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Evolution of the indoor biome
Abstract
Few biologists have studied the evolutionary processes at work in indoor environments. Yet indoor environments comprise approximately 0.5% of ice-free land area - an area as large as the subtropical coniferous forest biome. Here we review the emerging subfield of 'indoor biome' studies. After defining the indoor biome and tracing its deep history, we discuss some of its evolutionary dimensions. We restrict our examples to the species found in human houses - a subset of the environments constituting the indoor biome - and offer preliminary hypotheses to advance the study of indoor evolution. Studies of the indoor biome are situated at the intersection of evolutionary ecology, anthropology, architecture, and human ecology and are well suited for citizen science projects, public outreach, and large-scale international collaborations.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
... Human development has created substantial changes to the environment, and nowhere is that more apparent than in cities and within buildings. Cities and indoor locations have unique biophysical characteristics, and the impact of humans in creating these environments varies based on the natural local environment and social systems (86). Residential parts of cities and indoor environments tend to be drier in mesic regions and wetter in xeric regions (54,86). ...
... Cities and indoor locations have unique biophysical characteristics, and the impact of humans in creating these environments varies based on the natural local environment and social systems (86). Residential parts of cities and indoor environments tend to be drier in mesic regions and wetter in xeric regions (54,86). Urbanization has been shown to influence the hydration of arthropods (91). ...
... Climate change is leading to rapid changes in water availability (34) and increases in temperature that create increasing vapor pressure deficits that desiccate terrestrial arthropods. Human development can also alter water availability and vapor pressure deficits across cities and within buildings (86,104). These factors will have a major impact on the proliferation of both beneficial and pestiferous species. ...
Since the transition from water to land, maintaining water balance has been a key challenge for terrestrial arthropods. We explore factors that allow terrestrial arthropods to survive within a variably dry world and how they shape ecological interactions. Detection of water and hydration is critical for maintaining water content. Efficient regulation of internal water content is accomplished by excretory and osmoregulatory systems that balance water intake and loss. Biochemical and physiological responses are necessary as water content declines to prevent and repair the damage that occurs during dehydration. Desiccation avoidance can occur seasonally or daily via a move to more favorable areas. Dehydration and its avoidance have ecological impacts that extend beyond a single species to alter trophic interactions. As climate changes, evolutionary and ecological processes will be critical to species survival during drought.
Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Entomology, Volume 68 is January 2023. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
... Understanding the climates humans construct in light of human ecology and evolution has relevance not only to understanding why we build homes the way we do (and how we might make more reasoned decisions in the future), but also the climate that we create for other organisms indoors. The indoor biome is one of the most rapidly growing biomes on Earth [35], yet its climatic features have not been well characterized with regards to species ecology, nor have they been compared to other, outdoor climates. Such a comparison is necessary in order to understand which climates we have replicated indoors and which species might be most predisposed, in terms of climate, to live with us in the future, whether wanted or unwanted. ...
... First, the climates we prefer have strong effects on global energy usage and how that usage varies geographically. Second, and perhaps less obviously, in constructing our homes and modulating their climate as an extension of our phenotype (and to some extent culture) we might also recreate specific climates for other organisms, favouring the subset of species that prefer the same climates as we do [35]. ...
... We identified the outdoor location(s) with the most similar climate for each of our study homes (table 2). The indoor climate from the Oregon home, for example, had the smallest observed C and was a close match (C ¼ 0.3812) with a grid cell in Kenya (0.258 N, 35.258 E). ...
Human engineering of the outdoors led to the development of the indoor niche, including home construction. However, it is unlikely that domicile construction mechanics are under direct selection for humans. Nonetheless, our preferences within indoor environments are, or once were, consequential to our fitness. The research of human homes does not usually consider human evolution, and, therefore, we are without previous predictions about indoor climate preference. We worked with citizen scientists to collect indoor climate data from homes (n = 37) across the USA. We then compared these data to recent global terrestrial climate data (0.58 grid cells, n = 67 420) using a climate dissimilarity index. We also compared some climate-related physiological parameters (e.g. Thermoneutral zone (TNZ)) between humans and a selection of non-human primates. On average, our study homes were most similar in climate to the outdoor conditions of west central Kenya. We found that the indoor climates of our study homes largely matched the TNZ of humans and other primates. Overall, we identified the geographical distribution of the global outdoor climate that is most similar to the interiors of our study homes and summarized study home indoor climate preferences.
... [4] https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/mans-best-friend.html [5] ...
... But we can showcase a new one, which may be a glimpse of the future in which houseplants [1] are not only a treat for the eyes -and a boost to our well-being [2,3] -but also act as "functional sirens of home health" [4] . Although the built environment -of which homes are a significant part -only accounts for 0.5% of the livable surface of the Earth [5] , it is the habitat in which most humans live and is recognised as an "evolving microbiome incubator" [5] . Although humans share their homes with a myriad of microbes, some are harmful and implicated in sick house (or building) syndrome, an illness of the built environment [6,7,8] . ...
... But we can showcase a new one, which may be a glimpse of the future in which houseplants [1] are not only a treat for the eyes -and a boost to our well-being [2,3] -but also act as "functional sirens of home health" [4] . Although the built environment -of which homes are a significant part -only accounts for 0.5% of the livable surface of the Earth [5] , it is the habitat in which most humans live and is recognised as an "evolving microbiome incubator" [5] . Although humans share their homes with a myriad of microbes, some are harmful and implicated in sick house (or building) syndrome, an illness of the built environment [6,7,8] . ...
... Whereas seasonal outdoor patterns are buffered within the household environment, at a micro-habitat scale, the temperature and humidity can be as variable as outdoors (Martin et al., 2015). For instance, the temperature behind and underneath electrical devices such as refrigerators is higher than in their surroundings and the relative humidity in the bath room is generally higher than in adjacent rooms. ...
... The transition of arthropods from nature to the human environment already occurred thousands of years ago (Panagiotakopulu, 2004;Wilkinson et al., 2014) and many insects are still indeed found in our houses today. In fact, cockroaches, bed bugs, and silverfish still possess characteristics of cave-dwelling insects such as long antennae, flattened bodies, and low active dispersal capabilities (Martin et al., 2015). Many other species that are found indoors, however, do not have these features but are nonetheless capable of colonizing the household environment. ...
... The development of central heating in buildings, for instance, resulted in year-round problems of bed bugs in the early 1900's (Zhu et al., 2016). The improved energy labels and constant room temperature of modern houses, result in household environments that select for insects preferring warm and dry conditions (Martin et al., 2015), such as the grey silverfish (Schoelitsz et al., in review). ...
Households are mini‐ecosystems that provide a variety of conditions in which a variety of insect species can develop. Whether these insects are considered pests, largely depends on the perception, attitudes, and knowledge of the human inhabitants of the house. If considered unacceptable, residents can attempt to manage the insects themselves, or hire a professional. A pest management professional can provide a quick‐fix solution, often relying on the sole use of insecticides, or a sustainable solution through integrated pest management (IPM). In this review, it is discussed how the public's perception, attitudes, and knowledge affect the implementation of IPM in the household through the following steps: inspection, identification, establishment of a threshold level, pest control, and evaluation of effectiveness. Furthermore, recent and novel developments within the fields of inspection, identification, and pest control that allow to address pest infestations more effectively are described and their implementation in the household environment is discussed. In general, pest management in the household environment is reactive instead of pro‐active. The general public lacks the knowledge of the pest insects’ biology to identify the species, perform a proper inspection and identify causes of pest presence, as well as the knowledge of the available tools for monitoring and pest control. The percentage of individuals that seek professional aid in identification and pest control is relatively low. Moreover, the perception of and attitudes towards household insects generally result in low threshold levels. Current developments of methods for monitoring, identification, and control of insect pests in the household environment are promising, such as DNA barcoding, matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight and RNA interference. Efforts should be strengthened to alter the perception and attitude, and increase the knowledge of the non‐professional stakeholders, so that correct pest management decisions can be taken. The general public lacks the knowledge of the pest insects biology to identify the species, perform a proper inspection, and identify causes of pest presence, and it is unaware of the available tools for monitoring and pest control. Current developments of methods for monitoring, identification, and control of insects pests in the household environment, such as DNA barcoding, matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight and RNAi, are promising; yet, an increase of the perception, attitudes, and knowledge of non‐professionals is needed to make correct pest management decisions.
... Although cockroaches can be allogenic and so cause some medical problems, they are mostly considered nuisance pests (Peterson and Shurdut 1999;Kramer and Brenner 2009). Cockroaches are considered to have moved into human housing from agricultural lands, as urban habitats developed in antiquity in Africa and Asia (Pedigo and Rice 2014), although the evolution of cockroaches (and other organisms) as members of urban communities (and pests) has been little studied (Frankie and Ehler 1978;Schal and Hamilton 1990;McIntyre 2000;Martin et al. 2015). ...
... Second, it is an invasive species and appears to have displaced other urban cockroach species (Cornwell 1976;Stejskal and Verner 1996), however the German cockroach has rarely been considered from an invasion biology perspective. Third, German cockroaches share their living space with humans and other urban adapted species, but they have not been considered in an urban ecology perspective (Martin et al. 2015;Hulme-Beaman et al. 2016). ...
... Three are global, found commonly in temperate and even polar latitudes (Cochran 1999): the American, Oriental and German cockroaches (note all common names from the Entomological Society of America). Their successful spread across the world was, in part, favored by their physiological and behavioral characteristics, and their pre-adaptations to their original habitats (Martin et al. 2015). ...
Most people consider cockroaches to be quintessential urban pests, even though very few of the 5000 cockroach species live in urban areas. The German cockroach is the most widespread and common cockroach in urban areas, however how this invasive species has spread globally is poorly understood. We reviewed the published and grey literatures, and museum data, to document the spread of the German cockroach, and how it may have interacted with other urban cockroach species. We found that the German cockroach likely originated from South Asia, was introduced into Europe no later than the 18th century, from where it invaded worldwide. The spread of the German cockroach was facilitated by the improvement of transportation technologies, especially from colonial trading, and indoor heating in cooler climates. Studies of population genetics have found that once introduced into a new location, the German cockroach spread rapidly through local expansion, and this could be within single (large, multiple-story) buildings. This local expansion resulted in displacement of other urban cockroach species, likely due to their small size requiring fewer resources, shorter generation times and so faster evolution, especially for pesticide resistance. These findings may help to identify new pest management methods. Future research could use genetic tools at larger scales to map distribution routes across the globe and interaction with pesticides and the evolution of resistance.
... Indeed, people in urban life spend most of their time in enclosed buildings designed, built and managed by humans. For instance, in industrialized countries people spend up to 90% of their lifetime indoors, i.e. inside the built environment (BE) [12,13]. The BE can be defined as "man-made structures, features, and facilities viewed collectively as an environment in which people live, work, recreate and travel" [13]. ...
... The BE microbiome and its interactions with human occupants represent a relatively new area of study and a highly interdisciplinary research field. The BE is characterized by a great microbial diversity, as well as a very fluctuating environmental conditions and sharp gradients of physicochemical parameters, which significantly shape the resident microbiomes [12]. Indeed, the composition and function of microbial communities found in the BE as well as their interaction with humans are extraordinarily complex, dynamic, and highly interconnected. ...
The human gastrointestinal tract is inhabited by the largest microbial community within the human body consisting of trillions of microbes called gut microbiota. The normal flora is the site of many physiological functions such as enhancing the host immunity, participating in the nutrient absorption and protecting the body against pathogenic microorganisms. Numerous investigations showed a bidirectional interplay between gut microbiota and many organs within the human body such as the intestines, the lungs, the brain, and the skin. Large body of evidence demonstrated, more than a decade ago, that the gut microbial alteration is a key factor in the pathogenesis of many local and systemic disorders. In this regard, a deep understanding of the mechanisms involved in the gut microbial symbiosis/dysbiosis is crucial for the clinical and health field. We review the most recent studies on the involvement of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of many diseases. We also elaborate the different strategies used to manipulate the gut microbiota in the prevention and treatment of disorders. The future of medicine is strongly related to the quality of our microbiota. Targeting microbiota dysbiosis will be a huge challenge.
