Assessing runs of homozygosity reveals production traits of Kazakh sheep breeds.

Sheep breeding in Kazakhstan is one of the main local roles in animal husbandry. This article presents the results of a study of the genetic indicators of sheep breeds in Kazakhstan, in relation to their meat and wool productivity. Genetic analysis was carried out using the ROH (runs of homozygosity) method and candidate genes for various kinds of productivity traits were identified.

Microbial communities on dry natural rocks are richer and less stressed than those on man-made playgrounds.

In modern urbanized societies, the incidence of major immune-mediated diseases is several times higher than before World War II. A potential explanation is that these diseases are triggered by limited possibilities to be exposed to rich environmental microbiota. This requires that the urban environment hosts less and poorer microbiota than the natural environment.

Cultivar-dependent differences in plant bud microbiome and functional gene pathways in woody plants commonly used in urban green space.

Plant richness and microbiota have been associated with plant health; hardly any studies have investigated how plant taxa differs in microbiota in the context of human health. We investigated the microbial differences in buds of 83 woody plant taxa used in urban green spaces in hemiboreal climate, using 16S rRNA and whole metagenome shotgun sequencing. Bud microbial community was the richest in Cotoneaster Nanshan and C.

Parameters of 150 temperate and boreal tree species and provenances for an individual-based forest landscape and disturbance model.

Understanding the impacts of changing climate and disturbance regimes on forest ecosystems is greatly aided by the use of process-based models. Such models simulate processes based on first principles of ecology, which requires parameterization. Parameterization is an important step in model development and application, defining the characteristics of trees and their responses to the environment, i.

Anthropogenic bottom-up and top-down impacts on boreal breeding waterbirds.

Wetland habitats are changing under multiple anthropogenic pressures. Nutrient leakage and pollution modify physico-chemical state of wetlands and affect the ecosystem through bottom-up processes, while alien predators affect the ecosystems in a top-down manner. Boreal wetlands are important breeding areas for several waterbird species, the abundances of which potentially reflect both bottom-up and top-down ecosystem processes.

High organic carbon content constricts the potential for stable organic carbon accrual in mineral agricultural soils in Finland.

Sequestering carbon into agricultural soils is considered as a means of mitigating climate change. We used agronomic soil test results representing c. 95% of the farmed land area in Finland to estimate the potential of the uppermost 15 cm soil layer of mineral agricultural soils to sequester organic carbon (OC) and to contribute to the mitigation of climate change.

Evidence suggesting that reindeer mothers allonurse according to the direct reciprocity and generalized reciprocity decision rules.

Allonursing is the nursing of the offspring of other mothers. Cooperation is an emergent property of evolved decision rules. Cooperation can be explained by at least three evolved decision rules: 1) direct reciprocity, i.

Impact of Cultivation and Origin on the Fruit Microbiome of Apples and Blueberries and Implications for the Exposome.

Vegetables and fruits are a crucial part of the planetary health diet, directly affecting human health and the gut microbiome. The objective of our study was to understand the variability of the fruit (apple and blueberry) microbiome in the frame of the exposome concept. The study covered two fruit-bearing woody species, apple and blueberry, two countries of origin (Austria and Finland), and two fruit production methods (naturally grown and horticultural).

Modulation of the food microbiome by apple fruit processing.

During the early life, introduction to external exposures such as consumption of solid foods contribute to the development of the gut microbiota. Among solid foods, fruit and vegetables are normally consumed during early childhood making them key components of a healthy human diet. The role of the indigenous microbiota of fruits as a source for beneficial gut microbes, especially during food processing, is largely unknown.

Dataset on bio-stimulation experiments for the removal of hydrocarbons and the monitoring of certain elements in a contaminated soil.

Meat and Bone Meal (MBM) and β-cyclodextrin were added to a soil sample co-contaminated by hydrocarbons (diesel fraction C-C and lubricant oil fraction C-C) and heavy metals to promote soil remediation. The pilot study was conducted in the laboratory, maintaining optimal conditions (i.e.

Evaluation of MEMS NIR Spectrometers for On-Farm Analysis of Raw Milk Composition.

Today, measurement of raw milk quality and composition relies on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to monitor and improve dairy production and cow health. However, these laboratory analyzers are bulky, expensive and can only be used by experts. Moreover, the sample logistics and data transfer delay the information on product quality, and the measures taken to optimize the care and feeding of the cattle render them less suitable for real-time monitoring.

The meristem-associated endosymbiont Methylorubrum extorquens DSM13060 reprograms development and stress responses of pine seedlings.

Microbes living in plant tissues-endophytes-are mainly studied in crop plants where they typically colonize the root apoplast. Trees-a large carbon source with a high capacity for photosynthesis-provide a variety of niches for endophytic colonization. We have earlier identified a new type of plant-endophyte interaction in buds of adult Scots pine, where Methylorubrum species live inside the meristematic cells.

