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Biological Abstracts

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DB00179
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Biological Abstracts

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  • research article
    Linkevičiūtė, Alma 
    ;
    Canario, Rita
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    Peccatori, Fedro Alessandro
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    Dierickx, Kris
    Cancers. [Basel] : MDPI AG, 2022, vol. 14, iss. 17, ARTN 4325., p. 1-21
    (1) Background: Current scientific evidence suggests that most cancers, including breast cancer, can be treated during pregnancy without compromising maternal and fetal outcomes. This, however, raises questions regarding the ethical implications of clinical care. (2) Methods: Using a systematic literature search, 32 clinical practice guidelines for cancer treatment during pregnancy published between 2002 and 2021 were selected for analysis and 25 of them mentioned or made references to medical ethics when offering clinical management guidance for clinicians. (3) Results: Four bioethical themes were identified: respect for patient’s autonomy, balanced approach to maternal and fetal beneficence, protection of the vulnerable and justice in resource allocation. Most guidelines recommended informing the pregnant patient about available evidence-based treatment options, offering counselling and support in the process of decision making. The relational aspect of a pregnant patient’s autonomy was also recognized and endorsed in a significant number of available guidelines. (4) Conclusions: Recognition and support of a patient’s autonomy and its relational aspects should remain an integral part of future clinical practice guidelines. Nevertheless, a more structured approach is needed when addressing existing and potential ethical issues in clinical practice guidelines for cancer treatment during pregnancy.
      2WOS© IF 6.575WOS© AIF 6.351Scopus© SNIP 1.086
  • research article
    Feng, Siyuan
    ;
    Ding, Jingyi
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    Zhan, Tianyu
    ;
    Zhao, Wenwu
    ;
    da Silva Pereira, Paulo Alexandre 
    Land degradation & development. John Wiley & Sons, 2022, 00, 00., p. 1-4
    The arid and semiarid grassland ecosystems are characterized by limited water resources and are generally vulnerable to climate change. Understanding how plants in arid and semiarid ecosystems respond to global climatic variation is crucial for ecological restoration under a changing climate. Although the effects of climate on aboveground biomass (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB) have been widely explored, how AGB and BGB respond to climatic variation is seldom disentangled. There is still a need to understand how plant communities respond to global climate change. In this study, we conducted a transect survey across grasslands in Inner Mongolia to capture changes in AGB and BGB in plant communities. Then, we used structural equation modelling (SEM) to explore the relationship between environmental factors and the root:shoot ratio to understand how plant communities respond to ecological drought under global climate change. Our results showed that low precipitation use efficiency (LPUE) results in a high root:shoot (HRS) ratio, and BGB was more sensitive to environmental changes. By contrast, high precipitation use efficiency (HPUE) led to a low root:shoot (LRS) ratio, and environmental factors had a greater impact on AGB. For the LPUE pattern, soil water content (SWC), pH, and soil total nitrogen (STN) mainly affected the HRS ratio. Soil water content and STN influenced the HRS ratio through a positive effect on BGB. For the HPUE pattern, SWC, STN, and plant abundance (PA) predominantly regulate the LRS ratio, while biodiversity (plant abundance) affects the LRS ratio by positively affecting AGB. Our results highlight the differential impact of precipitation use efficiency on aboveground and belowground biomass allocation. This is important for monitoring the impact of drought events on plant biomass, improving productivity assessment models in arid and semi-arid regions, and assessing local carbon storage accurately.