... Dwellings are shared with thousands of organisms including parasites, pathogens and house-associated arthropods (Martin et al. 2015;Bertone et al. 2016;Leong et al. 2016;Madden et al. 2016). Research on indoor arthropods focuses mainly on mosquitoes, dust mites and other household pests (Robinson 2005). ...
... The families collected in this study have already been found indoors using other methods (personal communication). The indoor biome can shelter thousands of species including many arthropods (Martin et al. 2015;Bertone et al. 2016). While BLT is more efficient in collecting a large number of species, the larger insects such as Sphingidae or Noctuidae (Lepidoptera), the largest Heteroptera (e.g. ...
Various trapping methods and techniques developed for entomological studies are inefficient in attracting all arthropod groups. A new simple light trap, the basin light trap (BLT), to collect arthropod fauna around household in central Cameroon was thus designed. Its performance is evaluated by comparing collected data with those obtained by the Centre for Disease Control light trap (CDC) commonly used in mosquito studies. BLT were activated between 6 and 10 pm and CDC between 5 pm and 8 am. A total of 36,804 arthropods specimens were collected and sorted into 115 families within 20 orders and three phyla (Myriapoda, Arachnida and Hexapoda). BLT attracted more individuals (22,250 vs 14,554), families (106 vs 65) and significantly more families per night (33.0 +/- 15.9 vs 21.0 +/- 8.5) than CDC. Some families were collected by only one specific trap type while others overlapped between the two traps. Prosopistomatidae (Ephemeroptera) was the most abundant family collected by BLT. In contrast, Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) was the most abundant taxon trapped by CDC. These results indicate that collecting methods such as BLT complement available trapping methods in evaluating arthropod fauna in and around households.
... Dwellings are shared with thousands of organisms including parasites, pathogens and house-associated arthropods (Martin et al. 2015;Bertone et al. 2016;Leong et al. 2016;Madden et al. 2016). Research on indoor arthropods focuses mainly on mosquitoes, dust mites and other household pests (Robinson 2005). ...
... The families collected in this study have already been found indoors using other methods (personal communication). The indoor biome can shelter thousands of species including many arthropods (Martin et al. 2015;Bertone et al. 2016). While BLT is more efficient in collecting a large number of species, the larger insects such as Sphingidae or Noctuidae (Lepidoptera), the largest Heteroptera (e.g. ...
Various trapping methods and techniques developed for entomological studies are inefficient in attracting all arthropod groups. A new simple light trap, the basin light trap (BLT), to collect arthropod fauna around household in central Cameroon was thus designed. Its performance is evaluated by comparing collected data with those obtained by the Centre for Disease Control light trap (CDC) commonly used in mosquito studies. BLT were activated between 6 and 10 pm and CDC between 5 pm and 8 am. A total of 36,804 arthropods specimens were collected and sorted into 115 families within 20 orders and three phyla (Myriapoda, Arachnida and Hexapoda). BLT attracted more individuals (22,250 vs 14,554), families (106 vs 65) and significantly more families per night (33.0 ± 15.9 vs 21.0 ± 8.5) than CDC. Some families were collected by only one specific trap type while others overlapped between the two traps. Prosopistomatidae (Ephemeroptera) was the most abundant family collected by BLT. In contrast, Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) was the most abundant taxon trapped by CDC. These results indicate that collecting methods such as BLT complement available trapping methods in evaluating arthropod fauna in and around households.
... Human ecology is concerned with the coevolution of complex cultural-economictechnological systems and physical-chemical-living systems, and the effects of their often-unpredictable emergent properties on the health of humans and ecosystems (Dyball & Newell, 2014). Much of the current literature in the field of human ecology is focused on macroscale interactions between human societies and regional or global environmental conditions, while dedicating relatively less attention to microscale (or indoor) ecosystems. 2 As such, this paper proposes that the microecology of the indoors warrants greater attention, particularly as it is now considered not only the fastest growing biome on Earth, but also an increasingly significant source of human and environmental health hazards (Martin et al., 2015). Air pollution in the home is now ranked the ninth largest Global Burden of Disease risk (Forouzanfar et al., 2015). ...
... The design of domestic objects, homes, and the use of antibacterial products have all been associated with declining microbial diversity in homes (Dunn et al., 2013;Flores et al., 2013;Rintala et al., 2008). For example, the use of chemically treated finishing such as antimicrobial paint, chemical cleaning products, and home designs that restrict airflow between the indoors and outdoors can all contribute to a decrease in microbial diversity, potentially encouraging more resistant microbial species to thrive and colonize (Adams et al., 2016;Martin et al., 2015;Meadow et al., 2014). ...
Recent research suggests that the greatest threat to children’s health from home environments across much of the industrialized world may no longer be pathogenic microbes, but impoverished microbial communities and the chemicals used in everyday products, including those for cleaning. This paper proposes that concepts of hygiene should be updated, given this reorientation of harm. However, little research has been conducted, which a) integrates knowledge from the diverse disciplinary fields concerned with indoor environments (such as microbiology, chemistry, and design), and b) examines how individuals conceptualize and enact hygiene to create healthier indoor environments for their families, including the extent to which their practices achieve this. To gain insight into factors influencing how hygiene is enacted in the home, as well as the consequent effects on the composition of indoor environments, it is necessary to transgress traditional disciplinary approaches to investigate indoor environmental health and integrate knowledge from experts and lay people who inhabit these spaces. To do this, recent scientific and design literature addressing key determinants of environmental health in homes are consulted. This is combined with qualitative research into the ways in which parents define, perform, and measure hygiene within domestic spaces. The data collected concerns homes in Sydney, Australia, with the findings showing that common hygiene practices with potentially harmful outcomes often emerge from compromises between competing priorities within complexes of home practices. Factors influencing the dynamics that determine which activities are prioritized and how they are performed are dually highlighted. Some notable factors include confusion and uncertainty associated with the sensory proxies used to determine cleanliness and risk of harm, increased sensitivity to the potential presence of microbes over other potentially harmful microspecies, and the health histories and experiences of parents and children.
... While many animals are negatively influenced by cities (Fattorini, 2011;Reis et al., 2012), some animals adapt to urban habitats and thrive in cities (Maklakov et al., 2011;Bateman and Fleming, 2012). Other species, such as those living inside buildings, are probably preadapted to such lifestyle, explaining their success (Martin et al., 2015). Cities do not only pose stress on animals, but may improve their conditions, by offering more available water, food and shelter (Davies, 1977;Bateman and Fleming, 2012). ...
... We suggest that the city provides large areas suitable for wormlions, and that wormlions are pre-adapted to city life. Such shelters provide protection from direct sun, wind, rain and predators also to other animals (Frankie and Ehler, 1978;Bateman and Fleming, 2012;Martin et al., 2015). Bare soil was also abundant in the urban habitat, which wormlions require to construct pits. ...
Wormlions are fly larvae that construct pit-traps in loose soil and ambush prey that fall into their pits. They occur in high numbers in cities, below any man-made shelter providing protection from direct sunlight, such as a concrete roof with a thin layer of sand at the ground. Their natural habitat is either caves or any natural structure that provides full shade. We characterized a large urban habitat and compared it to two natural habitats, where wormlions occur in caves. Wormlions were abundant in all studied habitats. Our goals were to understand whether wormlions in the urban habitat perform better than in the natural habitats, and to suggest differences between the habitats that may contribute to their success under man-made shelters. Wormlions in the city reached larger size before pupation, and wormlion clusters there were larger. The studied urban habitat contained more concrete and perennial plants, while the natural habitats comprised of more annuals. We suggest that this concrete, covered with a thin layer of sand, leads to large areas suitable for wormlions. Furthermore, ants were more common in the urban habitat than the natural habitats, referring to their relative proportion of all arthropods collected. We suggest that these small ants provide suitable prey for wormlions, especially in the early stages of their development, when wormlions are limited by prey size. This could explain why they reach larger size prior to pupation. Pits were probably larger because they were constructed by larger individuals. In conclusion, we suggest that wormlions present an interesting case of an insect pre-adapted to urban life.
... There are multiple studies reflecting on the way someone's lifestyle impacts one's identity and lived experiences. These studies are at the intersection of social and cultural studies, humanistic geography, evolutionary ecology, anthropology, art and architecture (Alahdadi, 2018;Avci et al., 2017;Kunz, 2016;Martin et al., 2015;Cotton, 2015;Mathur, 2011;Cresswell, 2006;Relph, 1977). Building on Edward Relph's existential insideness and outsideness, people and entities that are very much in place, in a specific location or architectural environment, they may think and feel themselves outside of them and vice versa. ...
The project Architectura Transtopica: Totems of a Journeyman argues in favour of using and interpreting fixed architectural structures as metaphors and symbols of expatriation. The primary inquiry of this paper is to consider how autobiographic re-enactments of lived experiences with architecture, triggered by non-country specific places, illustrate one’s life journey. Building on studies that are at the intersection of social and cultural studies, humanistic geography, evolutionary ecology, anthropology, art and architecture (Alahdadi, 2018; Avci et al., 2017; Kunz, 2016; Martin et al., 2015; Cotton, 2015; Mathur, 2011; Cresswell, 2006; Relph, 1977), I argue here that producing creative parallels of expatriation and the self in transience through fixed structures involves a concrete representational framework. In what follows, I offer insights on the conceptual fabrication, representational framework, and expanded photographic practices I followed for the completion of Architectura Transtopica. Drawing from practice and theory concepts synthetically, I present visual examples, complimented with an analysis on how fixed architectural structures can become emblematic in order to communicate the intricacies of expatriation and selfhood facing the self in transience.
... majority of their lives indoors [21], which significantly moderates their microbial exposures. Typical indoor environments include more human-associated taxa than outdoor environments [22][23][24][25] due to constant microbial shedding by building occupants [26] and filtering of outdoor microbiota by building envelopes and air filtration systems. This situation has prompted experiments with other means of increasing exposure to soil-and plant-associated microbiomes [27]. ...
Background
Plants are found in a large percentage of indoor environments, yet the potential for bacteria associated with indoor plant leaves and soil to colonize human skin remains unclear. We report results of experiments in a controlled climate chamber to characterize bacterial communities inhabiting the substrates and leaves of five indoor plant species, and quantify microbial transfer dynamics and residence times on human skin following simulated touch contact events. Controlled bacterial propagule transfer events with soil and leaf donors were applied to the arms of human occupants and repeatedly measured over a 24-h period using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.
Results
Substrate samples had greater biomass and alpha diversity compared to leaves and baseline skin bacterial communities, as well as dissimilar taxonomic compositions. Despite these differences in donor community diversity and biomass, we observed repeatable patterns in the dynamics of transfer events. Recipient human skin bacterial communities increased in alpha diversity and became more similar to donor communities, an effect which, for soil contact only, persisted for at least 24 h. Washing with soap and water effectively returned communities to their pre-perturbed state, although some abundant soil taxa resisted removal through washing.
Conclusions
This study represents an initial characterization of bacterial relationships between humans and indoor plants, which represent a potentially valuable element of biodiversity in the built environment. Although environmental microbiota are unlikely to permanently colonize skin following a single contact event, repeated or continuous exposures to indoor biodiversity may be increasingly relevant for the functioning and diversity of the human microbiome as urbanization continues.
... Importantly, differences in malaria infectivity and transmissibility throughout the circadian cycle will need to be examined to fully assess how altered temporal interactions between mosquito and their hosts affects pathogen transfer (Prior et al., 2020;Schneider et al., 2018). Although this has been observed in An. funestus, changes in human behaviour, such as increased movement into the indoor biome (window screen, air conditioning, drier conditions) (Martin et al., 2015), likely limit access to certain blood-feeding insects (e.g., night biting mosquitoes) while increasing access for others (e.g., bed-and kissing bugs; (Benoit, 2018;Meireles-Filho and Kyriacou, 2013;Romero et al., 2010)), which will shift exposure to specific vector-borne pathogens. ...
