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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1976

Ecological affinities of Brazil and the southeastern United States of America. A study in comparative physiological ecology.

Brazil and the southeastern United States have faunistic similarities and differences which are of fundamental interest to the environmental scientist. These similarities and differences provide natural experimental organisms and habitats which can provide answers to basic and applied questions. What are the lethal limits of organisms to environmental changes? How do animals functionally adjust to various ecological parameters? How have basic biological systems evolved in response to new environments? Although the comparative functional attributes of individual species has been stressed in this paper, knowledge of the comparative dynamics os is vitally needed before man can gain an understanding of how systems function, and, equally important, how to manage and manipulate coastal marine environments. This critical area is where man has the potential to exert his greatest influence on the future existence and evolution of specific organisms and ecosystems.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

[Ecology--health--medicine--ecologic health strategy].

Ecological problems call for a revolution in medical thinking. The basic ideas of research methodology and social application of traditional forms of medicine in society are beginning to falter, have to be examined, replaced, elaborated or made more precise. The article analysis the methodological barriere of medical/ecological research and the necessity for ethics of prevention. A basic introduction is presented with regard to the metabolic concept of the interaction between Man and Nature and the creation of a social environment from a theoretical scientific and ethical perspective. The concept of medicine as a natural Science is criticised.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed1992

Divergent biases in ecologic and individual-level studies.

Several authors have shown that ecologic estimates can be biased by effect modification and misclassification in a different fashion from individual-level estimates. This paper reviews and discusses ecologic biases induced by model misspecification; confounding; non-additivity of exposure and covariate effects (effect modification); exposure misclassification; and non-comparable standardization. Ecologic estimates can be more sensitive to these sources of bias than individual-level estimates, primarily because ecologic estimates are based on extrapolations to an unobserved conditional (individual-level) distribution. Because of this sensitivity, one should not rely on a single regression model for an ecologic analysis. Valid ecologic estimates are most feasible when one can obtain accurate estimates of exposure and covariate means in regions with internal exposure homogeneity and mutual covariate comparability; thus, investigators should seek out such regions in the design and analysis of ecologic studies.

Bias↗
PubMed2026

Activity shapes large herbivores' ecological influences.

The ecological effects of large herbivores are shaped by their spatial and temporal patterns of activity (i.e. where, when and how intensely they use specific locations). When large herbivores' ecological influences are perceived to be undesirable, the traditional approach has been to reduce their population size. This numbers-first logic assumes that ecological effects scale primarily with abundance. We argue that this framing provides an incomplete understanding of large herbivores' ecological impacts. Using African elephants (Loxodonta africana) as a well-documented case study, we show that ecological effects on plants, animals and ecosystem processes correlate more with spatio-temporal patterns of activity than with population size. In large, open systems characterized by strong gradients of water availability, forage quality, shade and risk, elephants concentrate into predictable hotspots while relaxing activity elsewhere, generating localized impacts and opportunities for recovery. By contrast, in small, fenced or fragmented landscapes, where movements are constrained, and gradients are weak, spatial self-regulation breaks down, producing homogenized use and widespread ecological effects. We contend that understanding where, when and under what constraints herbivores use space provides a more general and mechanistic basis for interpreting ecological influence than abundance alone, with implications that extend beyond elephants to large herbivores globally.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Re-emerging Marburg virus disease in Africa: spillover ecology, geographic expansion, and surveillance vulnerabilities.

