@article{IrobBlaumBaldaufetal.2022,
  author    = {Irob, Katja and Blaum, Niels and Baldauf, Selina and Kerger, Leon and Strohbach, Ben and Kanduvarisa, Angelina and Lohmann, Dirk and Tietjen, Britta},
  title     = {Browsing herbivores improve the state and functioning of savannas},
  series = {Ecology and evolution},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {Ecology and evolution},
  number    = {3},
  publisher = {Wiley},
  address   = {Hoboken},
  issn      = {2045-7758},
  doi       = {10.1002/ece3.8715},
  pages     = {19},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Changing climatic conditions and unsustainable land use are major threats to savannas worldwide. Historically, many African savannas were used intensively for livestock grazing, which contributed to widespread patterns of bush encroachment across savanna systems. To reverse bush encroachment, it has been proposed to change the cattle-dominated land use to one dominated by comparatively specialized browsers and usually native herbivores. However, the consequences for ecosystem properties and processes remain largely unclear. We used the ecohydrological, spatially explicit model EcoHyD to assess the impacts of two contrasting, herbivore land-use strategies on a Namibian savanna: grazer- versus browser-dominated herbivore communities. We varied the densities of grazers and browsers and determined the resulting composition and diversity of the plant community, total vegetation cover, soil moisture, and water use by plants. Our results showed that plant types that are less palatable to herbivores were best adapted to grazing or browsing animals in all simulated densities. Also, plant types that had a competitive advantage under limited water availability were among the dominant ones irrespective of land-use scenario. Overall, the results were in line with our expectations: under high grazer densities, we found heavy bush encroachment and the loss of the perennial grass matrix. Importantly, regardless of the density of browsers, grass cover and plant functional diversity were significantly higher in browsing scenarios. Browsing herbivores increased grass cover, and the higher total cover in turn improved water uptake by plants overall. We concluded that, in contrast to grazing-dominated land-use strategies, land-use strategies dominated by browsing herbivores, even at high herbivore densities, sustain diverse vegetation communities with high cover of perennial grasses, resulting in lower erosion risk and bolstering ecosystem services.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{WeyrichGuerreroAltamiranoYasaretal.2022,
  author    = {Weyrich, Alexandra and Guerrero-Altamirano, Tania P. and Yasar, Selma and Czirjak, G{\´a}bor-{\´A}rp{\´a}d and Wachter, Bettina and Fickel, J{\"o}rns},
  title     = {First Steps towards the development of epigenetic biomarkers in female cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus)},
  series = {Life : open access journal},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {Life : open access journal},
  number    = {6},
  publisher = {MDPI},
  address   = {Basel},
  issn      = {2075-1729},
  doi       = {10.3390/life12060920},
  pages     = {16},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Free-ranging cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are generally healthy, whereas cheetahs under human care, such as those in zoological gardens, suffer from ill-defined infectious and degenerative pathologies. These differences are only partially explained by husbandry management programs because both groups share low genetic diversity. However, mounting evidence suggests that physiological differences between populations in different environments can be tracked down to differences in epigenetic signatures. Here, we identified differentially methylated regions (DMRs) between free-ranging cheetahs and conspecifics in zoological gardens and prospect putative links to pathways relevant to immunity, energy balance and homeostasis. Comparing epigenomic DNA methylation profiles obtained from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from eight free-ranging female cheetahs from Namibia and seven female cheetahs living in zoological gardens within Europe, we identified DMRs of which 22 were hypermethylated and 23 hypomethylated. Hypermethylated regions in cheetahs under human care were located in the promoter region of a gene involved in host-pathogen interactions (KLC1) and in an intron of a transcription factor relevant for the development of pancreatic beta-cells, liver, and kidney (GLIS3). The most canonical mechanism of DNA methylation in promoter regions is assumed to repress gene transcription. Taken together, this could indicate that hypermethylation at the promoter region of KLC1 is involved in the reduced immunity in cheetahs under human care. This approach can be generalized to characterize DNA methylation profiles in larger cheetah populations under human care with a more granular longitudinal data collection, which, in the future, could be used to monitor the early onset of pathologies, and ultimately translate into the development of biomarkers with prophylactic and/or therapeutic potential.},
  language  = {en}
}