... The built environment represents a major source of microbial encounters, especially in the urban setting. Indoor environments harbor unique microbial ecosystems, which have been suggested to have a direct impact on human health (Berg et al., 2014;Martin et al., 2015;Shan et al., 2019). Exposure to a diverse microbial environment during early life has been often linked with protection against allergic diseases, in particular in the farming context (Ege et al., 2011). ...
The indoors is where many humans spend most of their time, and are strongly exposed to indoor microbiota, which may have multifaceted effects on health. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the determinants of indoor microbiota is necessary. We collected dust samples from 295 homes of families with young children in the Helsinki region of Finland and analyzed the bacterial and fungal composition based on the 16S rRNA and ITS DNA sequences. Microbial profiles were combined with extensive survey data on family structure, daily life, and physical characteristics of the home, as well as additional external environmental information, such as land use, and vegetational biodiversity near the home. Using permutational multivariate analysis of variance we explained 18% of the variation of the relative abundance between samples within bacterial composition, and 17% of the fungal composition with the explanatory variables. The fungal community was dominated by the phyla Basidiomycota, and Ascomycota; the bacterial phyla Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria, and Actinobacteria were dominant. The presence of dogs, multiple children, and firewood were significantly associated with both the fungal and bacterial composition. Additionally, fungal communities were associated with land use, biodiversity in the area, and the type of building, while bacterial communities were associated with the human inhabitants and cleaning practices. A distinction emerged between members of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, Ascomycota being more abundant in homes with greater surrounding natural environment, and potential contact with the environment. The results suggest that the fungal composition is strongly dependent on the transport of outdoor environmental fungi into homes, while bacteria are largely derived from the inhabitants.
... Most of the~600 described species found worldwide live in hot and dry natural habitats; only a small number of Zygentoma are found inside buildings as a synanthropic species. The common silverfish (Lepisma saccharinum Linnaeus, 1758) is commonly identified in humid rooms, such as bathrooms and basements, and it may have been associated with humans and the indoor biome for a long time [2]. ...
Ctenolepisma calvum was first described in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in 1910, and this island is probably the origin of this species. Later, it was also found in the Caribbean (Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago). Up until the present, it has only been identified within buildings (a synanthropic species), and its natural habitat is unknown. In 2007, it was discovered in Germany and was considered a neobiotic species of Lepismatidae in Europe. It has rapidly spread throughout Europe and beyond in recent years. This led us to analyze the available data of the first occurrences in Germany, Austria, and other European countries. Furthermore, we compared the spread inside of museums in Vienna (Austria) and Berlin (Germany). These museums have been monitored for a long period with sticky traps, representing the best source of information on the dispersion dynamics of Ctenolepisma calvum. We found a scattered occurrence of this species in 18 countries in Europe (including Russia and Ukraine). The first record for Poland has not previously been published; however, this species has been present there since 2014. Surprisingly, it was found in Hungary in 2003, but a record was only published online in 2021. Additionally, in Germany and Austria, where most data are available, the spread of the species does not follow any clear pattern. In museums in Berlin, the species has only been found in one location. In contrast, the species rapidly spread in museums in Vienna between 2014 and 2021, from four to 30 locations, and it is now a well-established species with occasional high abundance. We examined the spread of the species at three spatial scales: (i) Europe, (ii) national, and (iii) regional. Our observations indicate that it is possibly distributed with materials (packaging material, hygiene articles, paper, cardboard, and collection items). Little is yet known about the biology of this introduced pest. We describe its preferred habitat within buildings, its climate requirements, and its potential to act as a new museum pest in Central Europe. This species seems to thrive at room temperature in buildings. Further impact on the species due to climate change in the future is also discussed. We offer a simple morphological key and a detailed identification table to help correct species identification.
... The built environment (BE) encompasses all the environments that humans have constructed, including buildings, cars, public transport, and other human-built spaces, as well as DWTPs and DWDSs [39,40]. ...
Microbial communities interact with us and affect our health in ways that are only beginning to be understood. Microorganisms have been detected in every ecosystem on Earth, as well as in any built environment that has been investigated. Drinking water sources, drinking water treatment plants and distribution systems provide peculiar microbial ecological niches, dismantling the belief of the “biological simplicity” of drinking water. Nevertheless, drinking water microbiomes are understudied compared to other microbiomes. Recent DNA sequencing and meta-omics advancements allow a deeper understanding of drinking water microbiota. Thus, moving beyond the limits of day-to-day testing for specific pathogenic microbes, new approaches aim at predicting microbiome changes driven by disturbances at the macro-scale and overtime. This will foster an effective and proactive management of water sources, improving the drinking water supply system and the monitoring activities to lower public health risk. Here, we want to give a new angle on drinking water microbiome research. Starting from a selection of 231 scientific publications on this topic, we emphasize the value of biodiversity in drinking water ecosystems and how it can be related with industrialization. We then discuss how microbiome research can support sustainable drinking water management, encouraging collaborations across sectors and involving the society through responsible research and innovation.
... Thousands of microbial species are living in the indoor biome (Martin et al. 2015). They are brought inside through humans, food, clothes, and pets, and are also spread by insects, through water or air (Gilbert and Stephens 2018;Kelley and Gilbert 2013;Prussin et al. 2015). ...
Kitchen sponges are particularly well known to harbor a high number and diversity of bacteria, including pathogens. Viruses, archaea, and eukaryotes in kitchen sponges, however, have not been examined in detail so far. To increase knowledge on the non-bacterial kitchen sponge microbiota and its potential hygienic relevance, we investigated five used kitchen sponges by means of metagenomic shot-gun sequencing. Viral particles were sought to be enriched by a filter step during DNA extraction from the sponges. Data analysis revealed that ~ 2% of the sequences could be assigned to non-bacterial taxa. Each sponge harbored different virus (phage) species, while the present archaea were predominantly affiliated with halophilic taxa. Among the eukaryotic taxa, besides harmless algae, or amoebas, mainly DNA from food-left-overs was found. The presented work offers new insights into the complex microbiota of used kitchen sponges and contributes to a better understanding of their hygienic relevance.
... This scenario thus offers a paradigm shift in the way we set out to control mosquito vectors and the diseases they transmit by relying on long-term risk-mitigation of pathogen transmission, rather than short-term mosquito elimination. It is time to take care of our Mosquitome and recognize our duties in husbanding this highly specific evolutionary branch of biodiversity (Martin et al., 2015;Johnson & Munshi-South, 2017). We should strive to increase extrinsic vector mortality in cities through every means, work to (re)install mosquito biological enemies such as predators, competitors and pathogens, design effective late-life-acting control tools and chemicals that shorten mosquito lifespan while preserving lifelong fecundity, and monitor the infrastructure of our neighbourhoods and water-management systems in order to limit breeding opportunities. ...
The emergence and rapid spread of resistance to chemical insecticides in all major mosquito vectors during the last 30 years is an emblematic evolutionary step in these mosquitoes adapting to human-made environments. Insecticide resistance seriously jeopardizes recent public health success in controlling malaria around the world, as well as significantly hindering any preventive or reactive interventions against highly adaptable mosquitoes, such as Aedes. This chapter argues that it is time for a paradigm shift from aggressive vector control to biologically lucid and evolutionally sound vector population management aimed at shrinking the ecological niche for pathogen transmission to prevent emergence and spread in human populations. Identifying a "Mosquitome", which is the group of mosquito species attracted to and dependent on humans, while applying the principles of evolutionary biology to the control of mosquito-borne pathogens, can suggest novel opportunities and hidden evolutionary feedbacks that will result in mosquitoes helping us combat the diseases they transmit.
... This scenario thus offers a paradigm shift in the way we set out to control mosquito vectors and the diseases they transmit by relying on long-term risk-mitigation of pathogen transmission, rather than short-term mosquito elimination. It is time to take care of our Mosquitome and recognize our duties in husbanding this highly specific evolutionary branch of biodiversity (Martin et al., 2015;Johnson & Munshi-South, 2017). We should strive to increase extrinsic vector mortality in cities through every means, work to (re)install mosquito biological enemies such as predators, competitors and pathogens, design effective late-life-acting control tools and chemicals that shorten mosquito lifespan while preserving lifelong fecundity, and monitor the infrastructure of our neighbourhoods and water-management systems in order to limit breeding opportunities. ...
... Similar to natural karst formations, much human-made subterranean space creates a protected, buffered habitat that is relatively or completely dark, and rarely disturbed by environmental fluctuations or human activity (Fig. 2). Rough parallels to cavernicolous habitats can also be found in smaller-scale buildings, such as residential basements, or even above ground in larger structures, such as the interstitial space between floors or the vertical passages of elevator shafts and chases for plumbing and wires (Hartnack 1943, Martin et al. 2015, Bertone et al. 2016, Leong et al. 2017). However, the most extensive and sustainable populations of synanthropic, hypogean species tend to occur in the deep infrastructure of urban core areas. ...
... The built environment (BE) plays host to a diverse assemblage of microorganisms collectively termed the microbiome [1]. The advent of metagenomic sequencing has expanded our understanding of how different environmental, geographical, and anthropogenic factors shape the BE microbiome [2][3][4][5]. In particular, the recent application of shotgun metagenomics sequencing has further deepened our insights into the functional, adaptive, and resistance potentials of the indoor microbiome [5][6][7], as well as potential transmission events between BEs and occupants [8][9][10]. ...
Background
The public transit is a built environment with high occupant density across the globe, and identifying factors shaping public transit air microbiomes will help design strategies to minimize the transmission of pathogens. However, the majority of microbiome works dedicated to the public transit air are limited to amplicon sequencing, and our knowledge regarding the functional potentials and the repertoire of resistance genes (i.e. resistome) is limited. Furthermore, current air microbiome investigations on public transit systems are focused on single cities, and a multi-city assessment of the public transit air microbiome will allow a greater understanding of whether and how broad environmental, building, and anthropogenic factors shape the public transit air microbiome in an international scale. Therefore, in this study, the public transit air microbiomes and resistomes of six cities across three continents (Denver, Hong Kong, London, New York City, Oslo, Stockholm) were characterized.
Results
City was the sole factor associated with public transit air microbiome differences, with diverse taxa identified as drivers for geography-associated functional potentials, concomitant with geographical differences in species- and strain-level inferred growth profiles. Related bacterial strains differed among cities in genes encoding resistance, transposase, and other functions. Sourcetracking estimated that human skin, soil, and wastewater were major presumptive resistome sources of public transit air, and adjacent public transit surfaces may also be considered presumptive sources. Large proportions of detected resistance genes were co-located with mobile genetic elements including plasmids. Biosynthetic gene clusters and city-unique coding sequences were found in the metagenome-assembled genomes.
Conclusions
Overall, geographical specificity transcends multiple aspects of the public transit air microbiome, and future efforts on a global scale are warranted to increase our understanding of factors shaping the microbiome of this unique built environment.
... With continuing outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases in Mediterranean countries and recent cases of West Nile fever as far north as Germany, the management of mosquito focuses on the indoor biodiversity of mosquitoes. Indeed, very few studies have been conducted that target the insides of the participants' residences, although investigating the ecology and evolution of the indoor biome is an emerging research field and is predestined for citizen science approaches [50]. ...
