Forêt Méditerranéenne

Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) is a major forest tree species in south-western Europe. In France, an advanced breeding program for this conifer species has been underway since the early 1960s. Openpollinated seed orchards currently supply more than 90% of maritime pine seedlings for plantation forestry. However, little is known about pollen contamination and mating structure in such seed orchards for maritime pine. We analyzed these features here, focusing on: i) the location of the seed orchard, ii) the year of pollination, and iii) the genotype of the tree from which seeds were collected. Parental analyses based on an optimized set of 60 SNP markers were performed on 2,552 seedlings with Cervus software (likelihood inference methodology). Pollen contamination rates were highly variable between seed lots (from 20 to 96%), with a mean value of 50%. Several interpretative factors were highlighted, including the distance between the seed orchard and external pollen sources, rain during the pollination period, seed orchard age, soil characteristics and seed parent identity. All parental genotypes contributed to the offspring as pollen parents, but differences in paternal reproductive success were detected. These differences were only partly explained by differences in the number of ramets of each parental genotype deployed in each seed orchard. Finally, the overall self-fertilization rate was estimated at 5.4%, with considerable variability between genotypes. These findings are useful to formulate recommendations for seed orchard management and for identifying new research perspectives. .

Editorial of a special issue of Neobiota on "Conceptual and technical innovations to better manage invasions of alien pests and pathogens in forests"

Environmental policies, including the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), generally rely on the measurement of indicators to assess the good environmental status (GES) and ensure the protection of marine ecosystems. However, depending on available scientific knowledge and monitoring programs in place, quantitative GES assessments are not always feasible. This is specifically the case for marine turtle species, which are listed under the Biodiversity Descriptor of the MSFD. Relying on an expert consultation, the goal of this study was to develop indicators and a common assessment approach to be employed by European Union Member States to evaluate the status of marine turtle populations in the frame of the MSFD. A dedicated international expert group was created to explore and test potential assessment approaches, in coherence with other environmental policies (i.e. Habitats Directive, OSPAR and Barcelona Conventions). Following a series of workshops, the group provided recommendations for the GES assessment of marine turtles. In particular, indicators and assessment methods were defined, setting a solid basis for future MSFD assessments. Although knowledge gaps remain, data requirements identified in this study will guide future data collection initiatives and inform monitoring programs implemented by EU Member States. Overall this study highlights the value of international collaboration for the conservation of vulnerable species, such as marine turtles.

Fishing professionals in Normandy and Hauts-de-France have initiated the IPREM project (Impact des engins de Pêche sur les fonds marins et la Résilience Ecologique du Milieu) with the aim of conducting a bibliographic review of the impact of towed gear in contact with the seabed on benthic communities and habitats, specific to the waters of the Channel. The fishing gears considered are the dredge (DRB), otter trawl (OTB), beam trawl (TBB) and Scottish and Danish seines (SSC and SDN respectively). To characterize the impact on the habitats, the fishing effort to which each habitat is subjected and their sensitivity were considered. The most impacted habitat is offshore circalittoral sand, followed by offshore circalittoral coarse sediment, circalittoral sand and circalittoral coarse sediment. The fact that the Channel is a sea with strong hydrodynamics may confer a stronger resistance to the benthic communities present. This could explain why, over the years, no major changes in habitats have been observed. However, it must be taken into account that the Channel is a highly anthropized sea that has been intensively fished for decades. The communities present reflect the species assemblages that have been able to resist this high fishing pressure. Measures to reduce the impact are nevertheless necessary and must be supported by scientific work taking into account the interests and needs of fishing professionals.

Abstract BackgroundChest CT (CT) is the reference for assessing pulmonary injury in suspected or diagnosed COVID-19 with signs of clinical severity. We explored the role of lung ultrasonography (LU) in quickly assessing lung status in these patients.MethodseChoVid is a multicentric study based on routinely collected data, conducted in 3 emergency units of Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP); 107 patients were included between March 19, 2020 and April 01, 2020 and underwent LU, a short clinical assessment by 2 emergency physicians blinded to each other’s and a CT. LU consisted of scoring lesions in 8 chest zones from 0 to 3, defining a severity global score (GS) ranging from 0 to 24. CT severity score ranged from 0 to 3 according to the extent of interstitial pneumonia signs. 48 patients underwent LU by both an expert and a newly trained physician.FindingsThe GS showed good performance to predict CT severity assessment of COVID-19 as normal versus pathologic: AUC=0.93, maximal Youden index 1 with 95% sensitivity, and 83% specificity. Similar performance was found for CT assessment as normal or minimal versus moderate or severe (n=90): AUC 0.89, maximal Youden index 7 with 86% sensitivity, and 78% specificity. Good agreement was found for zone scoring assessed by new trainee (30mn theory + 30mn practice) and expert (n=14,14*8 checkpoints), weighted kappa 0.85-1; moderate agreement was found for new trainee (n=48, 30mn theory) and expert, kappa 0.62-0.81.InterpretationGS score is a simple tool to assess lung damage severity in patients with suspected or diagnosed COVID-19. Comparing the performance of new trainees and expert physicians opens a path for adoption beyond the scope of experts. LU is a good candidate for patients triage, especially in case of CT availability issues.

