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This thesis aims at improving the current representation of adaptation in economic frameworks of climate change by a) accounting for the time-dependent evolution of the adaptive capacities of countries and b) quantifying unwelcome feedbacks of the adaptation process. In this context, it is proposed that economic assessments of climate change incorporate adaptation as a cyclic and phase-dependent process while devising their cost methodologies. A phase-dependent process acknowledges the existence of adaptation barriers while a cyclic process accounts for potential unwanted feedbacks of adaptation. By analyzing economic assessments against this framework, it is shown that dependencies between phases of adaptation and phases altogether are often disregarded. Furthermore, potential negative consequences associated with adaptation are rarely considered and adaptation is generally assumed to be unconstrained. The assumption of unconstrained adaptation is only acceptable in the context of high adaptive capacity. This concept was further investigated through a review of vulnerability assessments regarding their operation of the adaptive capacity component. It was found that adaptive capacity is mostly equated to proxies that reflect the knowledge, financial and livelihood capacities of the system under analysis. With this theoretical considerations in mind, a dynamic representation of adaptive capacity was elaborated at a country-level. The Human Development Index (HDI) was used as a proxy of the adaptive capacity of countries and its evolution in time extrapolated. The time required for countries to achieve developed world standards of human development was then estimated. The results indicate that between 2005 and 2020, half of the world population will live in countries with low adaptive capacity. This percentage is then progressively reduced to 15% in the year 2050, with marked regional differences. The time required for a country to achieve an appropriate level of development sets a clear constraint on when, and to what extent, the country can engage on climate change adaptation. This does not imply that adaptation will not take place before development occurs. Rather, it calls for adaptation options to be tailored in order to t the current and future adaptive capacities of countries. Obtaining higher levels of adaptive capacity is likely to be associated with negative consequences for the climatic system. The statistical relation between HDI and per-capita emissions of countries was established and future projections made. Between 2010 and 2050 approx. 300 Gt of CO2 are estimated to be associated with the increase of adaptive capacities of current developing countries. This value represents about 30% of the allowed CO2-budgets to restrict global temperatures to an increase of 2 degrees by 2100 compared to pre-industrial times - conditional to a 25% risk of failing to meet the target. For the case of sea-level rise, the modelling framework DIVA (Dynamic Interactive Vulnerability Assessment) was used in order to illustrate the drawbacks of a simplistic representation of adaptation. The results show that adaptation via the construction of protective infrastructure might be economically feasible for particular countries. For others, modeled results fail to provide a clear choice between adaptation or inaction. The assumption of unconstrained adaptation resulted in the valuation of costly protection options whose financial and knowledge requirements can be at odds with the capacities of some coastal countries - namely developing countries. Further, infrastructural protection as adaptive measure to prevent coastal damages can have the counter-productive effect of raising the amount and value of assets at risk. This is a direct result of DIVA disregarding the potential unwelcome feedbacks of adaptation itself. In conclusion, the full potential of economic assessments of climate adaptation is likely to remain unlocked as long as adaptation continues to be misrepresented. The methodologies discussed in this work provide a way forward to alleviate this deficiency in forthcoming assessments. For the case of sea-level rise, the modeling framework DIVA (Dynamic Interactive Vulnerability Assessment) was used in order to illustrate the drawbacks of a simplistic representation of adaptation. The results show that adaptation via the construction of protective infrastructure might be economically feasible for particular countries. For others, modeled results fail to provide a clear choice between adaptation or inaction. The assumption of unconstrained adaptation resulted in the valuation of costly protection options whose financial and knowledge requirements can be at odds with the capacities of some coastal countries - namely developing countries. Further, infrastructural protection as adaptive measure to prevent coastal damages can have the counter-productive effect of raising the amount and value of assets at risk. This is a direct result of DIVA disregarding the potential unwelcome feedbacks of adaptation itself. In conclusion, the full potential of economic assessments of climate adaptation is likely to remain unlocked as long as adaptation continues to be misrepresented. The methodologies discussed in this work provide a way forward to alleviate this deficiency in forthcoming assessments.
