Dataset Information

Thirty-year recovery of mollusc communities after nuclear experimentations on Fangataufa atoll (Tuamotu, French Polynesia).

ABSTRACT: A 30-year study of temporal changes in gastropod community structure on the reefs of a Pacific Ocean atoll (Fangataufa, Tuamotu Archipelago) subjected to atmospheric nuclear tests during the 1960s offered the opportunity for an otherwise impossible field experiment that could help ecologists understand mollusc primary succession. Reef molluscs were partly or entirely wiped out by the heat of the nuclear tests and the reefs were recolonized by ocean larvae. On all reefs, community composition before the tests was very different from what it evolved to afterwards. A new method of analysis was developed to study the temporal variation in community composition before versus after the tests (temporal beta diversity). Analyses showed that community compositions diverged through time among the reefs. Only some species can survive the harsh conditions of supralittoral zones, so the same species recolonized them; environmental filtering controlled the development of the new communities. In the reef flat and edge zones, differences in community composition seem to be the result of neutral stochastic colonization by larvae coming from the open ocean. All reefs developed a community composition quite different from that before the nuclear tests.

SUBMITTER: Legendre P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4590484 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Thirty-year recovery of mollusc communities after nuclear experimentations on Fangataufa atoll (Tuamotu, French Polynesia).

Legendre Pierre P Salvat Bernard B

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20150701 1810

A 30-year study of temporal changes in gastropod community structure on the reefs of a Pacific Ocean atoll (Fangataufa, Tuamotu Archipelago) subjected to atmospheric nuclear tests during the 1960s offered the opportunity for an otherwise impossible field experiment that could help ecologists understand mollusc primary succession. Reef molluscs were partly or entirely wiped out by the heat of the nuclear tests and the reefs were recolonized by ocean larvae. On all reefs, community composition bef ...[more]

PMID: 26063849

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Project description:BackgroundLeptospirosis is a widespread zoonosis with global impact, particularly among vulnerable populations in resource-poor settings in tropical countries. Rodents have been considered to be the main reservoir of the disease; however, a wide variety of mammals can act as hosts as well. Here we examine the genetic diversity of Leptospira strains from biological samples of patients and animals in French Polynesia (FP) from 2011 to 2019.Methodology/principal findingsFrom 2011 to 2019, we have collected 444 blood samples from patients diagnosed as having leptospirosis. The limited volume of clinical material and low amount of leptospiral DNA in blood samples led us to develop a nested PCR targeting the secY locus that enabled us to amplify and sequence 244 samples (55%). In addition, 20 Leptospira strains recovered from the blood of patients from 2002 to 2011 were sequenced and fully characterized at the serogroup level and used as reference strains for the association of different phylogenetic branches with respective serogroups. The secY sequences were compared with publicly available sequences from patients and animal reservoirs in FP (n = 79). We identified rats as the main source of infection for L. borgpetersenii serogroup Ballum and L. interrogans serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae, dogs as the main source of infection for L. interrogans serogroup Australis, and farm pigs as the main source of infection for L. interrogans serogroups Pomona or Canicola. L. interrogans was associated with the most severe infections with 10 and 5 fatal cases due to serogroups Icterohaemorrhagiae and Australis, respectively. Mortality was significantly associated with older age (p-value < 0.001).Conclusions/significanceWe described the population dynamics of leptospires circulating among patients in FP, including two patients who were reinfected with unrelated Leptospira genotypes, and clarified the local role of the animal reservoirs in the transmission route of leptospirosis to humans. Routine Leptospira genotyping directly on biological samples should allow the epidemiological follow-up of circulating strains and assess the impact of control interventions on disease transmission.

Dataset Information

Thirty-year recovery of mollusc communities after nuclear experimentations on Fangataufa atoll (Tuamotu, French Polynesia).

Publications

Thirty-year recovery of mollusc communities after nuclear experimentations on Fangataufa atoll (Tuamotu, French Polynesia).

Similar Datasets

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