L’acidose métabolique est un trouble fréquemment rencontré en médecine d’urgence et en médecine intensive réanimation. La littérature s’étant enrichie de nouvelles données concernant la prise en charge de l’acidose métabolique, la Société de Réanimation de Langue Française (SRLF) et la Société Française de Médecine d’Urgence (SFMU) ont élaboré des recommandations formalisées d’experts selon la méthodologie GRADE. Les champs de la stratégie diagnostique, de l’orientation et de la prise en charge thérapeutique ont été traités et vingt-neuf recommandations ont été formulées : quatre recommandations fortes (Grade 1), dix recommandations faibles (Grade 2) et quinze avis d’experts. Toutes ont obtenu un accord fort. L’application des méthodes d’Henderson-Hasselbalch et de Stewart pour le diagnostic du mécanisme de l’acidose métabolique est discutée et un algorithme diagnostique est proposé. L’utilisation de la cétonémie et des lactatémies veineuse et capillaire est également traitée. L’intérêt du pH, de la lactatémie et de sa cinétique pour l’orientation des patients en pré-hospitalier et aux urgences est envisagé. Enfin, les modalités de l’insulinothérapie au cours de l’acidocétose diabétique, les indications de la perfusion de bicarbonate de sodium et de l’épuration extra-rénale ainsi que les modalités de la ventilation mécanique au cours des acidoses métaboliques sévères sont traitées dans la prise en charge thérapeutique.

Key messageThe diversity of forest management systems and the contrasted competition level treatments applied make the experimental networks of the GIS Coop, a nationwide testing program in the field of emerging forestry topics within the framework of the ongoing global changes.ContextTo understand the dynamics of forest management systems and build adapted growth models for new forestry practices, long-term experiment networks remain more crucial than ever.AimsTwo principles are at the basis of the experimental design of the networks of the Scientific Interest Group Cooperative for data on forest tree and stand growth (GIS Coop): contrasted and extreme silvicultural treatments in diverse pedoclimatic contexts.MethodsVarious forest management systems are under study: regular and even-aged stands of Douglas fir, sessile and pedunculate oaks, Maritime and Laricio pines, mixed stands of sessile oak, European silver fir, and Douglas fir combined with other species. Highly contrasted stand density regimes, from open growth to self-thinning, are formalized quantitatively.ResultsOne hundred and eighty-five sites representing a total of 1206 plots have been set up in the last 20 years, where trees are measured regularly (every 3 to 10 years). The major outputs of these networks for research and management are the calibration/validation of growth and yield models and the drawing up of forest management guides.ConclusionThe GIS Coop adapts its networks so that they can contribute to develop growth models that explicitly integrate pedoclimatic factors and thus also contribute to research on the sustainability of ecosystems under environmental and socio-economic changes.

Although numerous studies have demonstrated the key role of bacterial diversity in soil functions and ecosystem services, little is known about the variations and determinants of such diversity on a nationwide scale. The overall objectives of this study were i) to describe the bacterial taxonomic richness variations across France, ii) to identify the ecological processes (i.e. selection by the environment and dispersal limitation) influencing this distribution, and iii) to develop a statistical predictive model of soil bacterial richness. We used the French Soil Quality Monitoring Network (RMQS), which covers all of France with 2,173 sites. The soil bacterial richness (i.e. OTU number) was determined by pyrosequencing 16S rRNA genes and related to the soil characteristics, climatic conditions, geomorphology, land use and space. Mapping of bacterial richness revealed a heterogeneous spatial distribution, structured into patches of about 111km, where the main drivers were the soil physico-chemical properties (18% of explained variance), the spatial descriptors (5.25%, 1.89% and 1.02% for the fine, medium and coarse scales, respectively), and the land use (1.4%). Based on these drivers, a predictive model was developed, which allows a good prediction of the bacterial richness (R2adj of 0.56) and provides a reference value for a given pedoclimatic condition.