Increasing environmental changes primarily due to anthropogenic impacts, are affecting organisms all over the planet. In general, scientists distinguish between three different ways in which organisms can respond to environmental changes in their habitat: extinction, dispersal and adaptation. An example of organisms which are highly adaptable and can easily cope with new and changing environments are invasive species which are able to colonize new habitats with only few individuals. To successfully survive in their new environment, invasive species adapt fast to novel abiotic and biotic parameters, such as different temperature regimes. Phenotypic plasticity which enables organisms to quickly modify their phenotype to new environmental conditions, explains the success in adaptation of invasive species.
While underlying mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity are not fully understood, one possible “motor” of phenotypic plasticity is epigenetics. Especially DNA methylation could explain the fast changes of the organism’s phenotype due to plasticity when experiencing changing environments, as invasive species do. DNA methylation could even contribute to the adaptation of invasive species via phenotypic plasticity, especially with clonally reproducing species. Methods such as common garden experiments with clonally reproducing species are a useful tool to differentiate between phenotypic plasticity and genetic adaptation because the confusing effects of genetic variation are lowered in clonally reproducing species.
Our overall goal was to evaluate the genetic adaptive potential of New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) populations from Europe since they went through an extreme bottleneck after colonizing Europe only 180-360 generations ago. Seemingly, two different clonal lineages colonized Europe because two 16 s rRNA and cytochrome b haplotypes were found across different European countries, haplotypes t and z. The NZMS is a highly successful invasive species that is nowadays nearly globally distributed. The shells of the NZMS show a habitat-dependent high variability and are a fitness-relevant trait. The high variability in shell morphology is due to both genetic variation and phenotypic plasticity. To disentangle genetic from environmental effects on the shell morphology NZMS, we conducted a common garden experiment. We kept asexually reproducing females from eleven European populations in climate cabinets with three different temperatures to produce offspring. We compared shell size and shape across three generations using the geometric morphometrics approach. Furthermore, we estimated reaction norms, maternal effects, broad-sense heritability, the coefficient of genetic variation (CVA) and evolvability (IA) in shell size and shape across different temperature conditions. Additionally, we investigated the reproductive rate of the parental generation.
Results showed that the shell morphology of the parental generation differed across populations. In contrast, the shell morphology of offspring generations became more similar. The reaction norms of the F1 generation were rather variable across the three temperatures. However, we were able to observe a haplotype-dependent pattern across the reaction norms suggesting a restricted genetic differentiation among NZMS in Europe. We detected high heritability values in size indicating a high genetic influence. Heritability values for shape were lower than in size. Generally, heritability varied slightly depending on temperature. Size seemed to have a higher evolvability than shape. However, the values of all our calculations were very low which indicates that the European NZMS populations are genetically diminished. The reproductive rate of the parental generation was rather haplotype than temperature dependent. In summary, we were able to display that the NZMS is capable to plastically adapt its shell morphology to different temperatures showing significant differences between the two haplotypes. Nevertheless, the low evolvability values indicate that little genetic variation has formed since the arrival of the NZMS in Europe and therefore, European NZMS seem to have a reduced ability to react to selection.
These results implied that phenotypic plasticity is important for the adaptation to different environmental conditions in the NZMS and maybe other molluscan species. Since classical experimental approaches can only describe the resulting phenotypes, we also intended to shed more light on the mechanistic side of environmentally induced phenotypic modifications using DNA methylation analysis. Although molluscs represent one of the most diverse taxa within the metazoan and are found in many different habitats, our knowledge of the DNA methylation in molluscs is scarce. Therefore, we aimed at deepening and summarizing our understanding about DNA methylation in molluscs. Publicly available molluscan genomic and transcriptomic data of all eight mollusc classes was downloaded to search for DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs 1-3) responsible for DNA methylation. Additionally, we estimated the normalized CpG dinucleotide content (CpG o/e) indicating the presence/absence and the frequency of DNA methylation in the genome. The CpG o/e ratio refers to the level of DNA methylation in the genome. Based on the sensitivity of methylated cytosines to mutate into thymine residues, species having a high germline methylation in genomic regions over evolutionary time, also have a lower CpG content, which is called CpG depletion. In contrary, species with a limited germline methylation in genomic regions over evolutionary time, show a higher CpG content and lack CpG depletion. The presence or absence of CpG depletion can be calculated with the CpG o/e ratio. Ultimately, the goal of our analyses was to gain insight into the evolution of methylation in molluscs.