    WOS© IF 4.377WOS© AIF 5.5Scopus© SNIP 1.256
  • research article
    Delač, Domina
    ;
    Kisić, Ivica
    ;
    Zgorelec, Željka
    ;
    Perčin, Aleksandra
    ;
    da Silva Pereira, Paulo Alexandre 
    Catena. Amsterdam : Elsevier, 2022, vol. 218., p. 269-281
    Slash-pile burning is a frequent land management practice implemented across the Mediterranean. However, the impact of this practice on runoff waters has often been neglected. To address this issue, two experimental burns were conducted: one with moderate (MS) severity, and another with high (HS) severity, to evaluate the impact of different types of slash–pile on the quality of runoff waters. An unburned (UB) treatment was also considered in this study, to evaluate the impacts of slash–pile burning per se. Treatments were established on a slope terrain (∼18°) characteristic of the Adriatic coast. During the two-year study, runoff and erosion samples were collected 22 times after major rainfall events. Aside from runoff, erosion, and total carbon in sediments (TC) were determined, as well as various water quality parameters, including, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and Br¯, Cl¯, SO4 2¯, PO4 3¯, F¯, K+, Na+, Ca2+, and Mg2+. Overall, water quality parameters were more affected shortly after burning, while runoff and erosion were more dependent on precipitation patterns. TC in sediments was higher in HS than in MS, the highest values being observed in the last sampling events for both burned treatments. Regarding runoff water quality, the effects were more pronounced at HS, even if the hydrological response was stronger at the MS. The UB treatment showed significant changes in runoff water quality following major rain events, which was attributed to soil saturation. Our results suggest that slash pile burning has adverse effects on runoff waters, so it is recommended for biomass to be used in other ways, especially in the context of soil and water conservation.
    WOS© IF 6.367WOS© AIF 4.457Scopus© SNIP 1.694
  • research article
    Zhao, Sen
    ;
    Wu, Xiuqin
    ;
    Zhou, Jinxing
    ;
    da Silva Pereira, Paulo Alexandre 
    Science of the total environment. Amsterdam : Elsevier, 2021, vol. 752, 15 January, 141770., p. 1394-1404
    Vegetation recovery and poverty alleviation are critical problems in the karst national designed poor counties (NPDC) in southwest China. However, little information is available about the relationship between poverty and vegetation dynamics in these areas. In this study, we used remote sensing and statistical datasets from 2000 to 2015 to identify the relations between vegetation dynamics and poverty among the NPDC in southwest rocky desertification areas. We estimated the vegetation dynamics using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and poverty with the rural per capita net income. Local indicator of spatial association and the space-time transition type of poverty were applied to identify spatial patterns of the poverty spatial distribution relationship and transition. Also, poverty, natural and ecological governance factors were assessed using the Geo-detector method to uncover the driving factors of karst vegetation. The results showed that vegetation increased significantly (p < 0.05) in karst NPDC (82.82%) and rocky desertification control counties (78.77%). The karst NPDC was significantly clustered. The hot spots of rural per capita net income changed from west and north (2000) to only north (2015) and cold spots changed from east and south (2000) to only south (2015). The rural per capita net income spatiotemporal transition was higher in 2000 than in 2015. We found a weak synergy between vegetation change and poverty type transition in 42.86% of the browning counties, 45.45% in the slowly greening counties, and 43.65% in stable greening counties. However, 57.50% of counties in the quick greening counties showed a tradeoff relationship with the poverty type transition. The rocky desertification rate and ecological engineering measures affected vegetation dynamics importantly. The results will help decision-makers to understand the interdependence between vegetation and poverty. This will contribute to better policies formulation to tackle poverty in the karst rocky desertification area.
      1WOS© IF 10.753WOS© AIF 6.309Scopus© SNIP 2.175
  • research article
    Hua, Ting
    ;
    Zhao, Wenwu
    ;
    Cherubini, Francesco
    ;
    Hu, Xiangping
    ;
    da Silva Pereira, Paulo Alexandre 
    Landscape Ecology. [Dordrecht] : Springer, 2021, vol. 36., p. 3451-3471
    Context Climate change has imposed tremendous impacts on ecosystem services. Recent attempts to quantify such impacts mainly focused on a basin or larger scale, or used limited time periods that largely ignore observations of long-term trends at a fine resolution, thereby affecting the recognition of climate change's effect on ecosystem services. Objectives This study conducts a detailed and spatially explicit recognition of climate change's effect on ecosystem services and provides an intuitive map for decision-making and climate change adaptation planning. Methods We used long-term time series of ecosystem service assessments and various future climate scenarios to quantify the sensitivity and future exposure of ecosystem services to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau. Results Carbon sequestration (CS) and habitat quality experience significant growth, while water retention did not show any trend. Sensitivity patterns of these ecosystem services vary largely. For CS, more than half of the pixels showed a positive sensitivity to climate change, even though the degree of sensitivity is not high. There is substantial spatial heterogeneity in the exposure of ecosystem services to future climate changes, and high levels of future climate change increase the intensity of exposure. Conclusions This study illustrates the complex spatial association between ecosystem services and climatic drivers, and these findings can help optimize local response strategies in the context of global warming. For example, the existing protected areas have notable conservation gaps for disturbance of future climate change on ecosystem services, especially in the southeastern part of the study area.
