Thursday, October 08, 2026

A honey trap for protecting the forest

The first use of F-FIT with Platycerus beetles to assess habitat conditions in operational forests

Kyoto University

A honey trap for protecting the forest — image:
A male *Platycerus takakuwai* Fujita, 1987.
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Credit: Satoshi Asano

Kyoto, Japan -- Monitoring biological indicators plays a crucial role in forest management, which requires finding a delicate balance between timber use and biodiversity conservation. Across forests and across species, responses to forestry operations that alter habitat conditions vary, so repeatable surveys of biological indicators like ground-dwelling beetles can capture forest spatial variation and changes over time.

While ground dwelling beetles help scientists understand conditions on the forest floor, indicators that reflect conditions in the canopy have been more evasive. But a team of researchers at Kyoto University thought that Platycerus might fit this role: a genus of stag beetles that inhabits broadleaf forests, munching on the dead wood of trees as larvae and new leaf buds as adults. The research team chose to investigate whether these beetles might complement their ground-dwelling counterparts in the biological monitoring of broadleaf forests.

In the forests of Hida, Japan, the scientists conducted a survey called a female-attracted flight Interception trap -- F-FIT -- a "honey trap" that uses female Platycerus stag beetles to attract males. F-FIT was introduced only recently to address the limitations of conventional Platycerus surveys, which depend on an observer's skill and may risk damaging breeding sites. With this new survey, the team recorded captures of male Platycerus takakuwai, a species typical to Japan.

Using F-FIT data, the scientists analyzed capture counts in relation to location data and environmental variables such as weather, elevation, forest structure, and forest-edge position. The team then compared multiple statistical models to examine the relationships between differences in capture counts and environmental conditions across locations.

The project's results revealed that beetle capture counts increased toward forest interiors and declined toward open areas. This indicates that the relationship between tree density and capture counts can be characterized as varying across locations rather than uniformly across the forest, highlighting the value of looking beyond forest-wide averages when assessing habitat conditions.

This study represents the first application of F-FIT to habitat assessment in operational broadleaf forestry. The successful linking of capture counts to trap locations demonstrates the potential of this survey method to provide spatial information on local forest habitat conditions, which can be used for better environmental assessment and management of these forests.

"I'm interested in how forest resources can be used while maintaining habitats for wildlife," says first author Minori Tokito. "It was rewarding to see F-FIT develop from a quantitative survey method into a source of information for considering how forests are used and managed."

The team now has larger-scale surveys underway, and future work will need to examine whether similar spatial patterns are observed across forests, years, and survey dates. As Platycerus takakuwai is found in Japan, the scientists aim to develop locally useful indicators to support forest management that balances timber use and biodiversity conservation in other regions.

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The paper "A honey trap for Platycerus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae): Georeferenced captures indicate forest-habitat patterns in operational broadleaf forestry" appeared on 6 September 2026 in Forest Ecology and Management, with doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2026.124225

About Kyoto University

Kyoto University is one of Japan and Asia's premier research institutions, founded in 1897 and responsible for producing numerous Nobel laureates and winners of other prestigious international prizes. A broad curriculum across the arts and sciences at undergraduate and graduate levels complements several research centers, facilities, and offices around Japan and the world. For more information, please see: http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en

Journal

Forest Ecology and Management

DOI

10.1016/j.foreco.2026.124225

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

A honey trap for Platycerus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae): Georeferenced captures indicate forest-habitat patterns in operational broadleaf forestry

Article Publication Date

6-Sep-2026

Quantum study offers new insights into lithium’s effects in the brain

University of Surrey

A new clue to how lithium may affect the brain has been found in new research into quantum biology at the University of Surrey. The study investigates how a quantum property of lithium atoms could influence chemical reactions involving vitamin C in the brain.

While lithium has been used as a first-line treatment for the long-term management of bipolar disorder for more than 70 years, scientists still do not fully understand how it produces its therapeutic effects in the brain.

In a new study published in PLOS One, Surrey researchers used computational chemistry and quantum simulations to investigate whether part of the answer could lie in ‘nuclear spin’ – a quantum property that makes an atom’s nucleus behave like a tiny magnet, allowing it to influence nearby electrons and potentially change the outcome of chemical reactions.