Urbanization has been associated with a loss of overall biodiversity and a simultaneous increase in the abundance of a few species that thrive in urban habitats, such as highly adaptable mosquito vectors. To better understand how mosquito communities differ between levels of urbanization, we analyzed mosquito samples from inside private homes submitted to the citizen science project ‘Mückenatlas’. Applying two urbanization indicators based on soil sealing and human population density, we compared species composition and diversity at, and preferences towards, different urbanization levels. Species composition between groups of lowest and highest levels of urbanization differed significantly, which was presumably caused by reduced species richness and the dominance of synanthropic mosquito species in urban areas. The genus Anopheles was frequently submitted from areas with a low degree of urbanization, Aedes with a moderate degree, and Culex and Culiseta with a high degree of urbanization. Making use of citizen science data, this first study of indoor mosquito diversity in Germany demonstrated a simplification of communities with increasing urbanization. The dominance of vector-competent species in urban areas poses a potential risk of epidemics of mosquito-borne diseases that can only be contained by a permanent monitoring of mosquitoes and by acquiring a deeper knowledge about how anthropogenic activities affect vector ecology.
... These are not limited to dependency and commensalism, but can also be "species opportunistically benefitting from humans, without dependence", this defined as anthropophilic [1]. The indoor biome is currently an expanding habitat [2]. In the urban areas, commensal rodents are the main vertebrate pests [3], but knowledge relating to them is mostly related to two species-brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) and house mouse (Mus musculus). ...
Simple Summary: Seven species were recorded during a pilot study of small mammals in commensal habitats (homesteads and kitchen gardens) in Lithuania. Homestead gardens and outbuildings without food availability were dominated by yellow-necked mice, while buildings where food was available were dominated by bank voles. The body condition of rodents in these commensal habitats, being highest in the homestead gardens, was worse than that in rodents found in other agricultural habitats. Breeding failures in the form of disrupted pregnancies were recorded in all of the most numerous species of rodents. Abstract: Scarcely investigated in terms of small mammals, kitchen gardens and homesteads form a subset of environments. Using results of snap trapping, we present the first data on small mammal species diversity, gender and age structure, relative abundance, body fitness, and reproduction parameters in these commensal habitats (kitchen gardens, homestead gardens, houses, and outbuildings). We expected that (i) house mice should be the dominant species in buildings, while striped field mice should be dominant in gardens, (ii) body condition should be the highest in buildings, (iii) body condition should increase in the autumn, irrespective of the habitat, and (iv) breeding failures in the form of disrupted pregnancies should be observed. Not all of the predictions were confirmed. From the seven recorded species, gardens and outbuildings were dominated by yellow-necked mice, while bank voles dominated in buildings where food was available. The number of recorded species and diversity index increased during the autumn months. The body condition was highest in rodents that were trapped in gardens. It decreased towards winter, with the exception of the striped field mouse. Breeding disturbances were recorded in all of the most numerous species, comprising 16.7-100% of all observed pregnancies.
... Two distinct bacterial community types were formed consistent with the sample types (HEPA filter and dust) (Fig. 2). Indoor microbes might be influenced by the outdoor environment owing to the continual flow of outdoor microbes into homes 43,58 or because indoor environments are incompletely buffered from outdoor microbes 59 . During the usage of the air purifier, indoor air is purified, and particles are enriched on the HEPA film. ...
Air purifiers with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters remove not only particulate matter but also airborne microorganisms in indoor environments. We investigated the bacterial community in HEPA filters (used for 1 year) and that in the floor dust of 12 office rooms in Beijing. We found that the viable bacteria proportion in the filter was significantly higher than that in the floor dust (p < 0.001). The Non-Metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling analysis showed that the bacterial communities in the filters and dust were significantly different (p = 0.001). The Chao1, Shannon–Wiener and phylogenetic diversity values in the filter were significantly higher than those in the dust (p < 0.001). The predominant bacterial classes in the filter were Alphaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria, whereas those in the dust were Bacteroidia, Clostridia and Bacilli. Human occupancy contributed more to the bacterial community in the filter than that in the dust. Klebsiella and Alloprevotella in the dust and filters positively correlated with the occupancy density. Soil bacteria contributed to a significantly higher proportion of the bacteria in the HEPA filter (p < 0.001). In contrast, human oral, indoor air and outdoor haze contributed to a higher proportion of the bacteria in the dust samples (p < 0.001, p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). As HEPA filters serve as an ecological niche for indoor bacteria, they should be carefully investigated during the assessment of indoor environmental health.
... On the one hand, many environmental factors such as urbanization level, soil pH, and climatic variables have been found to, more or less, affect the types of bacterial and fungal taxa detected in outdoor air, lead to an expected geographical structure of these airborne microbial communities found outdoors, and this might eventually influence the surrounding microbes live indoors via dispersal (Bowers et al., 2011;Barberán et al., 2015aBarberán et al., , 2015b. On the other hand, several environmental factors like climatic variables could affect the indoor environmental conditions by air exchange, and then exert impacts on the microbiota found indoors directly (Martin et al., 2015). However, the knowledge about the biogeography of microbiome inside homes and their driving forces remains limited, especially in developing countries where the environmental (e.g., the level of urbanization) and housing variables (e.g., house design) are different from those in the developed countries that previous related studies mainly focused on. ...
We spend ever-increasing time indoors along with urbanization; however, the geographical distribution patterns of microbiome and antibiotic resistome, and their driving forces in household environment remains poorly characterized. Here, we surveyed the bacterial and fungal communities, and the resistome in settled dust gathered from 82 homes located across Beijing, China, employing Illumina sequencing and high-throughput quantitative PCR techniques. There was no clear geographical distribution pattern in dust-related bacterial communities although a slight but significant (P
... Increasingly, anthrome maps and global data on human transformation of ecology are helping to accomplish this, as part of basic curriculum in biology and ecology textbooks Merritts et al., 2014;Freeman et al., 2016). Anthromes have also been called "human biomes," a less precise term, and a related term, "indoor biomes" is also increasingly used (Martin et al., 2015). ...
Human societies and their use of land have transformed ecology across this planet for thousands of years. As a result, the global patterns of life on Earth, the biomes, can no longer be understood without considering how humans have altered them. Anthromes, or anthropogenic biomes, characterize the globally significant ecological patterns created by sustained direct human interactions with ecosystems, including agriculture, urbanization, and other land uses. Anthromes now cover more than three quarters of Earth's ice-free land surface, including dense settlements, villages, croplands, rangelands, and seminatural lands; wildlands untransformed by agriculture and settlements cover the remaining area.
... The consideration of the indoor microbiome is indeed new [7] and the relative implication of factors that structure the composition of microbial communities in the built environment remains unknown [8]. ...
The indoor microbial community is a mixture of microorganisms resulting from outdoor ecosystems that seed the built environment. However, the biogeography of the indoor microbial community is still inadequately studied. Dust from more than 3000 dwellings across France was analyzed by qPCR using 17 targets: 10 molds, 3 bacteria groups, and 4 mites. Thus, the first spatial description of the main indoor microbial allergens on the French territory, in relation with biogeographical factors influencing the distribution of microorganisms, was realized in this study. Ten microorganisms out of 17 exhibited increasing abundance profiles across the country: Five microorganisms (Dermatophagoïdes pteronyssinus, Dermatophagoïdes spp., Streptomyces spp., Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Epicoccum nigrum) from northeast to southwest, two (Cryptococcus spp., Alternaria alternata) from northwest to southeast, Mycobacteria from east to west, Aspergillus fumigatus from south to north, and Penicillium chrysogenum from south to northeast. These geographical patterns were partly linked to climate and land cover. Multivariate analysis showed that composition of communities seemed to depend on landscapes, with species related to closed and rather cold and humid landscapes (forests, located in the northeast) and others to more open, hot, and dry landscapes (herbaceous and coastal regions, located in the west). This study highlights the importance of geographical location and outdoor factors that shape communities. In order to study the effect of microorganisms on human health (allergic diseases in particular), it is important to identify biogeographic factors that structure microbial communities on large spatial scales and to quantify the exposure with quantitative tools, such as the multi-qPCR approach.
... The consideration of the indoor microbiome is indeed new [7] and the relative implication of factors that structure the composition of microbial communities in the built environment remains unknown [8]. ...
The indoor microbial community is a mixture of microorganisms resulting from outdoor ecosystems that seed the built environment. However, the biogeography of the indoor microbial community is still inadequately studied. Dust from more than 3000 dwellings across France was analyzed by qPCR using 17 targets: 10 molds, 3 bacteria groups, and 4 mites. Thus, the first spatial description of the main indoor microbial allergens on the French territory, in relation with biogeographical factors influencing the distribution of microorganisms, was realized in this study. Ten microorganisms out of 17 exhibited increasing abundance profiles across the country: Five microorganisms (Dermatophagoïdes pteronyssinus, Dermatophagoïdes spp., Streptomyces spp., Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Epicoccum nigrum) from northeast to southwest, two (Cryptococcus spp., Alternaria alternata) from northwest to southeast, Mycobacteria from east to west, Aspergillus fumigatus from south to north, and Penicillium chrysogenum from south to northeast. These geographical patterns were partly linked to climate and land cover. Multivariate analysis showed that composition of communities seemed to depend on landscapes, with species related to closed and rather cold and humid landscapes (forests, located in the northeast) and others to more open, hot, and dry landscapes (herbaceous and coastal regions, located in the west). This study highlights the importance of geographical location and outdoor factors that shape communities. In order to study the effect of microorganisms on human health (allergic diseases in particular), it is important to identify biogeographic factors that structure microbial communities on large spatial scales and to quantify the exposure with quantitative tools, such as the multi-qPCR approach.
... Driven by temperature and humidity, mosquito resting behaviors are confined to warm and dry sites during cold months; cool and damp sites in the hot, arid months; and, in cooler, humid periods, mosquitoes are often observed in the open, likely for increased exposure to sunlight [90]. Temperature and moisture are important determinants for mosquito survival [91][92][93] and numerous interactions between these factors are discussed in 4.1, but avenues for further research on indoor biome impact remain unexplored [94]. ...
Diseases that are transmitted by mosquitoes are a tremendous health and socioeconomic burden with hundreds of millions of people being impacted by mosquito-borne illnesses annually. Many factors have been implicated and extensively studied in disease transmission dynamics, but knowledge regarding how dehydration impacts mosquito physiology, behavior, and resulting mosquito-borne disease transmission remain underdeveloped. The lapse in understanding on how mosquitoes respond to dehydration stress likely obscures our ability to effectively study mosquito physiology, behavior, and vectorial capabilities. The goal of this review is to develop a profile of factors underlying mosquito biology that are altered by dehydration and the implications that are related to disease transmission.
... Humans in industrialized nations spend upwards of 90% of their time indoors (83) , which significantly moderates their microbial exposures. Indoors environments tends to include more human-associated taxa than outdoor environments (84)(85)(86) , and tend to have reduced biomass as compared to soil or plant-associated communities (15,87) . This will mean that while indoor exposures may display reduced residence times on the skin for incoming environmental microbes (through reduced inoculating biomass; Fig. 3), it is probable that they will also display increased probability of long-term colonization events or other human-microbe interactions (15) . ...
The human skin microbiome interacts intimately with human health, yet the drivers of skin microbiome composition and diversity are not well-understood. The composition of the skin microbiome has been characterized as both highly variable and relatively stable, depending on the time scale under consideration, and it is not clear what role contact with environmental sources of microbes plays in this variability. We experimentally mimicked human skin contact with two common environmental sources of microorganisms — soils and plant leaves — and characterized the dynamics of microbial acquisition and persistence on skin on very short time scales. Repeatable changes in skin community composition following encounters with environmental sources were observed, and these trajectories largely depend on donor community biomass distributions. Changes in composition persisted for at least 24 hours and through a soap and water wash following exposures to relatively high biomass soil communities. In contrast, exposures to lower biomass leaf communities were undetectable after a 24 hour period. Absolute abundances of bacterial taxa in source communities predicted transmission probabilities and residence times, independent of phylogenetic considerations. Our results suggest that variability in the composition of the skin microbiome can be driven by transient encounters with common environmental sources, and that these relatively transient effects can persist when the source is of sufficient biomass.