Marburg virus disease (MVD) is re-emerging across Africa as a high-consequence zoonosis shaped by expanding ecological suitability, repeated spillover, and uneven surveillance capacity. This review synthesizes current evidence on the ecological, epidemiological, and operational determinants of contemporary Marburg virus (MARV) emergence. We conceptualize MVD as an ecological-emergence system produced by interactions among reservoir-host biology, environmental change, human exposure, health-system readiness, and mobility, rather than as a series of isolated outbreaks. Recent detections in multiple African regions indicate wider enzootic circulation than previously recognized and support repeated, reservoir-associated introductions from distributed ecological foci. Spillover risk is heightened where mining, land-use change, agricultural encroachment, settlement growth, climate-sensitive habitat disruption, and population movement increase contact with Egyptian rousette bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) and contaminated roost environments. Following primary spillover, diagnostic delays, fragmented surveillance, limited laboratory decentralization, healthcare-associated transmission, and mobility-linked exposure can enable outbreak amplification and delayed recognition. Serological findings further suggest possible "shadow epidemiology," with unrecognized or mild MARV infections occurring outside confirmed outbreak chains. Critical preparedness gaps persist in ecological risk mapping, longitudinal reservoir surveillance, decentralized molecular diagnostics, genomic sequencing, data integration, and cross-border early warning. Future preparedness should move beyond reactive containment toward integrated One Health approach combining predictive ecological surveillance, rapid community-level detection, real-time genomics, infection prevention, risk communication, and regional coordination to identify spillover early and prevent human transmission.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Beyond Morphology: Reframing Lymph-Node Metastasis Prediction Through Clonal Ecology-Decades-Long Genomic Instability and Polyclonal-to-Monoclonal Transitions as the Missing Dimension in Cancer.

Recent whole-genome, lineage-tracing, single-cell, and spatial studies have reshaped our understanding of tumor evolution, revealing that cancers can arise from polyclonal populations, undergo decades-long genomic instability before clinical detection, and progress through dynamic changes in subclonal composition, cellular state, and ecological organization. These findings challenge the assumption underlying morphology-based prediction models that metastatic risk can be inferred from static histological features alone. Here, we revisit lymph-node metastasis prediction in colorectal cancer through clonal ecology, integrating computational pathology with evolutionary oncology. Drawing on the subclonal switchboard model proposed in 2012 and subsequent artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled approaches for tracking dominant and dormant subclones, we synthesize evidence that metastatic potential reflects clonal ancestry, evolutionary timing, spatial niche architecture, cellular plasticity, intercellular interactions, dormancy, and treatment-driven shifts in subclonal fitness. We define five complementary methodological pillars for operationalizing clonal ecology: single-cell transcriptomics for resolving rare subclones, evolutionary trajectories, and adaptive cell states; lineage tracing and phylogenetics for reconstructing clonal ancestry and divergence; spatial transcriptomics and genomics for mapping subclonal geography and tumor-stromal-immune interactions; longitudinal liquid biopsy surveillance for monitoring residual disease, clonal turnover, and emerging resistance; and AI-enabled multimodal integration for connecting histopathology, genomics, spatial biology, and longitudinal data into predictive ecological-state models. Multiple-instance learning and pathology foundation models provide scalable computational foundations for evolution-aware prediction. Translationally, dormant subclones represent actionable reservoirs of recurrence. A longitudinal clinical and experimental study of KMT2A-rearranged acute myeloid leukemia further supports central predictions of the subclonal switchboard framework by demonstrating treatment-associated shifts in subclonal dominance, persistence of cryptic adaptive programs, and ecological rewiring during resistance and relapse. We propose clonal ecology as a measurable dimension for extending morphology-driven prediction toward integrative models that anticipate evolutionary transitions, identify therapeutic windows, and proactively constrain adaptive tumor ecosystems before resistant or metastatic subclones achieve clinical dominance.

Humans↗
PubMed1992

The US decline in stroke mortality: what does ecological analysis tell us?

We review a study in this issue that concludes, from analyses of ecological associations, that the use of medication to lower high blood pressure has caused at most a small decline in US stroke mortality rates. Our analysis suggests that other possible sources of the decline may be population-wide falls in levels of blood pressure, cigarette smoking, and coronary heart disease mortality, as well as improved treatment of cardiac and respiratory sequelae of stroke. Although the ecological method is powerful for answering questions about medical interventions' population-wide effects on disease, it must be used with care. Of particular concern are variables with meanings that differ between the ecological and the individual levels, the number of ecological units available for analysis, the sample size within the ecological units, and the range of independent variables used in ecological regression.

Aged↗
PubMed2026

Characterizing the ecological niche of insertion sequences within prokaryotic genomes.