The study focused on the two stable isotopes of lithium – lithium-6 and lithium-7. Although chemically almost identical, their atomic nuclei have different quantum spins, and previous in vivo studies have found that this means they can produce different biological effects, including differences in their ability to reduce hyperactivity in rats.

The team modelled whether this difference could influence a chemical reaction involving flavin, a vitamin B2-derived molecule that helps proteins transfer electrons, and a radical derived from vitamin C (a form of the molecule with an unpaired electron). Vitamin C is abundant in brain cells called neurons and helps protect the brain against oxidative stress, while its radical can retain its spin state for relatively long periods, giving quantum effects more time to potentially influence the reaction.

Simulations showed that lithium-6 and lithium-7 could affect the reaction differently because of their different nuclear spins. The size of the predicted isotope effect was similar to that derived from previous animal studies comparing the behavioural effects of lithium-6 and lithium-7.

Amina Mouhamed, PhD researcher at the University of Surrey and first author of the study, said:

“What fascinated us was the possibility that two almost chemically identical forms of lithium could influence biology differently because of a quantum property of their nuclei.

“If this difference could affect chemical reactions and ultimately contribute to changes in behaviour, it would demonstrate a remarkable link across scales, from atomic nuclei to biological processes. That possibility remains to be tested experimentally. Confirming such a link could open a new avenue for treatment design: fine-tuning how a medicine works by changing its isotopic composition”

While the study does not show that quantum effects are responsible for lithium’s therapeutic action, it identifies a possible mechanism that researchers can now test experimentally.

Dr Marco Sacchi, Associate Professor of Computational Chemistry at the University of Surrey and senior author of the study, said:

“Lithium is an extraordinary drug. It has transformed the treatment of bipolar disorder, yet after decades of clinical use we still do not completely understand what it does at the molecular level.

“Our results do not show that quantum spin effects are responsible for lithium’s therapeutic action. What they do show is that such a mechanism is physically plausible in a biologically relevant molecular system and can generate an isotope effect of the right order of magnitude. That gives us a hypothesis we can now begin to test experimentally.”

The researchers hope that future experiments comparing lithium-6 and lithium-7 in systems involving vitamin C could test whether the isotope-dependent effects predicted by the model occur in real chemical or biological systems.

[ENDS]

Notes to editors

Dr Marco Sacchi and Amina Mouhamed are available for interview; please contact mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk to arrange.

The full paper can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0356617

Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0356617

Article Title

Lithium isotope effects and magnetic interactions in flavin–ascorbyl radical pairs

PES4URBANWATER drives fairer, more sustainable and resilient urban water management

This project will analyze how payments for systemic services (PES) can improve water quality, protect water resources and support climate change adaptation through an equitable approach across different organizational contexts

RMIT University

image:
Co-funded by the European Union under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 101177949 (AuSpire). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the Research Executive Agency can be held responsible for them.
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Credit: European Commission

Against a backdrop of accelerating urbanisation and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, ensuring an equitable, resilient and sustainable urban water supply poses a challenge for contemporary environmental governance. To address this challenge, PES4URBANWATER has been launched as an international research project that will assess the feasibility of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes as financial and structural tools for protecting water resources and strengthening the resilience of cities.

PES4URBANWATER focuses on Barcelona and Melbourne as case studies—two cities with distinct and pioneering water governance models. Barcelona is characterised by a centralised water management model, whereas Melbourne operates under a decentralised, multi-level governance system.

Through this unprecedented comparison, the initiative will provide insight into how a city’s institutional and organisational structure influences the design, acceptance and success of economic incentives aimed at conserving riverine and urban ecosystems.

A multidisciplinary methodology for developing strategic recommendations and decision support tools

The project, coordinated by Cetaqua–Water Technology Centre in collaboration with RMIT University, integrates environmental and economic evaluations with public policy analysis. Central to this approach is the deployment of Water-Oriented Living Labs (WOOLs)—collaborative innovation spaces where public institutions, industry partners, researchers, and local communities co-develop solutions alongside innovative regulatory sandboxes.

The knowledge generated will be translated into strategic recommendations and decision support tools for policymakers, water authorities, water utility companies and other key stakeholders. This suite of tools will be designed to be transferable, enabling it to effectively guide urban planners, managers and policymakers in any major city worldwide.

In this way, PES4URBANWATER will help to build a shared vision of more effective, inclusive and evidence-based water governance models, strengthening the capacity of cities to address the challenges of climate change and move towards more sustainable urban water management.