    WOS© IF 5.043WOS© AIF 4.135Scopus© SNIP 1.356
  • research article
    da Silva Pereira, Paulo Alexandre 
    ;
    Ferreira, Carla
    ;
    Kalantari, Zahra
    Journal of Environmental Management. [London] : Elsevier, 2021, vol. 277, January, 111458., p. 1-4
    WOS© IF 8.91WOS© AIF 6.309Scopus© SNIP 1.907
  • research article
    Abd-Elmabod, Sameh K.
    ;
    Muñoz-Rojas, Miriam
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    Jordán, Antonio
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    Anaya-Romero, Mariá
    ;
    Phillips, Jonathan D.
    ;
    Laurence, Jones
    ;
    Zhang, Zhenhua
    ;
    da Silva Pereira, Paulo Alexandre 
    ;
    Fleskens, Luuk
    ;
    van der Ploeg, Martine
    ;
    de la Rosa, Diego
    Geoderma. Amsterdam : Elsevier, 2020, vol. 374, 114453., p. 1-14
    Climate change impacts are a serious threat to food provisioning, security and the economy. Thus, assessing agricultural suitability and yield reduction under climate change is crucial for sustainable agricultural production. In this study, we used two sub-models of the agro-ecological decision support system MicroLEIS (Terraza and Cervatana) to evaluate the impacts of climate change on land capability and yield reduction or wheat and sunflower as major rainfed crops in different Mediterranean soil types (in Andalucia, Southern Spain). The Terraza sub-model provides an experimental prediction for the bioclimate deficiency and yield reduction, while the Cervatana sub-model predicts the general land use suitability for specific agricultural uses. Sixty-two districts in Southern Spain were modeled and mapped using soil data and the A1B climate scenario (balanced scenario) for three 30-year periods ending in 2040, 2070 and 2100, respectively. Our results showed that the majority of agricultural soils were suitable for wheat production, and less for sunflowers, especially under projected climate change scenarios. Extreme impacts of climate change were observed in the soil types Typic Xerofluvents and Calcic Haploxerepts, where the land capability was reduced from Good and Moderate classes to the Marginal class. This was especially observed in sunflower crops by 2100. Yield reduction of sunflower was much higher than the reduction for wheat, especially under the projected climate periods, where the results for 2100 showed the severest effect on crop yields with about 95% of the sunflower area showing yield reductions. This high variability of the evaluation results demonstrates the importance of using soil factors, climate and crop information in conjunction in decision-making regarding the formulation of site-specific soil use and management strategies.
    WOS© IF 6.114WOS© AIF 4.1Scopus© SNIP 1.96
  • research article
    Liu, Yue
    ;
    Zhao, Wenwu
    ;
    Liu, Yanxu
    ;
    da Silva Pereira, Paulo Alexandre 
    Catena. [Amsterdam] : Elsevier, 2020, vol. 194, 104768., p. 1-12
    Rainfall erosivity (R) is the most important factor affecting soil erosion. It is crucial to estimate it on a global scale to identify the potential soil erosion risk area and to develop mitigation strategies. On a large scale, R is often estimated based on available precipitation data, such as annual, monthly and daily rainfall. Compared with the rainfall erosivity model driven by monthly and annual rainfall data, the daily erosivity model can provide more information about intense erosive events, producing more accurate results. Given the climate variability in different regions, regional parameters are needed when applying the daily erosivity model on a global scale. However, regional parameter estimation is a challenge, and few studies have addressed this. Here, we present a method for parameterising the daily erosivity model for different regions of the world by generating equations for estimating the required parameters of the model in each climate zone. This was based on a literature review to collect the data sites with estimated parameter values globally. We then applied the model to compare the global average annual and monthly rainfall erosivity changes between 1980–1999 (P1) and 2000–2017 (P2). The results showed that globally, average annual R decreased in all climate zones in P2, except for a substantial increase in Df (Cold without dry season), located in high latitudes of the northern hemisphere. At the monthly scale, except for the region 40-70°N, all regions experienced a considerable decrease. Even though the global total annual and monthly rainfall erosivity was reduced between 1980 and 2017, the risk of extreme daily erosivity is high. The acceptable agreements between the values estimated in our model, estimated from high-resolution rainfall data and retrieved from the literature, indicate that the present approach could assess the effects of climate change on soil erosion on a global scale, particularly regarding extreme rainfall events.
