Latest Articles

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  Section: Archaeology ; Topics: Archaeology

  Laying the Groundwork for Moveable Heritage Disaster Risk Management: A Database-Driven Evacuation Tool at the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale

  Yeung, Kai Chun Lennox  

  10.24072/pcjournal.784 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e95

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  This paper presents a case study conducted at the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale (National Archaeology Museum) in France, to develop a dedicated database application to safeguard its moveable heritage from risks, as a foundational component of the museum’s wider Disaster Risk Management (DRM) strategy. It responds to calls from both national and international cultural organisations to implement DRM strategies within cultural heritage institutions, emphasising the importance of preparedness in an era marked by increasing frequency and intensity of natural and anthropogenic disasters worldwide. This study draws on guidelines published by international cultural organisations to implement the first phase of the DRM cycle, to assess, mitigate, and prepare for potential risks. Having identified fire as the primary risk capable of causing irreversible damage to the museum’s archaeological collections, this study determines an evacuation-based approach to be the optimal solution to safeguard artefacts, through which the study then proposes and develops a database application to ensure effective and efficient emergency evacuations when needed. The resulting database has been adopted as the foundation of the museum’s DRM strategy and provides a valuable reference for cultural institutions housing moveable heritage. In summary, this study lays a crucial foundation for a comprehensive safeguarding strategy, offering a blueprint for mitigating and countering risks to protect invaluable heritage for the future.

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  Section: Ecology ; Topics: Ecology

  Estimating home range size under spatial constraints: a comparative approach using the semi-aquatic European mink (Mustela lutreola)

  Bodinier, Remi;   Aulagnier, Stephane; Bressan, Yoann; Beaubert, Romain; Fournier-Chambrillon, Christine; Devillard, Sebastien; Fournier, Pascal

  10.24072/pcjournal.801 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e94

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  Accurate home range knowledge is essential for conserving species that are highly constrained by spatial features. The critically endangered European mink (Mustela lutreola) is a wetland specialist whose movements are constrained along rivers or in wetlands. In dendritic landscapes, conventional home range estimators such as Minimum Convex Polygons tend to include unsuitable areas in estimated home ranges. Using VHF telemetry data from 16 individual-years tracked in France between 1996–1999 and 2020–2022, we compared four methods: Kernel Density Estimator (KDE), an adaptative sphere-of-influence local convex hull (a-LoCoH), a newly developed Ecological Home Range method (EHR), and a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) approach integrating hydrographic covariates. Our objective is to determine which method best accounts for the European mink’s specialization in wetlands, considering the spatial distribution of locations. Evaluation with a wetland-specific metric showed KDE consistently overestimated range extent and included unsuitable areas, and a-LoCoH yielded mixed results, but these indicated that the method was not effective in excluding unused areas. It was EHR and GAM methods that aligned more closely with ecological constraints. We therefore recommend GAM because it matches our objective and has the capacity to integrate additional environmental variables. Using the GAM, male home ranges averaged 3,074 ha—26 times larger than female ranges (116 ha)—and were significantly larger in river than marsh landscapes. These are the largest ranges reported for the species. Large spatial requirements heighten vulnerability to road fatality and predation, both significant threats for remaining French populations. Our findings highlight the need for conservation strategies that integrate precise, spatial-constraint-based range estimates. The GAM method offers a robust, adaptable framework for managing European mink and other semi-aquatic species in complex landscapes.

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  Section: Microbiology ; Topics: Microbiology, Environmental sciences, Genetics/genomics

  Comparing DNA extraction protocols for freshwater prokaryotic communities: impacts on yield and microbial profiling

  Szylit, Arthur;   Jardillier, Ludwig;   Ciobanu, Maria-Cristina;   Cabrol, Léa;   Barret, Maialen;   Christaki, Urania  

  10.24072/pcjournal.788 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e93

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  DNA extraction from aquatic samples is a critical process that influences the quantity and purity of the DNA obtained. This can have profound effects on the accuracy of the community depiction. In this study, DNA extraction workflows of seven commercial kits (Qiagen: DNeasy PowerLyzer PowerSoil, DNeasy PowerSoil Pro, DNeasy PowerSoil, DNeasy PowerMax Soil; Macherey-Nagel: NucleoSpin Soil; Zymo: ZymoBIOMICS DNA; MP Biomedicals: FastDNA SPIN), along with several modifications of manufacturer’s protocols focusing on the lysis and elution steps, were tested, accounting for a total of 18 different protocols. For each protocol, DNA yield (quantity, replicability and quality), richness and compositional reproducibility based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, as well as processing time and cost were assessed. The standard protocols recommended by the manufacturer showed comparable DNA yield results. Shared ASVs between all protocols accounted for >90% of the reads and were mostly abundant ASVs, indicating consistent detection of dominant taxa across all protocols. Adding supplementary lysis and elution steps to the manufacturer's protocols yielded up to ~4× more DNA. However, total read counts and ASV richness were lower as total DNA increased. Manufacturer’s protocols therefore showed higher values than their modified versions, although these effects were not significant on community composition. We conclude that the choice of a protocol is the balance between recovering sufficient DNA of good quality versus potential effects on downstream sequencing output (reads and ASVs).

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  Section: Microbiology ; Topics: Microbiology

  Monoclonal anti-dsRNA antibody-based metagenomics (MADAM) reveal Pyricularia oryzae mycovirome

  Blondin, Laurence;   Filloux, Denis;   Fernandez, Emmanuel; Adreit, Henri; Huang, Huichuan;   Fournier, Elisabeth;   Tharreau, Didier;   Roumagnac, Philippe  

  10.24072/pcjournal.782 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e92

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  This study introduces MADAM (Monoclonal Anti-dsRNA Antibody-Based Metagenomics), a novel approach that integrates multiple technical modules previously used independently in other protocols. MADAM combines monoclonal antibody-mediated double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) enrichment, sequence-independent RT-PCR, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) sequencing. Applied to Pyricularia oryzae, the causal agent of rice blast disease, MADAM enabled the comprehensive characterization of mycovirus genomes from four fungal isolates collected in Yunnan, China. The approach achieved high viral read recovery rates (46.9-72.7%) and identified 18 P. oryzae-associated RNA viruses spanning seven families: Botourmiaviridae, Deltaormycoviridae, Mymonaviridae, Partitiviridae, Polymycoviridae, Splipalmiviridae, and Ambiguiviridae. Seventeen nearly complete to complete viral genomes (1,226-6,085 nucleotides) were recovered, with sequence coverage ranging from 88% to 100%. Co-infections were detected in three of the four isolates, with notable discoveries including the first deltaormycovirus reported in P. oryzae, a putative novel member of Botourmiaviridae, and an additional genomic segment of a polymycovirus. MADAM successfully detected positive-sense, negative-sense ssRNA, and dsRNA viruses, demonstrating its broad applicability. By uncovering novel viruses and resolving complex co-infections, this method proves invaluable for fungal virology, with potential applications in diagnostics, surveillance, and biological control. Ultimately, MADAM advances our understanding of fungal viral diversity and paves the way for further exploration of mycovirus ecology and evolution.