Insertion sequences (ISs) are widespread prokaryotic transposable elements, often regarded as genomic parasites that primarily cause deleterious mutations. However, they can also promote adaptive changes. These antagonistic properties make their overall impact on prokaryotic evolution difficult to grasp. Here, we address this challenge by leveraging the framework of transposon ecology to analyze IS occurrences across and within 30 499 prokaryotic genomes. Combining phylogenomics with multi-scale genomic analysis, quantitative ecology, and mathematical modeling, we provide evidence that although genomes generally provide sufficient resources for IS coexistence, universal mechanisms shape their occurrence and chromosomal distribution across genomes. These include (i) the preferential localization of ISs within highly variable and GC-heterogeneous chromosomal regions of genomic plasticity, which act as the primary reservoir of IS niches; (ii) a linear scaling between IS abundance and niche size, with an average of $5.4$ additional accessible insertion sites per IS; (iii) a dependence of IS occurrence on the presence of other ISs, suggesting a form of group behavior; (iv) the accumulation of AT-rich sequences in both coding and noncoding regions up to 100 kb around ISs, indicative of ecological isolation; and (v) the spatial partitioning of mobile genetic elements around ISs, reminiscent of ecological niche differentiation. Besides these general principles, we also uncover niche specificities associated with particular IS families, hinting at regulatory mechanisms that modulate IS activity. Altogether, this comprehensive transposon ecology approach offers new insights and avenues for understanding IS-host interactions and genome evolution, moving beyond traditional host-centric perspectives.

DNA Transposable Elements↗
PubMed2026

Trichoderma specialized metabolites in biocontrol: gene-metabolite links, ecological functions, and translational bottlenecks.

Trichoderma spp. produce a diverse repertoire of metabolites with specific activities that contribute to biocontrol through direct antagonism, ecological signalling, and modulation of plant responses. However, current knowledge remains uneven: many metabolites are chemically described, whereas fewer are supported by robust gene-metabolite associations, experimentally validated ecological functions, and realistic translational evidence. Progress in this field will depend less on expanding compound catalogues than on integrating mechanistic, ecological, and translational evidence. This review examines the specialized metabolism of Trichoderma with emphasis on biosynthetic gene clusters, regulatory networks, ecological roles, and biosafety constraints relevant to biocontrol. Major metabolite classes, including polyketides, terpenoids, peptaibols, siderophores, diketopiperazines, and volatile organic compounds, are discussed together with representative case studies for which genetic and functional evidence is available. We further propose a translational framework to distinguish metabolites with mainly descriptive support from those approaching application readiness, based on four criteria: gene-level validation, demonstrated ecological role, manageable biosafety profile, and feasible delivery/stability. This perspective helps explain why metabolite inventories continue to expand faster than field translation. Recent advances in genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, genome editing, and formulation science are reshaping how Trichoderma metabolites are prioritized for future development.

Biosafety↗
PubMed2026

The chemical landscape of plant surface metabolites: Acylsugars as models of ecological function and structural diversity.

Plants produce a multifunctional assortment of specialized metabolites that play important roles in defense, environmental adaptation, and ecological interactions. Among these compounds, acylsugars, nonvolatile metabolites produced primarily in glandular trichomes of Solanaceae species, have emerged as informative model systems for understanding plant surface chemistry. Differences in acyl chain length, branching pattern, saturation, and attachment position generate extensive chemical diversity that influences herbivore deterrence, pathogen resistance, and the physicochemical properties of leaf surfaces. Recent advances in analytical chemistry, particularly liquid chromatography-ion mobility-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-IM-MS/MS), have greatly improved the ability to separate structurally related acylsugar isomers and characterize metabolite complexity at high resolution. When integrated with genomics, transcriptomics, and emerging spatial metabolomics approaches, these analytical tools provide new insights into acylsugar biosynthesis, pathway regulation, evolutionary diversification, and ecological function across plant species. This review positions acylsugars, particularly those of Solanum species, as model systems for understanding how structural diversity, spatial localization, and specialized metabolism shape ecological and physiological function at plant surfaces. We examine acylsugar structural diversity, biosynthetic pathways, ecological and physiological functions, and interactions with environmental and atmospheric processes. Major challenges, including extensive isomeric complexity, incomplete pathway characterization, and difficulties linking chemical structure to biological function, are discussed alongside emerging opportunities in integrative omics, crop improvement, sustainable pest management, and environmental monitoring. Overall, acylsugars provide a powerful model for linking molecular structure, spatial localization, and ecological function, offering broader insight into how specialized metabolism shapes plant adaptation, defense, and environmental interactions.