Importance
Humans come into contact with environmental sources of microbes, such as soil or plants, constantly. Those microbial exposures have been linked to health through training and modulation of the immune system. While much is known about the human skin microbiome, the short term dynamics after a contact event, such as touching soil, have not been well characterized. In this study, we examine what happens after such a contact event, describing trends in microbial transmission to and persistence on the skin. Additionally, we use computational sampling model simulations to interrogate null expectations for these kinds of experiments. This work has broad implications for infection control strategies and therapeutic techniques that rely on modification of the microbiome, such as probiotics and faecal transplantation.
Urbanization processes are taking place at a very high rate, especially in Africa. At the same time, a number of small mammal species, be they native or invasive, take advantage of human‐induced habitat modifications. They represent commensal communities of organisms that cause a number of inconveniences to humans, including potential reservoirs of zoonotic diseases. We studied via live trapping and habitat characterization such commensal small mammal communities in small villages to large cities of Senegal, to try to understand how the species share this particular space. Seven major species were recorded, with exotic invasive house mice ( Mus musculus ) and black rats ( Rattus rattus ) dominating in numbers. The shrew Crocidura olivieri appeared as the main and more widespread native species, while native rodent species ( Mastomys natalensis , M. erythroleucus , Arvicanthis niloticus and Praomys daltoni ) were less abundant and/or more localized. Habitat preferences, compared between species in terms of room types and characteristics, showed differences among house mice, black rats and M. natalensis especially. Niche (habitat component) breadth and overlap were measured. Among invasive species, the house mouse showed a larger niche breadth than the black rat, and overall, all species displayed high overlap values. Co‐occurrence patterns were studied at the global and local scales. The latter show cases of aggregation (between the black rat and native species, for instance) and of segregation (as between the house mouse and the black rat in Tambacounda, or between the black rat and M. natalensis in Kédougou). While updating information on commensal small mammal distribution in Senegal, a country submitted to a dynamic process of invasion by the black rat and the house mouse, we bring original information on how species occupy and share the commensal space, and make predictions on the evolution of these communities in a period of ever‐accelerating global changes.
Urbanization processes are taking place at a very high rate, especially in Africa, these. At the same time, a number of small mammal species, be they native of invasive, take advantage of these human-induced habitat modifications. They represent commensal communities of organisms that cause a number of inconveniences to humans, including as potential reservoirs of zoonotic diseases. We studied via live trapping and habitat characterization such commensal small mammal communities in small villages to large cities of Senegal, to try understand how the species share this particular space. Seven major species were recorded, with exotic invasive house mice (Mus musculus) and black rats (Rattus rattus) dominating in numbers. The shrew Crocidura olivieri appeared as the main and more widespread native species, while native rodent species (Mastomys natalensis, M. erythroleucus, Arvicanthis niloticus and Praomys daltoni) were less abundant and/or more localized. Habitat preferences, compared between species in terms of room types and characteristics, showed differences between house mice, black rats and M. natalensis especially. Niche (habitat component) breadth and overlap were measured. Among invasive species, the house mouse showed a larger niche breadth than the black rat, and overall, all species displayed high overlap values. Co-occurrence patterns were studied at the locality and local scales. The latter show cases of aggregation (between the black rat and native species, for instance) and of segregation (as between the house mouse and the black rat in Tambacounda, or between the black rat and M. natalensis in Kédougou). While updating information on commensal small mammal distribution in Senegal, a country submitted to a dynamic process of invasion by the black rat and the house mouse, we bring original information on how species occupy and share the commensal space, and make predictions on the evolution of these communities in a period of ever-accelerating global changes.
Background: Epidemiological studies have reported an association between traffic-related pollution with risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, evidence from prospective studies on the association of walkability and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) with MetS is still scarce. We, therefore, aimed to evaluate the association of long-term exposure to NO2 and walkability with hazards of incident MetS. Methods: A total of 17,965 participants without MetS diagnosed within one year at baseline were included in our study from a population-based prospective cohort in Yinzhou District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China. Participants were followed up by the regional Health Information System (HIS) until December 15, 2021. MetS was defined based on the criteria of Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS2004). We used walkscore tools, calculating with amenity categories and decay functions, and spatial–temporal land-use regression (LUR) models to estimate walkability and NO2 concentrations. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to examine the association of walkability and NO2 with hazards of MetS incidence reporting with hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Overall, we followed up 77,303 person-years and identified 4040 incident cases of MetS in the entire cohort. Higher walkability was inversely associated with incident MetS (HR = 0.94, 95 % CI: 0.91–0.99), whereas NO2 was positively associated with MetS incidence (HR = 1.07, 95 %CI: 1.00–1.15) per interquartile range increment in two-exposure models. Furthermore, we found a significant multiplicative interaction between walkability and NO2. Stronger associations were observed for NO2 and incident MetS among men, smokers, drinkers and participants who aged
Many of the choices humans make with regard to infrastructure, urban planning and other phenomena have impacts that will last thousands of years. This can readily be seen in modern cities in which contemporary streets run along street grids that were laid out thousands of years prior or even in which ancient viaducts still play a role. However, rarely do evolutionary biologists explicitly consider the future of life likely to be associated with the decisions we are making today. Here, we consider the evolutionary future of species in cities with a focus on the origin of lineages and species. We do so by adjusting evolutionary predictions from the theory of island biogeography so as to correspond to the unique features of cities as islands. Specifically, the species endemic to cities tend to be associated with the gray habitats in cities. Those habitats tend to be dominated by human bodies, pet bodies and stored food. It is among such species where the origin of new lineages is most likely, although most research on evolution in cities has focused on green habitats. We conclude by considering a range of scenarios for the far future and their implications for the origin of lineages and species.
This edited volume brings together natural scientists, social scientists and humanists to assess if (or how) we may begin to coexist harmoniously with the mosquito. The mosquito is humanity’s deadliest animal, killing over a million people each year by transmitting malaria, yellow fever, Zika and several other diseases. Yet of the 3,500 species of mosquito on Earth, only a few dozen of them are really dangerous—so that the question arises as to whether humans and their mosquito foe can learn to live peacefully with one another. Chapters assess polarizing arguments for conserving and preserving mosquitoes, as well as for controlling and killing them, elaborating on possible consequences of both strategies. This book provides informed answers to the dual question: could we eliminate mosquitoes, and should we? Offering insights spanning the technical to the philosophical, this is the “go to” book for exploring humanity’s many relationships with the mosquito—which becomes a journey to finding better ways to inhabit the natural world. Mosquitopia will be of interest to anyone wanting to explore dependencies between human health and natural systems, while offering novel perspectives to health planners, medical experts, environmentalists and animal rights advocates. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003056034, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license
Living in walkable neighborhoods has been reported to be associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Features of walkable neighborhoods, however, may be related to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5), which could increase risk of cardiovascular disease. The interaction effect between walkability and PM2.5 on risk of ischemic stroke remains to be elucidated. In this study, we recruited a total of 27,375 participants aged ≥40 years from Yinzhou District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China to investigate the associations of walkability and PM2.5 with risk of ischemic stroke. We used amenity categories and decay functions to evaluate walkability and high-spatiotemporal-resolution land-use regression models to assess PM2.5 concentrations. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). During a median follow-up of 4.08 years, we identified a total of 637 incident cases of ischemic stroke in the entire cohort. Higher walkability was associated with a lower risk of ischemic stroke (quartile, Q4 vs. Q1 walkability: HR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.47–0.75), whereas PM2.5 was positively associated with risk of ischemic stroke (Q4 vs. Q1 PM2.5: HR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.29–2.25). Furthermore, we observed a significant interaction between walkability and PM2.5 on risk of ischemic stroke. Walkability was inversely associated with risk of ischemic stroke at lower PM2.5 concentrations, but this association was attenuated with increasing PM2.5 concentrations. Although walkable neighborhoods appear to decrease the risk of ischemic stroke, benefits may be offset by adverse effects of PM2.5 exposure in the most polluted areas. These findings are meaningful for future neighborhood design, air pollution control, and stroke prevention.
In any proposal for specicide, as represented by mosquito eradication, one must acknowledge that this involves a complex set of moral trade-offs. Taking it as given that the health burden of vector-borne diseases has to be reduced drastically, this chapter lays out the landscape of normative arguments that can be brought in the mosquito’s defence. These, in turn, should be involved in deliberations about whether such large-scale eradication practices can be morally justified. In favour of mosquito protection, several (but not exhaustive) kinds of arguments are presented based on individual mosquito’s moral standing, the value of each species, concerns about hubris and risks, and questions about preferable alternatives. At the same time, this chapter also inquires whether the conflict between humans and mosquitos can be framed as a matter of self-defence—attributing to humans a right to defend themselves. A morally important distinction here is that the mosquito is merely instrumentalized by the disease that it carries which is the real motive of self-defence, showing that mosquitos are innocent in several senses of the term. Taking all these different moral considerations seriously leaves us with an awareness that the eradication of these species cannot be treated lightly.
A partir de mayo de 2020, la crisis sanitaria global causada por el virus SARS-CoV-2 traslada su epicentro hacia Latinoamérica, con foco en ciudades que presentan altos índices de pobreza, segregación y hacinamiento. Los avances en microbiología posibilitan comprender en profundidad las relaciones entre ciudad, COVID-19 y otros microorganismos, pero falta establecer un marco conceptual que las articule, especialmente en contextos donde las determinantes sociales son tan relevantes. Este artículo tiene como objetivo el proponer una aproximación integrada de microbiología, vivienda, ambiente y urbanismo, a partir de un modelo de interacciones y un análisis empírico para Santiago de Chile. En base a esto, se pudo analizar cómo el proceso de propagación en la ciudad se ve potenciada por vulnerabilidades de índole socio espacial, sanitaria intradomiciliaria y urbana, más una aproximación desde el concepto de pobreza energética. Al mismo tiempo, se pudo comprobar como las variables asociadas a estas vulnerabilidades permitían explicar la tasa de incidencia de casos confirmados por cada 100 000 habitantes a través de las distintas comunas en el área metropolitana de Santiago de Chile. Dentro de éstas, destacan el nivel de hacinamiento de las viviendas, la cantidad de hogares con jefes/as de hogar en trabajo precario y los viajes hacia el distrito central de negocios de la ciudad. Finalmente, se establece la necesidad de proponer una agenda de investigación para este nuevo equipo multidisciplinario de “Microbioma Urbano” en relación con la necesidad de realización de muestreos microbiológicos que permitan mejorar las condiciones de viviendas, barrios y ciudades, aportando en la superación de las vulnerabilidades identificadas en este estudio.
Whereas most animals find urban habitats to be inferior to natural habitats, some “urban specialist” species thrive there. Wormlions present such an example. Common in Mediterranean cities, they cluster in thin layers of loose soil below man-made shelters. Wormlions are fly larvae that dig pit-traps in loose soil and hunt small arthropods. Our first aim was to determine whether wormlion pits accumulate next to walls. Wormlion pits were indeed closer to walls than expected by chance at most of the study sites. We examined possible factors behind this apparent preference, combining field observations and experiments, laboratory work, and theoretical analysis. We examined the effect of soil depth, particle size, shade, and prey abundance. Each factor provided a partial explanation for the wormlions’ proximity to walls, but none provided an overall explanation. We developed a spatially explicit simulation model, demonstrating under which conditions wall-adjacent positions are favored. Finally, we created artificial microhabitats, and placed wormlions either in the center or next to the wall. The wormlions in the center moved over longer distances than those next to the wall and did so more in the wall’s direction. The abundance of walls may help to explain the success of wormlions in urban habitats.