    WOS© IF 5.198WOS© AIF 3.87Scopus© SNIP 1.713
  • research article
    Francos, Marcos
    ;
    da Silva Pereira, Paulo Alexandre 
    ;
    Úbeda, Xavier
    Journal of forestry research. Harbin : Northeast Forestry University, 2020, vol. 31, iss. 5., p. 1647-1661
    Fire and pre- or post-fire management practices shape the distribution and richness of plant species. Here, the effects of pre- and post-fire management on vegetation recovery were studied at different times, up to 18 months after a wildfire. Two months after a 2015 wildfire, 18 study plots were established (three 4-m2 plots for each treatment), vegetation regrowth was monitored and vegetal species richness (S), evenness (IT), density (D), diversity (H′) and maximum diversity (HMax) after 2, 10 and 18 months. The treatments were (1) control, unaffected by 2015 wildfire; (2) no treatment (NT), burned in 2015 wildfire and not managed; (3) managed in 2005 and burned in 2015 (M05B); (4) managed in 2015, 2 months before wildfire (M15B); (5) cut and manual removal after the 2015 wildfire (CR); (6) cut and no trunk removal randomly deposited on topsoil after the 2015 wildfire (CL). All the treatments were carried out in a Pinus halepensis Miller forest. At 10 and 18 months after the wildfire, vegetation recovery was greater in NT, CR and CL plots than in M05B and M15B the plots. By 18 months after the wildfire, Brachypodium retusum (Pers.) P. Beauv. and Rosmarinus officinalis L. were still dominant, especially in M15B, corroborating the belief that pre-fire treatment reduced ecosystem resilience and vegetal recovery compared to the NT and post-fire managed plots. Richness was significantly lower 10 months after wildfire in control plots, and IT was significantly higher in that inventory than previously in M15B. Eighteen months after the wildfire, H′ was significantly lower in M15B. Ten months post-wildfire, HMax was significantly lower in the control plots. Eighteen months after the wildfire, HMax, was significantly higher in CR, CL and M05B than in the control and M15B plots. Overall, pre-fire management was detrimental to post-fire vegetation recovery, while manual post-fire management proved beneficial.
    WOS© IF 2.149WOS© AIF 2.576Scopus© SNIP 0.908
  • research article
    Yang, Siqi
    ;
    Zhao, Wenwu
    ;
    da Silva Pereira, Paulo Alexandre 
    Science of the total environment. Amsterdam : Elsevier, 2020, vol. 738, 140270., p. 1-10
    Soil physical and chemical properties are prerequisites to soil functionality, which depend importantly on land use, climate, and topography. However, previous works gave little consideration to the inherent causalities between properties under environmental influences. Here, we sampled 0-20 cm soil from 82 sites across the entire Yanhe watershed, including forest, shrubland, grassland, and agriculture. We applied structural equation modelling (SEM) to explore the environmental impacts on soil properties. The results showed that clay content (Clay%) in forest and grassland was significantly higher than in the agriculture area and shrubland. Redundancy analysis indicated that the variations of soil properties were explained by environmental factors, specifically in the forest (51.3%), shrubland (71.6%), grassland (77.6%), and agriculture area (95.5%). Hierarchical partition analysis independently extracted dominant factors and found that latitude, precipitation, and elevation were critical in forest and grassland; elevation and precipitation in shrubland; elevation and latitude in agriculture area. SEM identified soil organic carbon (SOC) was directly influenced by total nitrogen (TN) and total potassium (TK) in forest; by TK in shrubland; by TK and bulk density (BD) in grassland; by total phosphorus (TP) and BD in agriculture area. Path analysis on SOC identified different paths in forest, grassland, and agriculture, and the mediators included TN, BD, pH, and TP. These findings indicate that the influence of environmental factors on soil properties should take into account the interactions within soil conditions. Grassland has a good potential regional carbon sequestration.
    WOS© IF 7.963WOS© AIF 5.201Scopus© SNIP 2.015