Acylsugars↗
PubMed1992

Evolution of ecological differences in the Old World leaf warblers.

Sympatric species that belong to the same ecological guild usually differ in their behaviour and morphology, and these differences are often interpreted as adaptations to having to make use of different resources. Evidence supporting this interpretation comes from association between ecology and morphology among species, in which an a priori functional relationship is reasonable. But one problem with such comparisons is that members of a guild may be closely related, so the more closely related species can share a greater similarity in their morphology and ecology simply as a result of the lingering legacy of a common ancestor. In principle, the importance of historical legacy can be evaluated from phylogenetic relationships and times since divergence for all species, but this is rarely possible because these data are not available. Here we use a phylogeny for eight sympatric species of warbler in the genus Phylloscopus, based on their mitochondrial DNA sequences, to remove the effects of historical legacy. Without these effects, we find strong support for adaptive interpretations of among-species variation in habitat selection, prey-size choice and feeding method. Ecological variation along any of these three niche axes is associated with predictable morphological variation. We also find evidence for historical legacy in that more closely related species are often more similar behaviourally and morphologically. This paradoxical result can be reconciled because the most closely related species tend to differ along only one niche axis, habitat choice. In contrast, the evolution of prey-size choice and feeding method occurred rapidly and early in the diversification of this group. Once a new ecological zone was occupied, subsequent morphological change along these niche axes was limited, accounting for the similarity of closely related species.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2026

From sequence space to ecological function: microbiome-derived antimicrobial peptides as community effectors and therapeutic leads.

Antimicrobial peptide research has long centred on host defence molecules, yet microbiomes themselves encode a diverse and increasingly important repertoire of peptide-based antimicrobials. These microbiome-derived antimicrobial peptides include bacteriocins, ribosomally synthesised and post-translationally modified peptides, cryptic short open reading frame-encoded peptides, embedded antimicrobial regions within larger proteins, and selected peptide antibiotics recovered from human, animal, plant and environmental microbiomes. Recent advances in genome mining, metagenomics, and machine learning have greatly expanded the scale of discovery, moving the field from a handful of landmark exemplars to large candidate catalogues spanning the global microbiome. In the clearest cases, these molecules are not only anti-infective leads but ecological effectors: they mediate microbial competition, enforce colonisation resistance, and influence community structure within densely occupied niches. The present review synthesises the field across discovery classes, microbiome sources, ecological roles, and translational bottlenecks, emphasizing a central limitation of the field: candidate catalogues are expanding at extraordinary scale, while evidence for native expression, producer assignment, ecological function, and in vivo relevance remains limited for the vast majority of predicted molecules. Progress will depend on workflows that connect sequence level prediction to biological context through expression support, producer assignment, community level validation, and perturbation-based approaches that distinguish ecological association from causal function. Microbiome-derived antimicrobial peptides are best understood not only as promising therapeutic leads, but also as molecular mediators of microbial social life whose ecological origins are central to their interpretation and future application.

Microbiota↗
PubMed2026

Concurrent ecological and evolutionary processes contribute to mutualism breakdown between legumes and rhizobia.

Though they jointly shape community responses to environmental perturbations, ecology and evolution are often examined separately, even in microorganisms where both occur over short timescales. Here we examine ecological and evolutionary responses to 33 years of nitrogen fertilization using the legume-rhizobium mutualism. Pairing a manipulative inoculation study with full-length 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and structural equation modeling allows us to synthesize across biological scales: whole bacterial community, genus Rhizobium, Rhizobium ASVs, and symbiosis plasmids. Clover's preferred partner decreases in N-addition soils, limiting host growth, while a diverse and largely uncharacterized Rhizobium community increases. This ecological change is compounded by a concurrent evolutionary degradation of symbiont partner quality via changing frequencies of symbiotic plasmids. Ecological (rarer symbionts) and evolutionary (inferior symbionts) processes each accounted for roughly half of this loss of host benefit, revealing that ecology and evolution jointly shape mutualism breakdown over the short timescales typical of microbial systems.

ecology↗
PubMed1976

Nutritional determinants of the ecology of the oral flora.