Sarcosaprophagous flies (Diptera) rank among the most common insects associated with human-transformed environments all over the world. Synanthropic species of the families Calliphoridae, Muscidae, Sarcophagidae and Phoridae, in particular, have tremendous forensic importance due to their ability to colonize human cadavers and thus provide information on minimum post-mortem interval. Recently, cases of flies colonizing cadavers inside buildings of different heights drew attention to the vertical dispersal abilities of these flies, a subject that has received little attention. We investigated the vertical distribution of sarcosaprophagous flies in an urban environment, using uninhabited buildings as experimental models in Northeastern Brazil. To assess the vertical stratification of flies, one in every three floors of nine buildings was sampled using traps baited with bovine spleen, from the ground to the 27th floor. Calliphoridae was the most abundant family (52.9%), followed by Muscidae (41.2%), Sarcophagidae (3.2%) and Phoridae (2.7%). Most of the insects were collected at ground level (78.8%), with a decreasing abundance registered on the higher floors. Nevertheless, adults of the four families tested here were able to reach substrates as high as the 15th floor, which corresponds to approximately 48 m in height. Regarding calliphorids, seven species were identified, of which Chrysomya albiceps (30.4%) and C. megacephala (68.3%) were the most abundant. This is, to our knowledge, the first detailed, replicated study on vertical resource localization of sarcosaprophagous flies.
Microorganisms are widely distributed throughout the built environment and even those found in concealed environments such as sink P‐traps can have an impact on our health. To date, most studies on sink bacterial communities focused on those present in hospitals with no to little information regarding sinks in residential or communal settings. Here, we conducted a characterization using 16S rRNA sequencing of the bacterial communities of communal restroom sinks located on a university campus to investigate the diversity, prevalence, and abundances of the bacteria that reside in this understudied environment. The study found that community composition and structure were highly variable across individual sinks, and there were marginal differences between buildings and the two different parts of sink examined. Proteobacteria were the most abundant phylum in the sink communities, and the families Burkholderiaceae, Moraxellaceae, and Sphingomonadaceae were found to be ubiquitous across all sinks. Notably, human skin was identified as a primary contributor to the below‐strainer sink bacterial community. These data provide novel insight into the sink bacterial communities' constituents and serve as the foundation for subsequent studies that might explore community stability and resilience of in situ sinks. A characterization using 16S rRNA sequencing of the bacterial communities of communal restroom sinks located on a university campus to investigate the diversity, prevalence, and abundances of the bacteria. The study found that community composition and structure were highly variable across individual sinks, and there were marginal differences between buildings and the two different parts of sink examined, while Proteobacteria were the most abundant phylum in the sink communities. Notably, human skin was identified as a primary contributor to the below‐strainer sink bacterial community.
Dada la era del antropoceno, la disciplina requiere nuevas formas de construir su discurso y de replantear su impacto en el mundo. El antropocentrismo ha dejado una herencia de un mundo destrozado,
que se encuentra al límite. Ante esto, se ha construido una visión alternativa que plantea el reconocimiento e integración de la otredad, entendida como lo posthumano: una nueva relación del hombre –su arquitectura y ciudad- con su mundo, desde una visión ecosistémica, de relaciones en red. Esto permite construir las nociones de actuación desde un ámbito local, con impacto global, planteando también una nueva posición del arquitecto: como un asesor de proyectos comunitarios desde su conocimiento técnico en proyecto y construcción, y desde su prerrogativa en la representación del proyecto. Finalmente, esto tendría que construir una nueva figura de ciudad, que aporte posiblemente la idea de una vida post-urbana.
Outside of pest control reports, little attention has been paid to interior ecosystems in high-latitude regions. Opportunistic sampling of live arthropods captured inside the University of Alaska Museum Fairbanks, Alaska, United States of America allowed us to describe and analyse one such interior ecosystem. We document a minimum of 77 arthropod species over 18 years. Beetles, spiders, and booklice represented 80% of the total abundance. Of those captured, synanthropes consisted primarily of fungivores and detritivores, seasonals consisted primarily of predators and omnivores, and transients consisted primarily of predators and had greater diet and species diversity than the synanthropes and transients. January was the most common month for capturing synanthropes, September for capturing seasonals, and July for capturing transients. Four synanthropic species not previously known from Alaska, which appear to have breeding populations inside the museum, were found: Dorypteryx domestica (Smithers, 1958) (Psocodea: Psyllipsocidae), Cartodere constricta (Gyllenhal, 1827), Dienerella filum (Aubé, 1850), and Corticaria serrata (Paykull 1800) (Coleoptera: Latridiidae). Three transient and one synanthrope species previously unreported from Alaska, with no evidence of breeding populations, were also found: the click beetle Danosoma obtectum (Say, 1839) (Coleoptera: Elateridae), a spider in the genus Phantyna , probably the species P. bicornis (Emerton, 1915) (Araneae: Dictynidae), two Colobopsis sp. ant specimens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and the synanthropic spider Oecobius cellariorum (Dugès, 1836) (Araneae: Oecobiidae).
High throughput sequencing techniques have opened up the world of microbial diversity to scientists, and a flurry of studies in the most remote and extreme habitats on earth have begun to elucidate the key roles of microbes in ecosystems with extreme conditions. These same environmental extremes can also be found closer to humans, even in our homes. Here, we used high throughput sequencing techniques to assess bacterial and archaeal diversity in the extreme environments inside human homes (e.g., dishwashers, hot water heaters, washing machine bleach reservoirs, etc.). We focused on habitats in the home with extreme temperature, pH and chemical environmental conditions. We found a lower diversity of microbes in these extreme home environments compared to less extreme habitats in the home. However, we were nonetheless able to detect sequences from a relatively diverse array of bacteria and archaea. Habitats with extreme temperatures alone appeared to be able to support a greater diversity of microbes than habitats with extreme pH or extreme chemical environments alone. Microbial diversity was lowest when habitats had both extreme temperature and one of these other extremes. In habitats with both extreme temperatures and extreme pH, taxa with known associations with extreme conditions dominated. Our findings highlight the importance of examining interactive effects of multiple environmental extremes on microbial communities. Inasmuch as taxa from extreme environments can be both beneficial and harmful to humans, our findings also suggest future work to understand both the threats and opportunities posed by the life in these habitats.
High throughput sequencing techniques have opened up the world of microbial diversity to scientists, and a flurry of studies in the most remote and extreme habitats on earth have begun to elucidate the key roles of microbes in ecosystems with extreme conditions. These same environmental extremes can also be found closer to humans, even in our homes. Here, we used high throughput sequencing techniques to assess bacterial and archaeal diversity in the extreme environments inside human homes (e.g., dishwashers, hot water heaters, washing machine bleach reservoirs, etc.). We focused on habitats in the home with extreme temperature, pH and chemical environmental conditions. We found a lower diversity of microbes in these extreme home environments compared to less extreme habitats in the home. However, we were nonetheless able to detect sequences from a relatively diverse array of bacteria and archaea. Habitats with extreme temperatures alone appeared to be able to support a greater diversity of microbes than habitats with extreme pH or extreme chemical environments alone. Microbial diversity was lowest when habitats had both extreme temperature and one of these other extremes. In habitats with both extreme temperatures and extreme pH, taxa with known associations with extreme conditions dominated. Our findings highlight the importance of examining interactive effects of multiple environmental extremes on microbial communities. Inasmuch as taxa from extreme environments can be both beneficial and harmful to humans, our findings also suggest future work to understand both the threats and opportunities posed by the life in these habitats.
Background: High throughput sequencing techniques have opened up the world of microbial diversity to scientists, and a flurry of studies in the most remote and extreme habitats on earth have begun to elucidate the key roles of microbes in ecosystems with extreme conditions. These same environmental extremes can also be found closer to humans; in fact, they can be found in our homes. Here, we used high throughput sequencing techniques to assess microbial diversity in the extreme environments inside human homes (e.g. dishwashers, hot water heaters, washing machine bleach reservoirs, etc.). We focused on habitats in the home with extreme temperature, pH and chemical environmental conditions.
Results: We found that although these habitats supported a lower diversity of microbes than less extreme habitats in the home, there were still diverse microbial assemblages in extreme home environments. Habitats with extreme temperatures alone appeared to be able to support a greater diversity of microbes than habitats with extreme pH or extreme chemical environments alone. Microbial diversity was lowest when habitats had both extreme temperature and one of these other extremes. This interactive effect was strongest when habitats had both extreme temperatures and extreme pH. Under these conditions, taxa with known associations with extreme conditions dominated.
Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of examining interactive effects of multiple environmental extremes on microbial communities. Inasmuch as taxa from extreme environments can be both pathogens and industrially useful, our findings also suggest future work to understand both the threats and opportunities posed by the life in these habitats.
The microbiome of the built environment (BE) and its interactions with the human occupants represent a new and highly interdisciplinary research field. The BE is characterized by a great microbial diversity as well as very fluctuating environmental conditions and sharp gradients of physicochemical parameters, which significantly shape the resident microbiomes. A great significance of the BE microbiome for human health is obvious, but far from being fully understood. However, there is a growing body of evidence that antimicrobial and probiotic strategies will have to be balanced in a well-considered manner to successfully manage the BE microbiome in a way that finally is most beneficial for human health.
The built environment comprises all structures built by humans, including our homes, workplaces, schools and vehicles. As in any ecosystem on Earth, microorganisms have been found in every part of the built environment that has been studied. They exist in the air, on surfaces and on building materials, usually dispersed by humans, animals and outdoor sources. Those microbial communities and their metabolites have been implied to cause (or exacerbate) and prevent (or mitigate) human disease. In this Review, we outline the history of the field of microbiology of the built environment and discuss recent insights that have been gained into microbial ecology, adaptation and evolution of this ecosystem. Finally, we consider the implications of this research, specifically, how it is changing the types of materials we use in buildings and how our built environments affect human health.
In recent decades, changes that human activities have wrought in Earth’s life support system have worried many people. The human population has doubled in the past 40 years and is projected to increase by the same amount again in the next 40. The expansion of infrastructure and agriculture necessitated by this population growth has quickened the pace of land transformation and degradation. We estimate that humans have modified >50% of Earth’s land surface. The current rate of land transformation, particularly of agricultural land, is unsustainable. We need a lively public discussion of the problems resulting from population pressures and the resulting land degradation.
*Email:
Manuscript received 14 Feb. 2012; accepted 16 Aug. 2012
DOI: 10.1130/GSAT151A.1
Humans have fundamentally altered global patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Surprisingly, existing systems for representing these global patterns, including biome classifications, either ignore humans altogether or simplify human influence into, at most, four categories. Here, we present the first characterization of terrestrial biomes based on global patterns of sustained, direct human interaction with ecosystems. Eighteen "anthropogenic biomes" were identified through empirical analysis of global population, land use, and land cover. More than 75% of Earth's ice-free land showed evidence of alteration as a result of human residence and land use, with less than a quarter remaining as wildlands, supporting just 11% of terrestrial net primary production. Anthropogenic biomes offer a new way forward by acknowledging human influence on global ecosystems and moving us toward models and investigations of the terrestrial biosphere that integrate human and ecological systems.
It is generally accepted that the natural habitats of most pest insects can be found outside the synanthropic environment in layers of leaf litter, under bark, as well as in rodent or bird nests. Indeed, most of the common pests have been reported as being facultative nidicolous. Therefore infestation of commodities by pest insects out of these reservoirs is one considerable possibility. However, the likelihood of a pest´s occurrence and survival out-doors largely depends on its ecological potential and competitiveness against other species of the same ecological guild. Some pest species are rarely found in wild habitats, especially in those regions where they are not native and where they have been introduced by man. The fabric pest Tineola bisselliella serves as a good example. Most likely originating in Central or Southern Africa this insect was introduced into Europe probably not earlier than the late 18th century. Being more tolerant to dry environments than other fabric pests its economical importance increased during the 20th century when in-door climates changed because of central heating systems. Its occurrence in out-door natural habitats must be regarded as accidental. Reported founds of webbing clothes moth larvae in bird nests e.g. have been largely overstated in the literature. T. bisselliella should be regarded as an eusynanthropic species.
A strategy to understand the microbial components of the human genetic and metabolic landscape and how they contribute to normal physiology and predisposition to disease.
