundamental cause and consequence of global change, impacting ...people and the biophysical systems on which they depend. As part of the newly emerging Anthropocene, marked by human-caused climate change and radical changes to ecosystems, fire danger is increasing, and fires are having increasingly devastating impacts on human health, infrastructure, and ecosystem services. Increasing fire danger is a vexing problem that requires deep transdisciplinary, trans-sector, and inclusive partnerships to address. Here, we outline barriers and opportunities in the next generation of fire science and provide guidance for investment in future research. We synthesize insights needed to better address the long-standing challenges of innovation across disciplines to (i) promote coordinated research efforts; (ii) embrace different ways of knowing and knowledge generation; (iii) promote exploration of fundamental science; (iv) capitalize on the "firehose" of data for societal benefit; and (v) integrate human and natural systems into models across multiple scales. Fire science is thus at a critical transitional moment. We need to shift from observation and modeled representations of varying components of climate, people, vegetation, and fire to more integrative and predictive approaches that support pathways toward mitigating and adapting to our increasingly flammable world, including the utilization of fire for human safety and benefit. Only through overcoming institutional silos and accessing knowledge across diverse communities can we effectively undertake research that improves outcomes in our more fiery future.
The COVID 19 pandemic placed unprecedented strain on healthcare systems and workers, likely also impacting patient safety and outcomes. This study aimed to understand how teamwork climate changed ...during that pandemic and how these changes affected safety culture and workforce well-being.
This cross-sectional observational study of 50,000 healthcare workers (HCWs) in 3 large U.S. health systems used scheduled culture survey results at 2 distinct time points: before and during the first year of the COVID 19 pandemic. The SCORE survey measured 9 culture domains: teamwork climate, safety climate, leadership engagement, improvement readiness, emotional exhaustion, emotional exhaustion climate, thriving, recovery, and work-life balance.
Response rate before and during the pandemic was 75.45% and 74.79%, respectively. Overall, HCWs reporting favorable teamwork climate declined (45.6%-43.7%, P < 0.0001). At a facility level, 35% of facilities saw teamwork climate decline, while only 4% saw an increase in teamwork climate. Facilities with decreased teamwork climate had associated decreases in every culture domain, while facilities with improved teamwork climate maintained well-being domains and saw improvements in every other culture domain.
Healthcare worker teamwork norms worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Teamwork climate trend was closely associated with other safety culture metrics. Speaking up, resolving conflicts, and interdisciplinary coordination of care were especially predictive. Facilities sustaining these behaviors were able to maintain other workplace norms and workforce well-being metrics despite a global health crisis. Proactive team training may provide substantial benefit to team performance and HCW well-being during stressful times.
Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is a common medical finding occurring in ~25% of hospitalized patients with roughly half of these patients experiencing post-thrombotic complications Baldwin, Moore, ...Rudarakanchana, Gohel, Davies (Post-thrombotic syndrome: a clinical review. J Thromb Haemost 2013;11:795-805.). There are many associated complications of DVTs, including pulmonary embolism and lower extremity swelling; however, the occurrence of abdominal wall varicosities with DVT's is rare Baldwin, Moore, Rudarakanchana, Gohel, Davies (Post-thrombotic syndrome: a clinical review. J Thromb Haemost 2013;11:795-805.). The purpose of this case study is to rare presentation of abdominal vein varicosities as manifestation of DVT.
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