We detected DNMTs in all eight mollusc classes and in most of the species. It is therefore plausible that the last common ancestor of molluscs has already had the enzymatic machinery which is needed for DNA methylation. However, various species did not possess the complete DNMT toolkit indicating evolutionary modification in DNA methylation. In general, we found a wide distribution of the bimodal CpG o/e pattern in six mollusc classes, resulting from CpG depletion. The genes in these groups seem to be divided into genes with a high degree of methylation and genes with a lower degree of methylation. This implies that DNA methylation seems to be rather common in molluscs. Species of Solenogastres and Monoplacophora were not or only sparsely methylated. It seems that those mollusc groups have undergone a reduction in DNA methylation. We hope that our investigations will demonstrate the lacking knowledge in epigenetics of molluscs and encourage scientist to execute and continue genetic studies on molluscs.
Die grenzüberschreitende Gesundheitsversorgung ist eine Thematik von zentraler und zunehmender Relevanz. Hauptgründe stellen hierbei die Möglichkeiten zur Einsparung von Kosten sowie eine Kombination der Auslandsbehandlung mit einer Urlaubsreise dar. Darüber hinaus möchte man den Reiseaufwand in das Behandlungsland möglichst gering halten. Unter Berücksichtigung dieser Kriterien erfreut sich unter deutschen Patienten vornehmlich Polen einer zunehmenden Beliebtheit - insbesondere nach dessen Beitritt zur Europäischen Union, da eine Abrechnung der dort durchgeführten geplanten Behandlungen bei den eigenen deutschen Kranken- und Rentenversicherern möglich ist. Die in diesem Zusammenhang am häufigsten genutzten Leistungen beziehen sich auf die ambulanten und stationären Präventions- und Rehabilitationsmaßnahmen, die früher unter dem Begriff der „Kur“ subsumiert wurden. Infolge der steigenden Nachfrage nach diesen polnischen Gesundheitsleistungen seitens deutscher Patienten begannen die polnischen Kurhäuser, deutsche Institutionen – standardisierte organisationale Strukturen und Prozesse – zu adoptieren, um sich auf die deutsche Klientel einzustellen. Auf der theoretischen Basis des Soziologischen Neoinstitutionalismus werden in der vorliegenden Arbeit die Entwicklung der Inanspruchnahme polnischer Präventions- und Rehabilitationsmaßnahmen durch deutsche Patienten, die daraus resultierende institutionelle Adaptation der polnischen Kurhäuser sowie deren Wahrnehmung durch deutsche Gäste untersucht.
Influenza-A-Viren sind wichtige Pathogene von Mensch und Tier. Als Erreger der klassischen Geflügelpest führen hoch-pathogene aviäre Influenzaviren (HPAIV) weltweit zu hohen Verlusten in der Geflügelindustrie. Des Weiteren stellen der zoonotische Charakter und das pandemische Potential, vor allem von Stämmen des Subtyps H5N1, eine ernste gesundheitliche Bedrohung für die Bevölkerung dar. Zur Risikobewertung dieser Viren ist es daher notwendig, genetische Marker zu ermitteln, welche die Virulenz und das Wirtsspektrum beeinflussen. Für die Identifizierung dieser Virulenzdeterminanten sind Pathogenese-Studien in verschiedenen Tiermodellen wie Hühnern und Mäusen essenziell. Bisher wurde gezeigt, dass HPAIV aus niedrig-virulenten Vorläufern durch den Erwerb eines polybasischen Spaltmotives im Hämagglutinin (HA) im Zuge der Adaptation an terrestrisches Geflügel hervorgehen. Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit sollte daher die Fähigkeit eines niedrig-pathogenen aviären Influenzavirus (LPAIV) vom Subtyp H5N1 zur Ausbildung eines HPAIV-Phänotyps untersucht werden. Dazu wurde das revers-genetische System für das Isolat A/Teal/Germany/Wv632/05 (H5N1) etabliert und das Virus TG05 generiert. In-vitro konnte die Trypsin-Abhängigkeit als Merkmal von LPAIV bestätigt werden. Im Huhn verhielt sich dieses Virus avirulent. Durch zielgerichtete Mutagenese wurde die HA-Spaltstelle in ein polybasisches Motiv mutiert und das Virus TG05poly generiert. Das Virus war wie ein HPAIV zur in-vitro-Replikation ohne Trypsin-Zusatz fähig, löste aber nach der Infektion von Hühnern nur eine zeitlich begrenzte Erkrankung aus. Des Weiteren wurde die HA-Reassortante TG05-HAR65 generiert, deren Genom aus dem HA-Gen des HPAIV-Isolates A/Swan/Germany/R65/06 (H5N1) (R65) und den anderen sieben Gensegmenten von TG05 besteht. Dieses Virus konnte in-vitro ebenfalls Trypsin-unabhängig replizieren, führte aber zu einer Letalität von 30%. Eine weitere Reassortante, R65-HATG05poly, enthielt die umgekehrte Genkonstellation: das mutierte TG05-HA und die anderen Gensegmente des R65. An der Infektion verstarben acht von zehn Hühnern, was der Letalität von „natürlichen“ HPAIV entspricht. Der Erwerb einer polybasischen HA-Spaltstelle ist daher ein notwendiger, aber nicht hinreichender Schritt in der Evolution von LPAIV zu HPAIV. So kann nicht jeder H5- oder H7-LPAIV-Stamm als unmittelbarer HPAIV-Vorläufer dienen. Zusätzlich zur HA-Spaltstelle sind weitere Virulenz-Determinanten im HA selbst, aber auch in den anderen viralen Proteinen, vorhanden. Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit wurde daher auch der Einfluss der Aminosäuren der unmittelbaren Spaltstellen-Umgebung untersucht. Dazu wurden verschiedene Virus-Mutanten des R65 mit Aminosäure-Substitutionen in der HA-Spaltstelle selbst (Motive ETR und ER) und in ihrer direkten Umgebung (HA-S346V) generiert und hinsichtlich der in-vitro-Replikation und der Virulenz im Huhn untersucht. Dabei konnte gezeigt werden, dass HA-346S einen Vorteil für die Replikation von LPAIV und HPAIV vermittelt. T an Position 2 der Spaltstelle unterstützt die Replikation von LPAIV. Bei Erwerb der polybasischen Spaltstelle während der Evolution von LPAIV zu HPAIV müssen also auch die benachbarten Regionen im HA angepasst werden. Die H5N1 HPAIV der Clade 2.2 verbreiteten sich über infizierte Vögel von Südostasien nach Europa, infizierten aber auch eine Vielzahl von Säugerspezies. Normalerweise weisen aviäre Influenzaviren PB2-627E auf; im Gegensatz dazu besitzen die Clade 2.2-Viren PB2-627K, was sonst in humanen Stämmen zu finden ist. Um im dritten Teil dieser Arbeit den Einfluss dieser Mutation auf das breite Wirtspektrum der Clade 2.2-Viren zu untersuchen, wurde im HPAIV-Isolat R65 PB2-627K durch E ersetzt und die Virusmutante R65-PB2K627E generiert. Im Vergleich zu R65 war die Replikation von R65-PB2K627E in Säugerzellen drastisch reduziert, in Vogelzellen replizierten beide Viren jedoch gleich. Des Weiteren führte die Substitution zu einer extrem verringerten Polymerase-Aktivität auf 5% in Säugerzellen, aber nur zu einer vergleichsweise wenig verringerten Aktivität in Vogelzellen. Während die Virulenz im Huhn durch die Mutation nicht verändert wurde, konnte bei der Bestimmung der LD50 in der Maus eine drastische Attenuierung gezeigt werden. Interessanterweise revertierte bereits nach einer Mauspassage PB2-K627E zurück zu K, im Huhn erfolgte diese Reversion aber nicht. Um zu untersuchen, ob andere virale Proteine für diese Reversion notwendig sind, wurden Reassortanten generiert, welche R65-PB2-K627E und ein oder mehrere Gensegmente des R65 im Hintergrund des HPAIV A/Hong Kong/156/97 (H5N1) tragen, welches natürlicherweise PB2-627E besitzt. Mittels Zellkultur-Passagen dieser Reassortanten konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Reversion zu PB2-627K nur in Säugerzellen auftritt, und dass dazu das Nukleoprotein des R65 notwendig ist. Die schnelle Reversion zu PB2-627K in Säugerzellen und in Mäusen zeigt, dass die H5N1 HPAIV der Clade 2.2 in ihrer Evolution möglicherweise mehrere Wirte gehabt haben, zu denen wahrscheinlich auch Säuger gehörten.