Global urbanisation is rapidly expanding and most of the world's humans now live in cities. Most ecological studies have, however, focused on protected areas.To address this issue, we tested predictions from studies of protected areas in urban ecosystems.Because most cities are heterogeneous habitat mosaics which include habitats with varying levels of chronic environmental stress, we focused on predictions from studies of less modified ecosystems about community-wide responses to variation in chronic stress.We sampled ants across Manhattan's urban habitat mosaic, at sites with varying levels of chronic environmental stress.Many predictions derived from less modified ecosystems were supported by our findings: despite being the most intensively sampled habitat, high stress urban medians had less variability in ant composition –both within and among sites – than either urban parks or urban forests, the lowest stress habitat – urban forests-had significantly more accumulated species and a higher number of unique species than higher stress habitats, and urban parks, which have intermediate levels of chronic environmental stress, also had intermediate levels of variation in among-site species composition, accumulated species richness, and the incidence of unique species. The most common species also differed across Manhattan's urban habitat mosaic.Nevertheless, the prediction that exotic species would occur more frequently in higher stress habitats was not supported; exotic species were equally common across all habitats.These findings suggest that fine-scale heterogeneity in the chronic stress of urban habitats may be an underappreciated, but important structuring force for urban animal communities.
Soil biota play key roles in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, however, compared to our knowledge of above-ground plant and animal diversity, the biodiversity found in soils remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we present an assessment of soil biodiversity and biogeographic patterns across Central Park in New York City that spanned all three domains of life, demonstrating that even an urban, managed system harbours large amounts of undescribed soil biodiversity. Despite high variability across the Park, below-ground diversity patterns were predictable based on soil characteristics, with prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities exhibiting overlapping biogeographic patterns. Further, Central Park soils harboured nearly as many distinct soil microbial phylotypes and types of soil communities as we found in biomes across the globe (including arctic, tropical and desert soils). This integrated cross-domain investigation highlights that the amount and patterning of novel and uncharacterized diversity at a single urban location matches that observed across natural ecosystems spanning multiple biomes and continents.
Despite the rapid expansion of the built environment, we know little about the biology of species living in human-constructed habitats. Camel crickets (Rhaphidophoridae) are commonly observed in North American houses and include a range of native taxa as well as the Asian Diestrammena asynamora (Adelung), a species occasionally reported from houses though considered to be established only in greenhouses. We launched a continental-scale citizen science campaign to better understand the relative distributions and frequency of native and nonnative camel crickets in human homes across North America. Participants contributed survey data about the presence or absence of camel crickets in homes, as well as photographs and specimens of camel crickets allowing us to identify the major genera and/or species in and around houses. Together, these data offer insight into the geographical distribution of camel crickets as a presence in homes, as well as the relative frequency and distribution of native and nonnative camel crickets encountered in houses. In so doing, we show that the exotic Diestrammena asynamora not only has become a common presence in eastern houses, but is found in these environments far more frequently than native camel crickets. Supplemental pitfall trapping along transects in 10 urban yards in Raleigh, NC revealed that D. asynamora can be extremely abundant locally around some homes, with as many as 52 individuals collected from pitfalls in a single yard over two days of sampling. The number of D. asynamora individuals present in a trap was negatively correlated with the trap's distance from a house, suggesting that these insects may be preferentially associated with houses but also are present outside. In addition, we report the establishment in the northeastern United States of a second exotic species, putatively Diestrammena japanica Blatchley, which was previously undocumented in the literature. Our results offer new insight into the relative frequency and distribution of camel crickets living in human homes, and emphasize the importance of the built environment as habitat for two little-known invading species of Orthoptera.
The bacteria that colonize humans and our built environments have the potential to influence our health. Microbial communities
associated with seven families and their homes over 6 weeks were assessed, including three families that moved their home.
Microbial communities differed substantially among homes, and the home microbiome was largely sourced from humans. The microbiota
in each home were identifiable by family. Network analysis identified humans as the primary bacterial vector, and a Bayesian
method significantly matched individuals to their dwellings. Draft genomes of potential human pathogens observed on a kitchen
counter could be matched to the hands of occupants. After a house move, the microbial community in the new house rapidly converged
on the microbial community of the occupants’ former house, suggesting rapid colonization by the family’s microbiota.
Demodex mites are a group of hair follicle and sebaceous gland-dwelling species. The species of these mites found on humans are arguably the animals with which we have the most intimate interactions. Yet, their prevalence and diversity have been poorly explored. Here we use a new molecular method to assess the occurrence of Demodex mites on humans. In addition, we use the 18S rRNA gene (18S rDNA) to assess the genetic diversity and evolutionary history of Demodex lineages. Within our samples, 100% of people over 18 years of age appear to host at least one Demodex species, suggesting that Demodex mites may be universal associates of adult humans. A phylogenetic analysis of 18S rDNA reveals intraspecific structure within one of the two named human-associated Demodex species, D. brevis. The D. brevis clade is geographically structured, suggesting that new lineages are likely to be discovered as humans from additional geographic regions are sampled.
AimBiologists increasingly recognize the roles of humans in ecosystems. Subsequently, many have argued that biodiversity conservation must be extended to environments that humans have shaped directly. Yet popular biogeographical frameworks such as biomes do not incorporate human land use, limiting their relevance to future conservation planning. ‘Anthromes’ map global ecological patterns created by sustained direct human interactions with ecosystems. In this paper, we set to understand how current conservation efforts are distributed across anthromes.LocationGlobal.Methods
We analysed the global distribution of IUCN protected areas and biodiversity hotspots by anthrome. We related this information to density of native plant species and density of previous ecological studies. Potential conservation opportunities in anthromes were then identified through global analysis and two case studies.ResultsProtected areas and biodiversity hotspots are not distributed equally across anthromes. Less populated anthromes contain a greater proportion of protected areas. The fewest hotspots are found within densely settled anthromes and wildlands, which occur at the two extremes of human population density. Opportunities for representative protection, prioritization, study and inclusion of native species were not congruent.Main conclusionsResearchers and practitioners can use the anthromes framework to analyse the distribution of conservation practices at the global and regional scale. Like biomes, anthromes could also be used to set future conservation priorities. Conservation goals in areas directly shaped by humans need not be less ambitious than those in ‘natural areas’.
Although the geographical context of ecological observations shapes ecological theory, the global distribution of ecological studies has never been analyzed. Here, we document the global distribution and context (protected status, biome, anthrome, and net primary productivity) of 2573 terrestrial study sites reported in recent publications (2004-2009) of 10 highly cited ecology journals. We find evidence of several geographical biases, including overrepresentation of protected areas, temperate deciduous woodlands, and wealthy countries. Even within densely settled or agricultural regions, ecologists tend to study "natural" fragments. Such biases in trendsetting journals may limit the scalability of ecological theory and hinder conservation efforts in the 75% of the terrestrial world where humans live and work.
Genetic analysis of indoor air has uncovered a rich microbial presence, but rarely have both the bacterial and fungal components been examined in the same samples. Here we present a study that examined the bacterial component of passively settled microbes from both indoor and outdoor air over a discrete time period and for which the fungal component has already been reported. Dust was allowed to passively settle in five common locations around a home - living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and balcony - at different dwellings within a university-housing complex for a one-month period at two time points, once in summer and again in winter. We amplified the bacterial 16S rRNA gene in these samples and analyzed them with high-throughput sequencing. Like fungal OTU-richness, bacterial OTU-richness was higher outdoors then indoors and was invariant across different indoor room types. While fungal composition was structured largely by season and residential unit, bacterial composition varied by residential unit and room type. Bacteria from putative outdoor sources, such as Sphingomonas and Deinococcus, comprised a large percentage of the balcony samples, while human-associated taxa comprised a large percentage of the indoor samples. Abundant outdoor bacterial taxa were also observed indoors, but the reverse was not true; this is unlike fungi, in which the taxa abundant indoors were also well-represented outdoors. Moreover, there was a partial association of bacterial composition and geographic distance, such that samples separated by even a few hundred meters tended have greater compositional differences than samples closer together in space, a pattern also observed for fungi. These data show that while the outdoor source for indoor bacteria and fungi varies in both space and time, humans provide a strong and homogenizing effect on indoor bacterial bioaerosols, a pattern not observed in fungi.
Just like humans, plants have recently been recognized as meta-organisms, possessing a distinct microbiome and revealing close symbiotic relationships with their associated microorganisms (Berg et al., 2013; Mendes et al., 2013). Each plant harbor specific species to a certain degree but also cosmopolitan and ubiquitous microbial strains; the majority of them fulfill important host as well as ecosystem functions (rev. in Berg and Smalla, 2009). In addition to the microbe-rich rhizosphere, which has been studied extensively, the phyllosphere is of special interest for the study of indoor microbiomes due to its large and exposed surface area and its remarkable microbial diversity (Lindow and Leveau, 2002; Lindow and Brandl, 2003; Redford et al., 2010; Meyer and Leveau, 2012; Vorholt, 2012; Rastogi et al., 2013). In addition to the majority of beneficial and neutral inhabitants, all plant-associated microbiomes contain plant as well as human pathogens (Berg et al., 2005; Mendes et al., 2013). A broad spectrum of plant pathogens is well-known from disease outbreaks. Human pathogens belong mainly to the so called opportunistic or facultative human pathogens such as Burkholderia cepacia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, which cause diseases only in patients with predisposition or in hospital (Berg et al., 2005; Ryan et al., 2009).
Microbiomes of humans and plants are currently intensively studied using the same methods and addressing similar scientific questions (Ramirez-Puebla et al., 2013). However, knowledge about the microbiomes' interaction, microbial dynamics and exchange in a certain biotope or even indoor environment is very much limited. Although the composition and function of plant microbiomes is well-studied, there is still little to no information regarding their overlap, interaction with -and impact on other microbiomes or the microbiome-harboring hosts. Information is available about the connection of soil and rhizosphere microbial diversity, which share a selective sub-set (Smalla et al., 2001). The root-soil interface is the selection site for plant-associated bacteria by root exudates, which acts as chemo-attractants as well as repellents to which bacteria respond (Badri and Vivanco, 2009). In addition, plant defense signaling play a role in this process (Doornbos et al., 2012). For the phyllosphere we know that there is only a part of residents, while a substantial part of bacteria is shared with the air microbiome (Lindow and Brandl, 2003). Based on these data, a strong interaction and exchange of rhizosphere and phyllosphere microbiomes with other microbiomes is obvious. However, this opinion paper focuses on the question, if there is also a connection from plant–to indoor microbiomes as well as an impact on human health.
Architectural design has the potential to influence the microbiology of the built environment, with implications for human health and well-being, but the impact of design on the microbial biogeography of buildings remains poorly understood. In this study we combined microbiological data with information on the function, form, and organization of spaces from a classroom and office building to understand how design choices influence the biogeography of the built environment microbiome.
Sequencing of the bacterial 16S gene from dust samples revealed that indoor bacterial communities were extremely diverse, containing more than 32,750 OTUs (operational taxonomic units, 97% sequence similarity cutoff), but most communities were dominated by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Deinococci. Architectural design characteristics related to space type, building arrangement, human use and movement, and ventilation source had a large influence on the structure of bacterial communities. Restrooms contained bacterial communities that were highly distinct from all other rooms, and spaces with high human occupant diversity and a high degree of connectedness to other spaces via ventilation or human movement contained a distinct set of bacterial taxa when compared to spaces with low occupant diversity and low connectedness. Within offices, the source of ventilation air had the greatest effect on bacterial community structure.
Our study indicates that humans have a guiding impact on the microbial biodiversity in buildings, both indirectly through the effects of architectural design on microbial community structure, and more directly through the effects of human occupancy and use patterns on the microbes found in different spaces and space types. The impact of design decisions in structuring the indoor microbiome offers the possibility to use ecological knowledge to shape our buildings in a way that will select for an indoor microbiome that promotes our health and well-being.