In situ electrokinetic (EK) remediation of the total and plant available cadmium (Cd) in paddy agricultural soil using low voltage gradients at pilot and full scales.

Electrokinetic (EK) remediation has been widely studied at laboratory scales. However, field-scale research is far less. In this study, a 14-day EK remediation was carried out, in a field pilot (4 m) test and a full-scale (200 m) application for the first time, in a cadmium (Cd) contaminated paddy agricultural field near a mining area.

Land Cover of Early-Life Environment Modulates the Risk of Type 1 Diabetes.

Objective: Environmental microbial exposures have been implicated to protect against immune-mediated diseases such as type 1 diabetes. Our objective was to study the association of land cover around the early-life dwelling with the development of islet autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes to evaluate the role of environmental microbial biodiversity in the pathogenesis.

Research Design And Methods: Association between land cover types and the future risk of type 1 diabetes was studied by analyzing land cover types classified according to Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) 2012 and 2000 data around the dwelling during the first year of life for 10,681 children genotyped for disease-associated HLA-DQ alleles and monitored from birth in the Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) study.

Biodiversity intervention enhances immune regulation and health-associated commensal microbiota among daycare children.

As the incidence of immune-mediated diseases has increased rapidly in developed societies, there is an unmet need for novel prophylactic practices to fight against these maladies. This study is the first human intervention trial in which urban environmental biodiversity was manipulated to examine its effects on the commensal microbiome and immunoregulation in children. We analyzed changes in the skin and gut microbiota and blood immune markers of children during a 28-day biodiversity intervention.

Comment on: "A novel approach to peatlands as archives of total cumulative spatial pollution loads from atmospheric deposition of airborne elements complementary to EMEP data: Priority pollutants (Pb, Cd, Hg)" by Ewa Miszczak, Sebastian Stefaniak, Adam Michczyński, Eiliv Steinnes and Irena Twardowska.

A recent paper by Miszczak et al. (2020) examines metal contamination of mires in Poland and Norway. The authors conclude that lead (Pb) records in ombrotrophic peatlands cannot be used to reconstruct the chronological history of anthropogenic activities due to post-depositional mobility of the metal.

275 years of forestry meets genomics in .

has a long history of basic and applied research that is relevant for both forestry and evolutionary studies. Its patterns of adaptive variation and role in forest economic and ecological systems have been studied extensively for nearly 275 years, detailed demography for a 100 years and mating system more than 50 years. However, its reference genome sequence is not yet available and genomic studies have been lagging compared to, for example, and , two other economically important conifers.

Modelling study of soil C, N and pH response to air pollution and climate change using European LTER site observations.

Current climate warming is expected to continue in coming decades, whereas high N deposition may stabilize, in contrast to the clear decrease in S deposition. These pressures have distinctive regional patterns and their resulting impact on soil conditions is modified by local site characteristics. We have applied the VSD+ soil dynamic model to study impacts of deposition and climate change on soil properties, using MetHyd and GrowUp as pre-processors to provide input to VSD+.

The response of soil solution chemistry in European forests to decreasing acid deposition.

Acid deposition arising from sulphur (S) and nitrogen (N) emissions from fossil fuel combustion and agriculture has contributed to the acidification of terrestrial ecosystems in many regions globally. However, in Europe and North America, S deposition has greatly decreased in recent decades due to emissions controls. In this study, we assessed the response of soil solution chemistry in mineral horizons of European forests to these changes.

Isolation of Brucella pinnipedialis from Grey Seals (Halichoerus grypus) in the Baltic Sea.

Brucella infection in seals was reported for the first time in 1994 around the coast of Scotland. Since then, marine mammal Brucella infections were found to be widely distributed in the northern hemisphere. Two Brucella species affect marine mammals: Brucella pinnipedialis in pinnipeds and Brucella ceti in cetaceans.

Mapping policies for surface water protection zones on forest land in the Nordic-Baltic region: Large differences in prescriptiveness and zone width.

The forest landscape across the Nordic and Baltic regions hosts numerous lakes and watercourses, which must be included in forest management. In this study, national policy designs regarding protection zones for surface waters on forest land were reviewed and compared for the Nordic countries, Estonia and Latvia. The focus was how each country regulates protection zones, whether they are voluntary or mandatory, and the rationale behind adopting a low or high degree of prescriptiveness.

Effects of climate change and agricultural adaptation on nutrient loading from Finnish catchments to the Baltic Sea.

Climate change is expected to increase annual and especially winter runoff, shorten the snow cover period and therefore increase both nutrient leaching from agricultural areas and natural background leaching in the Baltic Sea catchment. We estimated the effects of climate change and possible future scenarios of agricultural changes on the phosphorus and nitrogen loading to the Baltic Sea from Finnish catchments. In the agricultural scenarios we assumed that the prices of agricultural products are among the primary drivers in the adaptation to climate change, as they affect the level of fertilization and the production intensity and volume and, hence, the modeled changes in gross nutrient loading from agricultural land.