Innerhalb der Crustacea evolvierte der Landgang mindestens zehn Mal unabhängig voneinander. Die Evolution des Landganges geht mit einer Vielzahl von morphologischen und physiologischen Anpassungen einher, die sich im Vergleich mit rezenten aquatischen Taxa und ihren nächsten terrestrischen Verwandten rekonstruieren lassen. Im Rahmen des Promotionsprojektes dienten vorangegangene neuroanatomische Untersuchungen am Landeinsiedler Coenobita clypeatus (Fabricius, 1787) und dem nah verwandten Palmendieb Birgus latro (Linnaeus, 1767) sowie auch das wenige Wissen über die Lebensweise des Palmendiebes als Ausgangspunkt, Hypothesen zur Sinnes- und Orientierungsleistung zu entwickeln und mit verschiedenen Verhaltensversuchen im Labor (C. clypeatus) bzw. im Freiland (B. latro) zu testen. Morphologische und verhaltensbiologische Befunde wurden mit Daten anderer Vertreter innerhalb der Anomala, Brachyura und Isopoda verglichen. Für die neuroanatomischen Untersuchungen wurden histologische und immunhistochemische Experimente und deren Analyse mithilfe der Lichtmikroskopie, der konfokalen Laser-Scanning-Mikroskopie durchgeführt und mittels dreidimensionaler Rekonstruktion und Morphometrie gestützt. Zur Evaluierung des Wanderungsverhaltens und der Orientierungsleistung von B. latro wurden verschiedene Freilandversuche auf der Weihnachtsinsel während vier Forschungsreisen im Zeitraum von 2008 bis 2012 vorgenommen. Für die verhaltensbiologische Untersuchung des Palmendiebes wurden Experimente mithilfe von Telemetrietransmittern für die Untersuchung des Wanderungsverhaltens und der Tagesrhythmik genutzt. Die neuroanatomischen Daten terrestrischer Vertreter dieser drei Taxa im Vergleich zu ihren nächsten marinen Verwandten, lassen den Schluss zu, dass die Strukturen des primären olfaktorischen Pfades im Zuge des Landgangs unterschiedlichen morphologischen Transformationen unterlagen. Hierbei fällt auf, dass die Strukturen des primären Riechsystems bei terrestrischen Vertretern innerhalb der Anomala stark vergrößert sind, wohingegen diese innerhalb der Brachyura deutlich geringere Dimensionen aufweisen. Innerhalb der Landasseln (Isopoda: Oniscidea) scheinen die primären Verarbeitungszentren der Olfaktion, die deutocerebralen chemosensorischen Loben im Gehirn, reduziert zu sein, da sie sich mit den hier verwendeten Methoden nicht identifizieren ließen. Die ersten Antennen der terrestrischen Isopoda sind im Vergleich zu den untersuchten marinen Asseln, aber auch im Vergleich zu den anderen beiden Taxa deutlich reduziert. Es wird in diesem Zusammenhang vermutet, dass andere sensorische wie verarbeitende Strukturen des Nervensystems es vermögen, das Fehlen bzw. die starke Reduktion des primären olfaktorischen Systems zu kompensieren. Es wurden Versuche durchgeführt, um die Reaktion des Palmendiebes auf verschiedene Duftstoffe im Freiland zu analysieren. Hierbei zeigten Acetoin, Trimethylamin und Dimethyltrisulfid die höchsten Attraktionswirkungen. Zusätzlich wurden Laborexperimente im Windkanal an Coenobita clypeatus etabliert, die das Ziel hatten, das Duftspektrum dieser dem Palmendieb nahe verwandten Tiere zu evaluieren und geruchsgesteuertes Suchverhalten zu analysieren. Dabei konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Tiere sich bei der Stimulation durch natürliche Duftstoffe entlang der Duftfahne entgegen der Strömungsrichtung zielgerichtet zum Stimulus bewegten. Durch die Telemetrieversuche konnte gezeigt werden, dass der Palmendieb auch außerhalb der Reproduktionszeit zum Teil weite Distanzen zurücklegt, aber auch über eine gewisse Ortstreue verfügt und dieses Verhalten somit als semi-nomadisch charakterisiert werden kann. Während der Wanderungen wird vermutlich die Spurverfolgung als Navigationsstrategie genutzt, wobei auch Hinweise auf Pfadintegration als eine weitere Navigationsstrategie hindeuten. Dabei wird aufgrund der bevorzugten Nachtaktivität der Tiere davon ausgegangen, dass die Orientierung bei der Spurverfolgung chemisch gesteuert sein könnte. Diese These wird auch durch einfache Attraktionsversuche gestützt, bei denen einige Versuchstiere, trotz Blendung, den Köder erfolgreich aufsuchen konnten. Die lokomotorische Aktivität im Tagesgang, welche mithilfe von Beschleunigungssensoren (Akzellerometer) aufgezeichnet