Grain-associated insect species are economically important and archaeologically significant. Their dispersal around the globe and eventually across the North Atlantic region surely occurred through human transport rather than naturally. Most beetle cereal pests are now nearly cosmopolitan in their distribution, but their prehistoric ranges appear to have been more restricted. What is known or surmised of the early dispersal of these insect species is summarized, and the role of archaeobiogeographical data in investigating past human contact evaluated. Analysis of fossil and historic records of grain-associated beetles suggests that their dispersal corresponded with assumptions concerning human movement and interaction in the past. There is a significant fossil record for some grain beetles, but it is incomplete and predominantly from northwest Europe. More fossils are needed from across the Palaearctic and North Africa. The examination of pre-agricultural natural deposits in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Indian Subcontinent might reveal the original ranges of the pest species, the stages by which they entered into association with humans, and their earliest dispersal. With a more complete fossil record, the grain fauna may provide a useful proxy by which to evaluate cultural contact and human migration into the North Atlantic region in the past.
It is easier to search the globe for research on the genes of a local plant than it is to find local research on that plant’s ecology. As a result, ecologists are often unaware of published local research and unlikely to find relevant studies from similar environments worldwide. Location information in ecological studies can be harnessed to enable geographic knowledge searches and could be standardized to make searches more fruitful. To demonstrate this potential, we developed the JournalMap Web site (www.journalmap.org). Easy access to geographic distributions of knowledge opens new possibilities for using ecological research to detect and interpret ecological patterns, evaluate current ecological knowledge, and facilitate knowledge creation. We call on journals and publishers to support standard reporting of study locations in publications and metadata, and we advocate georeferencing past studies.
"Human activities, such as mining, forestry, and agriculture, strongly influence processes in natural systems. Because conservation has focused on managing and protecting wildlands, research has focused on understanding the indirect influence of these human activities on wildlands. Although a conservation focus on wildlands is critically important, the concept of residential area as an ecosystem is relatively new, and little is known about the potential of such areas to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. As urban sprawl increases, it becomes urgent to construct a method to research and improve the impacts of management strategies for residential landscapes. If the cumulative activities of individual property owners could help conserve biodiversity, then residential matrix management could become a critical piece of the conservation puzzle. Citizen science is a method of integrating public outreach and scientific data collection locally, regionally, and across large geographic scales. By involving citizen participants directly in monitoring and active management of residential lands, citizen science can generate powerful matrix management efforts, defying the tyranny of small decisions and leading to positive, cumulative, and measurable impacts on biodiversity."
In this progress report we call for nature-society geographers to give greater attention to indoor environments as active political-ecological spaces. Nature-society geographers often treat such spaces as fixed and unnatural. Yet a growing body of research attests to the active role played by sites ranging from homes to factories to shopping malls in the production of nature, scale, and environmental citizens. Furthermore, environmentalist and public health projects have increasingly targeted indoor spaces for scrutiny and action, yet these projects and scientific literature typically lack a critical geographical perspective on scale, space, power, and nature. We argue that exploring indoor environments is necessary to fully encompass socio-natural assemblages that include flows of energy and knowledge, embodied subjects, technologies of power and resistance, and a variety of non-humans.
Most great ape genetic variation remains uncharacterized; however, its study is critical for understanding population history, recombination, selection and susceptibility to disease. Here we sequence to high coverage a total of 79 wild- and captive-born individuals representing all six great ape species and seven subspecies and report 88.8 million single nucleotide polymorphisms. Our analysis provides support for genetically distinct populations within each species, signals of gene flow, and the split of common chimpanzees into two distinct groups: Nigeria-Cameroon/western and central/eastern populations. We find extensive inbreeding in almost all wild populations, with eastern gorillas being the most extreme. Inferred effective population sizes have varied radically over time in different lineages and this appears to have a profound effect on the genetic diversity at, or close to, genes in almost all species. We discover and assign 1,982 loss-of-function variants throughout the human and great ape lineages, determining that the rate of gene loss has not been different in the human branch compared to other internal branches in the great ape phylogeny. This comprehensive catalogue of great ape genome diversity provides a framework for understanding evolution and a resource for more effective management of wild and captive great ape populations.
Cats are a popular companion animal in the United States, the United Kingdom and most of western Europe. While a few studies on cat behaviour and interactions between cats and humans have been conducted in the home setting, most refer to cats housed in laboratories, catteries and shelters. Nevertheless, the findings from these studies can be extrapolated to the home environment. The Five Freedoms were developed as minimal standards of welfare for farm animals; it is proposed that five provisions, based on the Freedoms, can be used to assess the welfare of cats in the home. The provision of a suitable environment, with opportunities to express most normal behaviours and with protection from conditions likely to lead to fear and distress, requires the application of environmental enrichment techniques. Examples of physical, social, sensory, occupational and nutritional approaches to enrichment of the cat's home are presented. The majority of pet cats in the United Kingdom are allowed outdoors but in the United States between 50 and 60% are housed indoors. The advantages and disadvantages of allowing cats outdoor access or confining them indoors are discussed.
Most of our time is spent indoors where we are exposed to a wide array of different microorganisms living on surfaces and in the air of our homes. Despite their ubiquity and abundance, we have a limited understanding of the microbial diversity found within homes and how the composition and diversity of microbial communities change across different locations within the home. Here we examined the diversity of bacterial communities found in nine distinct locations within each of forty homes in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, USA, using high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. We found that each of the sampled locations harbored bacterial communities that were distinct from one another with surfaces that are regularly cleaned typically harboring lower levels of diversity than surfaces that are cleaned infrequently. These location-specific differences in bacterial communities could be directly related to usage patterns and differences in the likely sources of bacteria dispersed onto these locations. Finally, we examined whether the variability across homes in bacterial diversity could be attributed to outdoor environmental factors, indoor habitat structure, or the occupants of the home. We found that the presence of dogs had a significant effect on bacterial community composition in multiple locations within homes as the homes occupied by dogs harbored more diverse communities and higher relative abundances of dog-associated bacterial taxa. Furthermore, we found a significant correlation between the types of bacteria deposited on surfaces outside the home and those found inside the home, highlighting that microbes from outside the home can have a direct effect on the microbial communities living on surfaces within our homes. Together this work provides the first comprehensive analysis of the microbial communities found in the home and the factors that shape the structure of these communities both within and between homes.
Architects and engineers are beginning to consider a new dimension of indoor air: the structure and composition of airborne microbial communities. A first step in this emerging field is to understand the forces that shape the diversity of bioaerosols across space and time within the built environment. In an effort to elucidate the relative influences of three likely drivers of indoor bioaerosol diversity - variation in outdoor bioaerosols, ventilation strategy, and occupancy load - we conducted an intensive temporal study of indoor airborne bacterial communities in a high-traffic university building with a hybrid HVAC (mechanically- and naturally-ventilated) system. Indoor air communities closely tracked outdoor air communities, but human-associated bacterial genera were more than twice as abundant in indoor air compared to outdoor air. Ventilation had a demonstrated effect on indoor airborne bacterial community composition; changes in outdoor air communities were detected inside following a time lag associated with differing ventilation strategies relevant to modern building design. Our results indicate that both occupancy patterns and ventilation strategies are important for understanding airborne microbial community dynamics in the built environment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The indoor microbiome is a complex system that is thought to depend on dispersal from the outdoor biome and the occupants' microbiome combined with selective pressures imposed by the occupants' behaviors and the building itself. We set out to determine the pattern of fungal diversity and composition in indoor air on a local scale and to identify processes behind that pattern. We surveyed airborne fungal assemblages within 1-month time periods at two seasons, with high replication, indoors and outdoors, within and across standardized residences at a university housing facility. Fungal assemblages indoors were diverse and strongly determined by dispersal from outdoors, and no fungal taxa were found as indicators of indoor air. There was a seasonal effect on the fungi found in both indoor and outdoor air, and quantitatively more fungal biomass was detected outdoors than indoors. A strong signal of isolation by distance existed in both outdoor and indoor airborne fungal assemblages, despite the small geographic scale in which this study was undertaken (<500 m). Moreover, room and occupant behavior had no detectable effect on the fungi found in indoor air. These results show that at the local level, outdoor air fungi dominate the patterning of indoor air. More broadly, they provide additional support for the growing evidence that dispersal limitation, even on small geographic scales, is a key process in structuring the often-observed distance-decay biogeographic pattern in microbial communities.The ISME Journal advance online publication, 21 February 2013; doi:10.1038/ismej.2013.28.
We assessed characteristics associated with community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) carriage among residents of 22 nursing homes. Of MRSA-positive swabs, 25% (208/824) were positive for CA-MRSA. Median facility CA-MRSA percentage was 22% (range, 0%-44%). In multivariate models, carriage was associated with age less than 65 years (odds ratio, 1.2; [Formula: see text]) and Hispanic ethnicity (odds ratio, 1.2; [Formula: see text]). Interventions are needed to target CA-MRSA.
Great apes spend half of their lives in a nightly "nest" or sleeping platform (SP), a complex object created by modifying foliage, which functions as a stable substrate on which to sleep. Of the several purported functions of SPs, one hypothesis is that they protect against parasitic infection. Here we investigate the role of SP site choice in avoiding molestation by arthropods. This study presents preliminary data on the insect-repellent properties of preferred sleeping tree species Cynometra alexandri. Insect traps were deployed in gallery forest habitats in which chimpanzees typically "nest." We compared traps placed adjacent to SPs artificially manufactured with C. alexandri trees to an open area within the same habitat. Multiple measures of arthropod counts indicate that simulated C. alexandri SP sites have fewer arthropods than similar non-SP sites. Volatile compounds secreted by C. alexandri foliage are hypothesized to repel annoying arthropods and/or mask chimpanzee olfactory signals. Of the total insects captured (n = 6,318), n = 145 were mosquitoes. Of the total mosquitoes captured, n = 47 were identified as Anopheles (female, n = 12). The prominent malarial vector Anopheles gambiae was identified among the captured mosquito sample. These results suggest that the presence of broken branches of the tree species C. alexandri reduce the amount of insects a chimpanzee is exposed to throughout a night's sleep. This great ape behavioral and socio-technological adaptation may have evolved, in part, to increase quality of sleep as well as decrease exposure to vectors of disease.
The indoor environment affects occupants' health and comfort. Poor environmental conditions and indoor contaminants are estimated to cost the U.S. economy tens of billions of dollars a year in exacerbation of illnesses like asthma, allergic symptoms, and subsequent lost productivity. Climate change has the potential to affect the indoor environment because conditions inside buildings are influenced by conditions outside them. Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health addresses the impacts that climate change may have on the indoor environment and the resulting health effects. It finds that steps taken to mitigate climate change may cause or exacerbate harmful indoor environmental conditions. The book discusses the role the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should take in informing the public, health professionals, and those in the building industry about potential risks and what can be done to address them. The study also recommends that building codes account for climate change projections; that federal agencies join to develop or refine protocols and testing standards for evaluating emissions from materials, furnishings, and appliances used in buildings; and that building weatherization efforts include consideration of health effects. Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health is written primarily for the EPA and other federal agencies, organizations, and researchers with interests in public health; the environment; building design, construction, and operation; and climate issues. © 2011 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
The laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus) is an indispensable tool in experimental medicine and drug development, having made inestimable contributions to human health. We report here the genome sequence of the Brown Norway (BN) rat strain. The sequence represents a high-quality 'draft' covering over 90% of the genome. The BN rat sequence is the third complete mammalian genome to be deciphered, and three-way comparisons with the human and mouse genomes resolve details of mammalian evolution. This first comprehensive analysis includes genes and proteins and their relation to human disease, repeated sequences, comparative genome-wide studies of mammalian orthologous chromosomal regions and rearrangement breakpoints, reconstruction of ancestral karyotypes and the events leading to existing species, rates of variation, and lineage-specific and lineage-independent evolutionary events such as expansion of gene families, orthology relations and protein evolution.
From tenements to alleyways to latrines, twentieth-century American cities created spaces where pests flourished and people struggled for healthy living conditions. In Pests in the City, Dawn Day Biehler argues that the urban ecologies that supported pests were shaped not only by the physical features of cities but also by social inequalities, housing policies, and ideas about domestic space.