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This study investigates values and narratives of urban biodiversity in the highly culturally and biologically diverse city Cape Town, South Africa. Local expressions of values of biodiversity are explored, in the context of the challenge of accounting for diverse values of biodiversity through a green infrastructure approach. Based on interviews with practitioners involved in green space and biodi

Anorectal malformations (ARM) are a spectrum of congenital malformations, specifically defined by the absence of a normal anal opening. These conditions are treated surgically by posterior sagittal anorectoplasty and, in cases with perineal fistulas, perineal skin advancement is required to cover the tissue defect. Complications involving wound dehiscence are frequent, and may be due to stretching

Purpose: We investigated how the C flow from plants to microorganisms varies throughout the year in a temperate grassland. Additionally, we investigated how the C flow relates to saprotrophic activity and vegetation changes. Methods: In situ stable isotope pulse labelling (13CO2) was employed to estimate the flow of recently plant-derived C to soil microorganisms by using signature fatty acids. Ba

Sweden is often seen as a frontrunner when it comes to sustainability. For example, it has the highest share of renewable energy in the EU and is known for its thorough recycling and waste separation. Sweden is sparsely populated and 70% of its land area is covered by forests. Over the last century, the volume of yearly timber harvests has doubled, but despite this remarkable productivity increase

The efforts to measure people’s current preferences and values of ecosystem services raise questions about the link to sustainability transformations. The importance of taking social and cultural values of nature into account is increasingly recognised within ecosystem services research and policy. This notion is informing the development and application of social (or socio-cultural) valuation met

We welcome Raymond et al.’s invitation to further discuss the ‘pragmatics’ of relational thinking in sustainability science. We clarify that relational approaches provide distinct theoretical and methodological resources that may be adopted on their own, or used to enrich other approaches, including systems research. We situate Raymond et al.’s characterization of relational thinking in a broader

A collaborative action research initiative was conducted in collaboration with professionals in a set of clinical research and development networks in a local health care system in Sweden. This is an examination of the interaction between engaging in collaborative action research practice and the power of tradition in health care. From observations and interviews with the coordinators of

The human-driven loss of biodiversity has numerous ecological, social, and economic impacts at the local and global levels, threatening important ecological functions and jeopardizing human well-being. In this perspective, we present an overview of how tropical defaunation—defined as the disappearance of fauna as a result of anthropogenic drivers such as hunting and habitat alteration in tropical

Promoting or upscaling governance and business innovations requires an understanding about the conditions and contexts that support a particular innovation. Indeed, context can importantly condition the emergence of new ideas as well as their stabilization and system-level uptake. Ecosystems and the services they provide can be considered this kind of context for innovations because they vary acro

Flavonoid compounds like anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins are important plant secondary metabolites having wide biological activities for humans. In this study, the molecular function of the Ant13 locus, which is one of the key loci governing flavonoid synthesis in barley, was determined. It was found that Ant13 encodes a WD40-type regulatory protein, which is required for transcriptional activa

Synthetic pesticides (e.g. herbicides, fungicides and insecticides) are used widely in agriculture to protect crops from pests, weeds and disease. However, their use also comes with a range of environmental concerns. One key concern is the effect of insecticides on non-target organisms such as bees, who provide pollination services for crops and wild plants. This systematic literature review quant

Considerable efforts have been recently devoted to the task of small-scale modeling of crystal plasticity at a reasonable computational cost. A fully detailed description of plastic flows incrystals is possible only by molecular dynamics (MD) approaches, which accurately representmicromechanisms of plastic response while relying minimally on phenomenology. However, inmost applications, such an appConsiderable efforts have been recently devoted to the task of small-scale modeling of crystal plasticity at a reasonable computational cost. A fully detailed description of plastic flows in crystals is possible only by molecular dynamics (MD) approaches, which accurately represent micromechanisms of plastic response while relying minimally on phenomenology. However, in most applications, such an

Despite growing interest in fungal necromass decomposition due to its importance in soil carbon retention, whether a consistent group of microorganisms is associated with decomposing necromass remains unresolved. Here, we synthesize knowledge on the composition of the bacterial and fungal communities present on decomposing fungal necromass from a variety of fungal species, geographic locations, ha

Biotechnology offers extensive possibilities to incorporate new traits into organisms. Genetically modified (GM) traits relevant for agro-ecosystems include traits such as pest resistance and herbicide tolerance in crop plants, increased growth rate in fish and livestock, and enhanced nitrogen-fixation capabilities of soil microbes. In this review, we evaluated the direct and indirect trait-specif

1.. Implementation of the full spectra of screening tools to prevent the introduction of invasive species results in a need to evaluate the cost-efficiency of gathering the information needed to screen for these species. 2. We show how the Bayesian value of information approach can be used to derive the benefit of a screening model based on species traits, which in combination with the base rate o

Soil nutrients and light have major effects on the economics of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses. This study tests the main and interactive effects of soil fertility and light on AM fungal community. We conducted a 3 year mesocosm experiment with a full two factorial design: light (full light or shade) and soil fertility (unfertilized or fertilized), on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Plant trai

Soil disturbance is recognised as an important restoration measure for conserving biodiversity in sandy soils. We used a soil disturbance (ploughing) experiment in a sandy grassland as well as a semi-natural disturbance (slope erosion enhanced by cattle trampling) gradient on a sandy slope to test the soil disturbance effects on the ground-living beetle community. Both experimental disturbance and

We have investigated the structure of a microbial community in semi-natural sandy grassland in southeast Sweden. The sand is rich in lime, but in most places the soil is decalcified in the upper layers, and therefore this site shows a large variation in pH within short distances. We collected samples at three different soil depths (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm and 20-30 cm) and found the pH to range from 5 t

Aim To investigate how the chemical composition of native organic matter of two contrasting soils varies with inputs of biochar and fresh material (including plant roots) and how these underlying changes influence microbial community structure. Methods Corn stover (CS) and CS-derived biochars produced at 350 °C and 550 °C were applied at a dose of 7.2 t C ha−1 to two contrasting soils—an Alfis