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Human activity and related land use change are the primary cause of accelerated soil erosion, which has substantial implications for nutrient and carbon cycling, land productivity and in turn, worldwide socio-economic conditions. Here we present an unprecedentedly high resolution (250 x 250m) global potential soil erosion model, using a combination of remote sensing, GIS modelling and census data. We challenge the previous annual soil erosion reference values as our estimate, of 35.9 Pg yr-1 of soil eroded in 2012, is at least two times lower. Moreover, we estimate the spatial and temporal effects of land use change between 2001 and 2012 and the potential offset of the global application of conservation practices. Our findings indicate a potential overall increase in global soil erosion driven by cropland expansion. The greatest increases are predicted to occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. The least developed economies have been found to experience the highest estimates of soil erosion rates.

Several years ago, it was pointed out that the U-spin-related decays Bd→π+π-, Bs→K+K- and Bd→π∓K±, Bs→π±K∓ offer interesting strategies for the extraction of the angle γ of the unitarity triangle. Using the first results from the Tevatron on the Bs decays and the B-factory data on Bu,d modes, we compare the determinations of γ from both strategies, study the sensitivity on U-spin-breaking effects, discuss the resolution of discrete ambiguities, predict observables that were not yet measured but will be accessible at LHCb, explore the extraction of the width difference ΔΓs from untagged Bs→K+K- rates, and address the impact of new physics. The data for the Bd→π+π-, Bs→K+K- system favour the BaBar measurement of direct CP violation in Bd→π+π-, which will be used in the numerical analysis and result in a fortunate situation, yielding γ=(66.6+4.3+4.0-5.0-3.0)°, where the latter errors correspond to a generous estimate of U-spin-breaking effects. On the other hand, the Bd→π∓K±, Bs→π±K∓ analysis leaves us with 26°≤γ≤70°, and points to a value of the Bs→π±K∓ branching ratio that is larger than the current Tevatron result. An important further step will be the measurement of mixing-induced CP violation in Bs→K+K-, which will also allow us to extract the B0s–B̄0s mixing phase unambiguously with the help of Bs→J/ψφ at the LHC. Finally, the measurement of direct CP violation in Bs→K+K- will make the full exploitation of the physics potential of the Bs,d→ππ,πK,KK modes possible.

As is well known, B0d,s–B̄0d,s mixing offers a profound probe into the effects of physics beyond the standard model. The data obtained at the e+e- B factories have already provided valuable insights into the Bd-meson system, and very recently also the B0s–B̄0s oscillation frequency ΔMs has been measured at the Tevatron. We give a critical discussion of the interpretation of these data in terms of model-independent new-physics parameters. We address in particular the impact of the uncertainties of the relevant input parameters, set benchmarks for their accuracies as required by future precision measurements at the LHC, and explore the prospects for new CP-violating effects in the Bs system. To complement our model-independent analysis, we also discuss the constraints imposed by the CDF measurement of ΔMs on popular models of new physics, namely scenarios with an extra Z’ boson and supersymmetry. We find that the new data still leave sizeable room for new-physics contributions to B0s–B̄0s mixing, which could be detected at the LHC.

Ships’ ballast water (BW) commonly moves macroorganisms and microorganisms across the world’s oceans and along coasts; however, the majority of these microbial transfers have gone undetected. We applied high-throughput sequencing methods to identify microbial eukaryotes, specifically emphasizing the protistan parasites, in ships’ BW collected from vessels calling to the Chesapeake Bay (Virginia and Maryland, USA) from European and Eastern Canadian ports. We utilized tagged-amplicon 454 pyrosequencing with two general primer sets, amplifying either the V4 or V9 domain of the small subunit (SSU) of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene complex, from total DNA extracted from water samples collected from the ballast tanks of bulk cargo vessels. We detected a diverse group of protistan taxa, with some known to contain important parasites in marine systems, including Apicomplexa (unidentified apicomplexans, unidentified gregarines, Cryptosporidium spp.), Dinophyta (Blastodinium spp., Euduboscquella sp., unidentified syndinids, Karlodinium spp., Syndinium spp.), Perkinsea (Parvilucifera sp.), Opisthokonta (Ichthyosporea sp., Pseudoperkinsidae, unidentified ichthyosporeans), and Stramenopiles (Labyrinthulomycetes). Further characterization of groups with parasitic taxa, consisting of phylogenetic analyses for four taxa (Cryptosporidium spp., Parvilucifera spp., Labyrinthulomycetes, and Ichthyosporea), revealed that sequences were obtained from both known and novel lineages. This study demonstrates that high-throughput sequencing is a viable and sensitive method for detecting parasitic protists when present and transported in the ballast water of ships. These data also underscore the potential importance of human-aided dispersal in the biogeography of these microbes and emerging diseases in the world’s oceans.

