Speciesism

Summary

Speciesism (ˈspiːʃiːˌzɪzəm,_-siːˌzɪz-) is a term used in philosophy regarding the treatment of individuals of different species. The term has several different definitions within the relevant literature. Some sources specifically define speciesism as discrimination or unjustified treatment based on an individual's species membership, while other sources define it as differential treatment without regard to whether the treatment is justified or not. Richard Ryder, who coined the term, defined it as "a prejudice or attitude of bias in favour of the interests of members of one's own species and against those of members of other species." Speciesism results in the belief that humans have the right to use non-human animals, which scholars say is pervasive in the modern society. Studies from 2015 and 2019 suggest that people who support animal exploitation also tend to endorse racist, sexist, and other prejudicial views, wh

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speciesism

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This course provides students with an overview over the basics of environmental chemistry. This includes the chemistry of natural systems, as well as the fate of anthropogenic chemicals in natural systems. It enables students to apply general chemical concepts to natural systems.

The theoretical part of this course covers classical genetics and contemporary genomics. Because bioinformatics has become important for genomic research, the course also includes practical applications to genomic analyses using Python, including group projects.

Le but du cours est de familiariser l'étudiant-e aux notions de base du droit et de l'éthique applicables à la recherche en STV et à son transfert en applications, et de lui fournir les éléments essentiels pour identifier les enjeux juridiques et éthiques dans sa future pratique professionnelle.

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Landscape effects on anuran pond occupancy in an agricultural countryside: barrier-based buffers predict distributions better than circular buffers

Anna Klingemann, Rodolphe Schlaepfer, Flavio Zanini

Species movement and occupancy of habitat patches are dependent on landscape permeability. Some land-use types (e.g., roads) may be barriers to animal movement. Analyses of the effect of landscape structure on patch occupancy usually use circular buffers around focal patches. The main assumption of this methodological approach is that species are affected by a particular landscape element equally in every direction from a given patch. This assumption is likely not to hold if animal movement is restricted by barriers because barriers reduce movement patterns and reshape the ideal circular buffer into a noncircular buffer. We developed a method to determine the effect of landscape variables oil the distribution of two amphibian species that explicitly takes dispersal barriers into account. We extracted landscape variables within (i) circular buffers (CB) and (ii) barrier-based buffers (BBB). BBB were produced by reducing the boundaries of CB according to major impassable barriers. The BBB approach almost doubled the explained deviance of multiple regression models in comparison with the CB approach. Moreover. CB and BBB models included different predictor variables. We Suggest that the BBB approach is more Useful than the traditional CB analyses of species-habitat relationships because ecological barriers are explicitly taken into account..

2008

Two defence systems eliminate plasmids from seventh pandemic Vibrio cholerae

David William Adams, Melanie Blokesch, Milena Jadwiga Jaskolska

Horizontal gene transfer can trigger rapid shifts in bacterial evolution. Driven by a variety of mobile genetic elements—in particular bacteriophages and plasmids—the ability to share genes within and across species underpins the exceptional adaptability of bacteria. Nevertheless, invasive mobile genetic elements can also present grave risks to the host; bacteria have therefore evolved a vast array of defences against these elements1. Here we identify two plasmid defence systems conserved in the Vibrio cholerae El Tor strains responsible for the ongoing seventh cholera pandemic2–4. These systems, termed DdmABC and DdmDE, are encoded on two major pathogenicity islands that are a hallmark of current pandemic strains. We show that the modules cooperate to rapidly eliminate small multicopy plasmids by degradation. Moreover, the DdmABC system is widespread and can defend against bacteriophage infection by triggering cell suicide (abortive infection, or Abi). Notably, we go on to show that, through an Abi-like mechanism, DdmABC increases the burden of large low-copy-number conjugative plasmids, including a broad-host IncC multidrug resistance plasmid, which creates a fitness disadvantage that counterselects against plasmid-carrying cells. Our results answer the long-standing question of why plasmids, although abundant in environmental strains, are rare in pandemic strains; have implications for understanding the dissemination of antibiotic resistance plasmids; and provide insights into how the interplay between two defence systems has shaped the evolution of the most successful lineage of pandemic V. cholerae.

2022

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A longstanding question in ecology concerns the prediction of the fate of mountain species under climate change, where climatic and geomorphic factors but also endogenous species characteristics are jointly expected to control species distributions. A significant step forward would single out reliably landscape effects, given their constraining role and relative ease of theoretical manipulation. Here, we address population dynamics in ecosystems where the substrates for ecological interactions are mountain landscapes subject to climate warming. We use a minimalist model of metapopulation dynamics based on virtual species (i.e. a suitable assemblage of focus species) where dispersal processes interact with the spatial structure of the landscape. Climate warming is subsumed by an upward shift of species habitat altering the metapopulation capacity of the landscape and hence species viability. We find that the landscape structure is a powerful determinant of species survival, owing to the specific role of the predictably evolving connectivity of the various habitats. Range shifts and lags in tracking suitable habitat experienced by virtual species under warming conditions are singled out in different landscapes. The range of parameters is identified for which these virtual species (characterized by comparable viability thus restricting their possible fitnesses and niche widths) prove unable to cope with environmental change. The statistics of the proportion of species bound to survive is identified for each landscape, providing the temporal evolution of species range shifts and the related expected occupation patterns. A baseline dynamic model for predicting species fates in evolving habitats is thus provided.

2019