werden konnte, scheint besonders unter dem Einfluss der relativen Luftfeuchtigkeit zu stehen. Dabei konnte im Beobachtungszeitraum neben stabilen diurnalen, crepuscularen bis nocturnalen Aktivitätsmustern, auch kathemerales Verhalten dokumentiert werden. Neben individuellen Abweichungen im Tagesgang der lokomotorischen Aktivität, konnte für die meisten der Versuchstiere ein Aktivitätsmaximum während der Zeit des Sonnenuntergangs festgestellt werden, wohingegen während der Mittagszeit das überwiegende Aktivitätsminimum lag. Dies stützt wiederum die Hypothese, dass es einen Zusammenhang zwischen der Dynamik der Aktivität und der Dynamik der relativen Luftfeuchtigkeit geben könnte.
Unstable environments and habitats changing due to climate change force individuals to either respond by genetic adaptation, phenotypic plasticity or by dispersal to suitable environments. Theodoxus fluviatilis (Linneaus, 1758) is a good study organisms when researching phenotypic plasticity and genetic adaptation as it naturally appears in freshwater (FW) as well as brackish water (BW) and thus inhabits a wide range of environmental salinities (0-18‰). It is a euryhaline snail that can be found in shallow waters with stony ground or on Fucus spp. and has formed regional subgroups. The brackish water and the freshwater subgroups are spatially separated and the species cannot be found in areas inbetween, e.g. estuaries.
The species shows great variability in shell patterning and shell size and there is still debate whether the subgroups are distinguishable by these traits or not. The mitochdrial RNA marker cytochrome c subunit I did not show differences between the subgroups indicating that they must be closely related, but salinity tolerance has been observed to be higher in BW snails. This might be caused by the different protein expression patterns and osmolyte accumulation (measured as ninhydrin-positive substances) observed in this species in previous studies. The exact mechanisms regulating protein expression and osmolyte accumulation, however, are not fully understood yet.
Data collected for this thesis shows differences in shell size and suggests a less strict grouping of FW and BW individuals as shell sizes of one FW site are more similar to BW individuals than the other FW ones. A better salinity tolerance towards high salinities and a higher physiological salinity limit of BW snails was confirmed and extended by demonstrating an expanded tolerance range through slow acclimation to challenging salinities in snails from both subgroups. This was achieved by a shift in the slope of their reaction norms that was much more pronounced in BW snails than FW ones. S3 individuals showed a shift similar to that of BW individuals. The data for the salinity tolerance indicates that the underlying mechanism for these tolerances are a combination of phenotypic plasticity and genetic adaptation. Despite an acclimation and shift in the slope of the reaction norms and therefore an increased tolerance towards high salinities (plasticity) FW individuals from two collection sites were not able to cope with salinities as high as BW individuals (local adaptation). The general ability to mobilise free amino acids (FAA) as organic osmolytes was not the reason for this tolerance difference. Individuals from BW and FW sites were capable of accumulating quantities of FAAs equally well. Proline, alanine and urea were the most important components of the accumulated cocktail of organic osmolytes. Even though the total amount of FAAs accumulated under hyperosmotic conditions was the same in both subgroups, there were differences in the metabolic pathways involved in osmolyte accumulation in the foot muscle. The data indicates that the hydrolysis of storage proteins and the synthesis of proline and alanine are the main processes to avoid detrimental body volume shrinkage in T. fluviatilis. While FW individuals seemed to rely on the degradation of proteins and synthesis of alanine, BW individuals depended on newly synthesising proline and alanine and accumulating urea as a side product of transamination. The accumulation of urea is a new finding in aquatic living snails and has not been reported as a mechanism to avoid cell volume shrinkage in these animals.