Biodiversity conservation strategies are increasingly focused on regions outside national protected areas, where animals face numerous anthropogenic threats and must coexist with human settlements, livestock, and agriculture. The effects of these potential threats are not always clear, but they could have profound implications for population viability. We used savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) as a case study to assess the physiological stress associated with living in a human-livestock-dominated landscape. We collected samples over two 3-month periods in 2007 and 2008. We used fecal DNA to identify 96 individual elephants in a community conservation area (CCA) and measured fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentrations as a proxy for stress. The CCA is community Maasai land managed for livestock and wildlife. We compared the FGM concentrations from the CCA to FGM concentrations of 40 elephants in Amboseli National Park and 32 elephants in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, where human settlements and intense livestock grazing were absent. In the CCA, we found no significant individual differences in FGM concentrations among the elephants in 2007 (p = 0.312) or 2008 (p = 0.412) and no difference between years (p = 0.616). The elephants in the CCA had similar FGM concentrations to the Maasai Mara population, but Amboseli elephants had significantly lower FGM concentrations than those in either Maasai Mara or the CCA (Tukey pairwise test, p < 0.001), due primarily to females excreting significantly lower FGM relative to males (p = 0.025). In the CCA, there was no relation among female group size, average pairwise group relatedness, and average group FGM concentration. We found no clear evidence of chronic stress in elephants living on CCA communal land, which is encouraging for conservation strategies promoting the protection of animals living outside protected areas. Las estrategias de conservación se enfocan cada vez más hacia regiones fuera de áreas nacionales protegidas, donde los animales enfrentan numerosas amenazas antropogénicas y deben coexistir con asentamientos humanos, ganado y agricultura. Los efectos de esas amenazas potenciales no siempre son claros, pero podrían tener implicaciones profundas para la viabilidad poblacional. Utilizamos elefantes africanos (Loxodonta africana) como un estudio de caso para evaluar el estrés fisiológico asociado con vivir en un paisaje dominado por humanos y ganado. Recolectamos muestras en 2 períodos de 3 meses en 2007 y 2008. Utilizamos ADN fecal para identificar a 96 elefantes individuales en un área de conservación comunitaria (ACC) y medimos las concentraciones del metabolito glucocorticoide fecal (MGF) como un indicador de estrés. El ACC es tierra Maasai comunitaria manejada para ganado y vida silvestres. Comparamos las concentraciones de MGF en el ACC con las concentraciones de MGF de 40 elefantes del Parque Nacional Amboseli y 32 elefantes de la Reserva Nacional Maasai Mara, donde no hay asentamientos humanos ni pastoreo intensivo. En el ACC, no encontramos diferencias individuales significativas en las concentraciones de MGF entre los elefantes en 2007 (p = 0.312) ni 2008 (p = 0.412) ni entre años (p = 0.616). Los elefantes en el ACC tuvieron concentraciones similares de MGF a la población de Maasai Mara, pero los elefantes de Amboseli tuvieron concentraciones de MGF significativamente menores que las de Maasai Mara o el ACC. (prueba pareada de Tukey, p < 0.001), debido principalmente a que las hembras excretan significativamente menos MGF que los machos (p = 0.025). En el ACC, no hubo relación entre el tamaño del grupo de hembras, la similitud promedio de grupos pareados, ni la concentración de MGF promedio del grupo. No encontramos evidencias claras de estrés crónico en elefantes viviendo en el ACC, lo cual es alentador para las estrategias de conservación que promueven la protección de animales que viven fuera de áreas protegidas.

Conservation of wide‐ranging species, such as the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), depends on fully protected areas and multiple‐use areas (MUA) that provide habitat connectivity. In the Gamba Complex of Protected Areas in Gabon, which includes 2 national parks separated by a MUA containing energy and forestry concessions, we studied forest elephants to evaluate the importance of the MUA to wide‐ranging species. We extracted DNA from elephant dung samples and used genetic information to identify over 500 individuals in the MUA and the parks. We then examined patterns of nuclear microsatellites and mitochondrial control‐region sequences to infer population structure, movement patterns, and habitat use by age and sex. Population structure was weak but significant, and differentiation was more pronounced during the wet season. Within the MUA, males were more strongly associated with open habitats, such as wetlands and savannas, than females during the dry season. Many of the movements detected within and between seasons involved the wetlands and bordering lagoons. Our results suggest that the MUA provides year‐round habitat for some elephants and additional habitat for others whose primary range is in the parks. With the continuing loss of roadless wilderness areas in Central Africa, well‐managed MUAs will likely be important to the conservation of wide‐ranging species. Utilización de Perfiles Genéticos de Elefantes Africanos para Inferir su Estructura Poblacional, Movimientos y Uso del Hábitat en un Paisaje con Conservación y Desarrollo en Gabón Resumenfgs