Consideration of nutritional factors as determinants of oral microbial ecology leads to the conclusion that endogenous factors play a dominant role. It is the interactions between specific microorganisms and nutritional and other factors provided by the host that selectively determine the kinds of microorganisms which willinitially reside in the oral cavity and the sites which they will colonize. The persistence of these original "colonists" in their respective ecologic niches will depend in part on the accessibility of endogenous nutrients variously provided by saliva, tissue exudates, crevicular fluids, or degenerating host cells. It will also depend on their response to and interaction with microorganisms which immigrate to that site subsequently. The microbial ecology of a given site is therefore rarely uncomplicated, the notable exception occurring at the most microscopic level where one may encounter microcolonies of individual species within more heterogenous populations of microorganisms. The extent of this heterogeneity quantitatively and qualitatively is a reflection of the degree to which the interactions between the resident flora and the new arrivals, plus the local environmental changes which they both generate, serve to promote or to discourage the survival and growth of the individual species. This element of heterogeneity in a dynamic system with its inherent potential for variation makes it possible for relatively minor changes in local environmental conditions to result in significant differences in the microflora between one site and another even though they may be in close proximity to each other. Once this concept is appreciated it becomes easy to understand how disease processes such as dental caries may affect specific areas of a tooth while nearby areas are unaffected. The effects of exogenous nutrients on the ecology of the oral microbiota, nevertheless cannot be ignored. The diet may modulate such endogenous factors as the salivary secretions and the local resistance of the gingival tissues to infections. Although at our present state of knowledge the direct influence of dietary proteins and fats on the oral microbiota is thought to be of relatively minor consequence, dietary carbohydrates are of major ecological significance. Dietary sugars provide readily available substrates for the oral microorganisms, most of which depend on carbohydrates for energy sources. The metabolism of dietary sucrose by S. sanguis and S. mutans with the productions of acids and intracellular and extracellular polysaccharides has specific influence on the microbial composition, metabolic activities, and mass of coronal plaque. The ready availability of dietary carbohydrates undoubtedly influences the microflora of other parts of the oral cavity as well, eic species or indirectly through the interactions of other organisms with them...

Adhesiveness↗
PubMed1992

[The "Lifecare Concept" of "ecological cancer prevention". Report No. 29].

The Lifecare concept of ecological cancer prevention is summarized in the Lifecare Fitness Checkup and contains: Lifecare questionnaire, Lifecare age test using Vincent's bioelectronic method. Lifecare reform programme according to Kousmine and a whole food, fresh fruit and vegetable diet in accordance with the nutritional pyramid, personal health counselling based on the Lifecare philosophy and ecological holistic medicine. Subjects are tested and supervised by a Lifecare doctor who has been admitted to the Lifecare Association. Only the prophylactic Lifecare testing and supervising would require roughly one physician per 1000 subjects. In 1982, the equipment costs were DM 13,000.- and the test DM 150.-. The Lifecare Association was founded as a non-profit organization in 1986 with its headquarters in Zurich. Mrs. T. Büchi-von Arx is the initiator of the Lifecare Association, Dr. Lietha is founding president, and the current president is Dr. M. Vogel, Lugano. The main promotors are named as Dr. h.c. A. Vogel and Bioforce Ltd. The association promotes a Lifecare philosophy on the basis of ecological holistic medicine, which itself is based on the terrain theory. It is maintained that the cause of degenerative diseases such as cancer and rheumatism is an alteration in the terrain brought about by over-acidification of the tissue resulting from metabolic disturbances. Vincent's bioelectronic test supposedly enables changes in the terrain to be detected even before the subject becomes manifestly ill. The aim is to exclude ecological toxins. Apparently the terrain can be normalized by a diet rich in vital substances. No scientific investigations are available on the hypothetical Lifecare concept of ecological cancer prevention.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Diet↗