Differing protein expression patterns were observed under control conditions across all collection sites. 9 spots showed volume changes in BW snails opposite to those of FW snails from collection sites S1 and S2. For 6 of those spots, S3 individuals showed patterns similar to those of BW individuals and for the remaining 3 they showed patterns similar to those of FW animals. The patterns observed when exposing snails to hypo- or hyperosmotic stress were not conclusive in relation to pinpointing individual spots that show the same pattern in all collection sites, but revealed the heterogeneity of protein expression in snails from the different collection sites and in the process of osmoregulation. It also showed the general tendency of protein reduction when snails where under osmotic stress of either kind (hypo- or hyperosmotic), which supports the hypothesis of storage protein degradation.
The investigation of an ANP-receptor showed two variations of the encoding sequence expressed in T. fluviatilis. S3 individuals as well as BW individuals were found to express one type, while FW individuals, with the exception of one sample expressed the other type. This showed that the FW subgroup of T. fluviatilis seems to be more heterogeneous than the BW subgroup, but also raises the question of the dispersal history of this species. The collected data indicates that T. fluviatilis individuals are firstly capable of surviving the acidity of a duck's gizzard and secondly can tolerate acute salinity changes to 16‰ when introduced into a new environment. Hence, if snails from the FW were to be transported to waters with a salinity of up to 16‰ by man, bird, drifting plants or some other means of transport, they would most likely survive and possibly be able to thrive and spread.
Perception of climate change-related forest dieback in mountain forests among the local population
(2023)
Mountain forests provide multiple benefits but are threatened by climate change-induced forest dieback. Although many studies summarize perceptions of forest ecosystem services, relatively few deal with mountain forests. The local population’s perception of forest dieback in mountain forests in relation to climate change has rarely been investigated so far. Their perspective is relevant as local people are often deeply attached to “their” forests, they actively use forest ecosystems and—as voters and taxpayers—they need to support the state’s adaptation and funding measures. Therefore, this study investigates the climate change and forest dieback perception of local inhabitants in two mountain areas of Southern Germany (the German Alps and the Bavarian Forest) with a quantitative survey based on representative online samples (n = 709). Relying conceptually on van der Linden’s (J Environ Psychol 41:112–124, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.11.012) climate change risk perception model, the results show that experiential processing, cognitive and socio-cultural factors are related to locals’ forest dieback and climate change perception, while socio-demographics show no or few connections. Nearly two-thirds (64.7%) of the respondents perceive moderate to strong forest dieback, while more than half (55.0%) of the respondents already observe consequences of climate change. The perceptions of climate change and forest dieback are positively correlated with medium to high strength. This shows that forest dieback could be interpreted as an indicator of climate change, which is difficult to observe due to its long-term nature. We identify three groups of respondents regarding preferred forest adaptation strategies to climate change. In general, respondents support nature-based forest adaptation strategies over intense measures.
Climate change has strongly affected mountain forests through an increasing intensity and frequency of disturbances and forest dieback in recent decades. However, given the strong relevance of forest dieback and potential impacts on forest stakeholders and local inhabitants, it is surprising that this research field is seldom investigated to date. Therefore, this study deals with the perception of climate change-related consequences as well as possible silvicultural adaptation strategies for the Bavarian Forest. Since it can be assumed that various forest ecosystem services will be increasingly in demand in the future, participation by all stakeholders is essential. Therefore, a sequential, mixed-method approach (qualitative and quantitative survey) allows developing concrete guidelines and strategies for adaptive management, in which the diverse social demands on forests can be adequately taken into account.