Social equity, a fundamental pillar towards justice and policy coherence

Unlike previous studies that analyse the economic or environmental feasibility of PES in isolation, PES4URBANWATER places distributive justice at the heart of its analysis, examining how the costs and benefits of water management models are shared.

Dr Cecilia Higa Gonzales Morilla, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow, explains: “A water management model is only truly viable if its burdens and benefits are distributed fairly and transparently. By comparing contexts such as Barcelona and Melbourne, our aim is to demonstrate that environmental protection, financial viability and social justice are three deeply interconnected dimensions that must be managed together.”

In this way, the PES4URBANWATER initiative, which is co-funded by the European Union through the AuSpire Program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) of Horizon Europe, seeks to align with and directly support major global agendas, including the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the European Green Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

More information about PES4URBANWATER: https://www.cetaqua.com/proyectos/pes4urbanwater/

Co-funded by the European Union under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 101177949 (AuSpire). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the Research Executive Agency can be held responsible for them.

Method of Research

News article

HKUST researchers reveal a tiered adaptation strategy in deep-sea chemosynthetic symbiosis

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Researchers conduct deep-sea in situ transplant experiments of Archivesica marissinica at site HM-3 — image:
Researchers conduct deep-sea *in situ* transplant experiments of *Archivesica marissinica* at site HM-3 corresponding to moderate hydrogen sulfide depletion.
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Credit: Provided by HKUST

A research team led by Prof. QIAN Peiyuan, Chair Professor of the Department of Ocean Science at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), in collaboration with international partners, has made significant progress in uncovering how deep-sea chemosynthetic symbioses cope with environmental change. The findings reveal that metabolic flexibility in the symbionts, coupled with the host's finely regulated population of bacterial symbionts, mutually sustains the host's energy stability. This provides important in situ evidence of how chemosynthetic holobionts at deep-sea cold seeps remain resilient when energy supplies fluctuate and highlights the key role of a tiered adaptation strategy in sustaining the stability of cold seep ecosystems.

Apart from HKUST, the research was conducted in collaboration with the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (Guangzhou Marine Laboratory), Ocean University of China (OUC), the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), and the University of Calgary in Canada. It represents an important outcome within the framework of two UN Decade Programmes namely "CliMetS" and "MOCSI". The research was recently published in the leading international journal Science Advances, titled “In situ evidence of tiered adaptations buffering a chemosynthetic clam holobiont against environmental sulfide fluctuations”.

In chemosynthetic ecosystems, such as deep-sea hydrothermal vents and methane seeps, hydrogen sulfide is a crucial chemical energy source for supporting biological communities. However, its concentration can fluctuate substantially due to tectonic activity, seepage intensity, and processes such as the anaerobic oxidation of methane in sediments. Direct evidence has long been lacking on how deep-sea symbiotic organisms adapt to such dynamic environments and how hosts and symbionts work together to maintain system stability.

The Haima cold seep comprises seep sites at different developmental stages, providing a "natural laboratory" for studying biological responses to environmental change. The research team focused on a dominant species of deep-sea clam (Archivesica marissinica) at the Haima cold seep and its sulfur-oxidizing bacterial symbionts. By combining deep-sea in situ transplant experiments with in situ sample fixation, the research team conducted deep-sea in situ transplantation studies at two sites HM-3 and HM-2 respectively. The clams were moved from their native sediments into transplantation cages positioned approximately 0.5 m above the seafloor, preventing them from accessing hydrogen sulfide-rich sediment. This setup simulates decreased hydrogen sulfide availability, leading to reduced energy and nutrient acquisition: HM-2 represents severe hydrogen sulfide limitation, whereas HM-3 represents relatively moderate limitation.

By integrating metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, quantitative PCR, in situ hybridization, transmission electron microscopy, and protein structure prediction, the research team elucidated a tiered adaptation strategy in holobiont, encompassing symbiont metabolism, host regulation of symbiosis, and resource transportation.