In the Old World, some mosquitoes in the Culex pipiens complex are excellent enzootic vectors of West Nile virus, circulating the virus among birds, whereas others bite mainly humans and other mammals. Here we show that, in northern Europe, such forms differing in behavior and physiology have unique microsatellite fingerprints with no evidence of gene flow between them, as would be expected from distinct species. In the United States, however, hybrids between these forms are ubiquitous. Such hybrids between human-biters and bird-biters may be the bridge vectors contributing to the unprecedented severity and range of the West Nile virus epidemic in North America.

Recently, we have seen interesting progress in the exploration of CP violation in B0d→π+π-: the measurements of mixing-induced CP violation by the BaBar and Belle collaborations are now in good agreement with each other, whereas the picture of direct CP violation is still unclear. Using the branching ratio and direct CP asymmetry of B0d→π-K+, this situation can be clarified. We predict \\(\\mathcal{A}_{CP}^{\\text{dir}}(B_d\\to\\pi^+\\pi^-)=-0.24\\pm0.04\\), which favours the BaBar result, and we extract γ=(70.0+3.8-4.3)°, which agrees with the unitarity triangle fits. Extending our analysis to other B→πK modes and B0s→K+K- with the help of the SU(3) flavour symmetry and plausible dynamical assumptions, we find that all observables with colour-suppressed electroweak penguin contributions are measured to be in excellent agreement with the standard model. As far as the ratios Rc,n of the charged and neutral B→πK branching ratios are concerned, which are sizeably affected by electroweak penguin contributions, our standard-model predictions have almost unchanged central values but significantly reduced errors. Since the new data have moved quite a bit towards these results, the “B→πK puzzle” for the CP conserving quantities has been significantly reduced. However, the mixing-induced CP violation of B0d→π0KS does look puzzling; if confirmed by future measurements, this effect could be accommodated through a modified electroweak penguin sector with a large CP violating new-physics phase. Finally, we point out that the established difference between the direct CP asymmetries of B±→π0K± and Bd→π∓K± appears to be generated by hadronic and not by new physics.

Aim: Dispersal is a critical component of animal ecology that is poorly understood for most species. In particular, savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) have been studied for decades in national parks across Africa, but little is known about their dispersal into new or unused habitats or their population dynamics in human-dominated landscapes. We capitalized on a natural dispersal event of savanna elephants recolonizing communal land in southern Kenya to document their demographic characteristics and genetic relationships. Location: Rift Valley province of Kenya. Methods: We collected faecal samples and used genetic methods to identify individuals, estimate the sex ratio and evaluate the patterns of relatedness within the female groups and male aggregations. We also measured dung bolus circumference to assign age classes to individuals and estimate the age structure. Results: We identified 112 individuals with a sex ratio not different from one (1.32:1.00). The age structure was skewed towards younger elephants (71%), suggesting the potential for rapid growth from reproduction. We detected significantly higher kinship levels within female groups (R = 0.124 ± 0.023), suggesting that family groups colonized the site, but found little support for higher-order genetic relationships among female groups. Males detected together were unrelated (R = 0.003 ± 0.030). Main conclusions: Our results suggest that highly social mammals, such as savanna elephants, disperse into unoccupied habitat as family groups and that a young demographic structure and a large number of males might be expected in establishing populations. These findings highlight the potential value of indirect, non-invasive methods for assessing elephant herd and demographic characteristics when direct observations are difficult.

The decay B0d→D+D- offers an interesting probe of CP violation, but it requires control of penguin effects, which can be done through B0s→D+sD-s by means of the U-spin flavour symmetry of strong interactions. Recently, the Belle collaboration reported indications of large CP violation in the B0d decay, which were, however, not confirmed by BaBar, and first signals of the B0s channel were observed at the Tevatron. In view of these developments and the quickly approaching start of the LHC, we explore the allowed region in observable space for CP violation in B0d→D+D-, perform theoretical estimates of the relevant hadronic penguin parameters and observables, and we address questions both about the most promising strategies for the extraction of CP-violating phases and about the interplay with other measurements of CP violation and the search for new physics. As far as the latter aspect is concerned, we point out that the B0q→Dq+D-q system provides a setting for the determination of the B0q–B̄0q mixing phases (q∈{d,s}) that is complementary to the conventional B0d→J/ψKS and B0s→J/ψφ modes with respect to possible new-physics effects in the electroweak penguin sector.