The study revealed that reduced hydrogen sulfide availability first triggered pronounced metabolic reprogramming in the bacterial symbionts. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses showed that pathways involved in sulfide oxidation, including dsrAB, aprAB, and sat, were suppressed, whereas the soxXYZ gene cluster associated with thiosulfate oxidation was upregulated. These results indicate that when hydrogen sulfide becomes limiting, the bacterial symbionts can adjust their sulfur-oxidation strategies and potentially enhance their capacity to utilize thiosulfate, thereby maintaining energy metabolism and carbon fixation. This metabolic plasticity may represent the first line of defense for holobiont in coping with short-term hydrogen sulfide limitation.

The study further demonstrated that host regulation of symbionts changes with the severity of hydrogen sulfide limitation. Under the relatively moderate hydrogen sulfide limitation at HM-3, the abundance of bacterial symbionts remained stable. Meanwhile, pathways associated with endosomal maturation and endosome–lysosome fusion in the hosts were suppressed, suggesting that the host may reduce intracellular degradation and turnover of bacterial symbionts to help maintain the symbiont population. This reflects that the host preferentially maintains symbiosis under relatively moderate hydrogen sulfide restriction. Under the severe hydrogen sulfide limitation at HM-2, however, symbiont abundance decreased significantly, and transmission electron microscopy revealed the digestion of symbionts by lysosomes. This indicates that hosts facing severe resource constraints might enhance their survival by increasing symbiont turnover to access limited nutrients.

The gill tissue of Archivesica marissinica also possesses a strong sulfur-metabolic capacity and highly expresses key enzymes such as thiosulfate sulfurtransferase (TST). TST participates in the conversion of toxic hydrogen sulfide into thiosulfate, which is then utilized by bacterial symbionts for sulfur oxidation. Coupled with the observed upregulation in the symbiotic soxXYZ gene cluster, these findings suggest that thiosulfate generated during host hydrogen sulfide detoxification may serve as an alternative energy substrate for the symbionts. This establishes a potential metabolic synergy between host detoxification and symbiont utilization, offering new insights into how hosts and symbionts achieve metabolic complementarity under resource-limited conditions.

Additionally, the research team investigated the potential role of Archivesica marissinica hemoglobins in gas transport. The two hemoglobin subunits, Hb1 and Hb2, are primarily localized in blood cells and highly expressed in the foot and gill tissues. Both protein structural prediction and molecular docking results revealed that the hemoglobin complex exhibits a slightly higher binding affinity for hydrosulfide than for oxygen. These findings suggest that the hemoglobin complex may mediate the binding and transport of hydrogen sulfide and oxygen, providing new molecular insights into the mechanisms underlying gas transport in vesicomyid clams.

Prof. QIAN Peiyuan, co-corresponding author of this study, said: "Taken together, we believe that Archivesica marissinica and its symbionts form a multi-layered, tiered adaptation strategy. This enables the deep-sea chemosynthetic holobiont to maintain normal functions and survive while adjusting resource allocation according to the severity of environmental stress. The in situ experimental framework established by this research provides a new approach for investigating the authentic molecular responses of organisms inhabiting extreme deep-sea environments to natural environmental changes. It also offers new scientific evidence for understanding how global deep-sea cold seep ecosystems respond to environmental change and maintain ecological functions and biodiversity."

The co-corresponding authors of this paper include Prof. QIAN Peiyuan (HKUST, Guangzhou Marine Laboratory), Prof. SUN Jin (OUC), and Prof. Casey HUBERT (University of Calgary in Canada). The co-first authors include Dr. LAN Yi (HKUST, Guangzhou Marine Laboratory, University of Calgary in Canada), Dr. YAN Guoyong (HKUST, Guangzhou Marine Laboratory) and Dr. WANG Hao (Guangzhou Marine Laboratory, IOCAS).

Journal

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.aed8728

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

In situ evidence of tiered adaptations buffering a chemosynthetic clam holobiont against environmental sulfide fluctuations

Article Publication Date

2-Oct-2026

Researchers conduct deep-sea in situ transplant experiments of Archivesica marissinica at site HM-2 corresponding to severe hydrogen sulfide depletion.

The research team conducts deep-sea in situ transplant experiments of Archivesica marissinica at the Haima cold seep.

The research team analyses hydrogen sulfide binding capability of clam host hemoglobin.

New study reports largest-ever population estimate for Seychelles’ giant tortoises

Once-threatened species now healthy at 180,000 individuals

University of Exeter

A landmark survey of the world’s largest free-roaming giant tortoise population has revealed the once endangered species is thriving and stable in the Seychelles.

The Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) population on Aldabra Atoll stands at approximately 180,000 individuals – the highest figure ever recorded for the species – following the survey led by the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) and the University of Exeter.

The new figure was obtained by the team, who analysed five years of tortoise counts collected by SIF research staff between 2018 and 2022.

It is the first rigorous, atoll-wide estimate of the population and the first update since the widely cited figure of 100,000 tortoises from the late 1990s. The findings have now been published in the scientific journal Ecology and Evolution.
Aldabra Atoll is one of only two places in the world where giant tortoises can be found in the wild, with a much smaller population resident in the Galapagos.

Dr Frauke Fleischer-Dogley, CEO of SIF, said:

"The monitoring data in this study were collected by SIF staff living and working on the atoll, year after year. More than 180,000 giant tortoises roaming freely on our atoll is proof of what long-term commitment to conservation can achieve. This is wonderful news for Seychelles, for the world, and for everyone who has worked to protect Aldabra.”

The study found that the population was relatively stable for this period, with a best estimate of almost 183,000 adult and sub-adult tortoises. This figure exceeds the human population of the Seychelles and is a far cry from the species’ darkest hour in the 19th century, when heavy exploitation reduced Aldabra’s tortoises to fewer than 1,000 individuals. Their recovery, aided by protection since Aldabra became a strict nature reserve in 1981 and a UNESCO site in 1982, is one of the greatest conservation success stories of the Indian Ocean, and the new study confirms that legacy.

"Aldabra's giant tortoise monitoring programme is one of the longest running in the region, but the atoll's dense vegetation makes counting tortoises genuinely difficult in places,”

said Dr Nancy Bunbury, one of the study’s co-authors.

“By modelling what we didn't see, as well as what we did, we've produced the most reliable baseline yet for this iconic Seychelles species, establishing a benchmark we can use to track the population for decades to come."

The researchers caution that the new headline figure does not mean the population has nearly doubled since 1999. Earlier surveys did not account for tortoises that were present but not seen by surveyors, hidden in dense scrub or shade. The new study used a sophisticated statistical technique, known as Bayesian hierarchical distance sampling, which corrects for missed animals and for differences in visibility across Aldabra's habitats. Because earlier methods likely missed tortoises, the study suggests previous figures were probably underestimates — while still pointing to a population that has genuinely grown and now appears healthy and stable.

The study also found that tortoises occur at highest densities in Aldabra's grasslands, or ‘tortoise turf’, followed by open exposed surfaces and open mixed scrub. Tortoises were harder to detect in dense scrub, mangrove and Pemphis habitats, where the new modelling helps correct for reduced visibility.

Despite the good news, the study's authors warn that vigilance is essential. Aldabra's climate is changing, with longer and more frequent droughts predicted to reduce the shade and food available to tortoises, while rising sea levels threaten low-lying parts of the atoll.

Invasive mammals also remain a key threat: feral goats, which devastated the atoll's vegetation before their successful eradication in 2012, are gone, but feral cats and black rats still prey on tortoise eggs and hatchlings. The planned eradication of these remaining invasive mammals, the authors say, could lift the last barriers to further growth of the population and help it withstand future climate pressures.

“These results are great news for the tortoises and testament to the fantastic work done in the field,”

said Dr Dave Hudson, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Exeter, Cornwall, who supported the development of the statistical modelling framework used to analyse the long-term monitoring data and estimate the population.

“But it's important to remember that the numbers provide a baseline - not an endpoint. Hopefully we have provided the conservation managers the evidence they need to track future change and act early as the tortoises face increasing pressures from climate change, drought and invasive species."

The paper, Inferring the Abundance of an Island Megaherbivore From Semi-Structured Distance Sampling, by Lara B. Hillyard, Nancy Bunbury, Christopher N. Kaiser-Bunbury, Dave Hodgson, Luke A'Bear, Cheryl L. Sanchez, Christopher W. Jones, April Burt, Frauke Fleischer-Dogley and Dave W. Hudson, is published in Ecology and Evolution.

Journal

Ecology and Evolution

DOI

10.1002/ece3.74282

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Inferring the Abundance of an Island Megaherbivore From Semi-Structured Distance Sampling

Article Publication Date

4-Oct-2026

Giant tortoises grazing in large numbers on Aldabra Atoll

Credit

Photo courtesy of Dennis Hanse