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During the last decade there has been an ongoing controversy regarding the extent to which nitrogen fertilization can increase carbon sequestration and net ecosystem production in forest ecosystems. The debate is complicated by the fact that increased nitrogen availability caused by nitrogen deposition has coincided with increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. The latter could furthe
Even though anthropogenic nano-sized tungsten carbide nanoparticles (WC NPs) have been found in the environment, there are currently no investigations on their environmental fate. This work studies the interaction between natural organic matter (NOM) and WC NPs, as well as the potential uptake by the aquatic model organism Daphnia magna. We here show that the affinity between WC NPs and humic acid
Background: Soils are important global carbon pools that are under threat from intensive land use through a variety of agricultural practices. Sustainable management of agricultural soils may have the potential to mitigate climate change through increased carbon sequestration and increase their fertility. Among management practices to increase carbon sequestration, crop rotation designs have often
In boreal forests, ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are found in soil layers containing decomposed litter and humus-rich soil organic matter (SOM). This chapter summarizes the present understanding of the mechanisms for oxidative decomposition of SOM and the hydrolysis and mobilization of organic N and P sources by ECM fungi. It discusses how these processes may influence the formation and stability of
Fluctuations in soil moisture create drying-rewetting events affecting the activity of microorganisms. Microbial responses to drying-rewetting are mostly studied in soils that are air-dried before rewetting. Upon rewetting, two patterns of bacterial growth have been observed. In the Type 1 pattern, bacterial growth rates increase immediately in a linear fashion. In the Type 2 pattern, bacterial gr
The identification of causal links between microbial community structure and ecosystem functions are required for a mechanistic understanding of ecosystem responses to environmental change. One of the most influential factors affecting plants and microbial communities in soil in managed ecosystems is the current land-use. In forestry, wood ash has been proposed as a liming agent and a fertilizer,
Many separate-sexed organisms have sex chromosomes controlling sex determination. Sex chromosomes often have reduced recombination, specialized (frequently sex-specific) gene content, dosage compensation and heteromorphic size. Research on sex determination and sex chromosome evolution has increased over the past decade and is today a very active field. However, some areas within the field have no
Mineral weathering plays an important role in soil formation, long-term plant nutrition, and the global carbon cycle. The dissolution rate of most soil minerals is extremely slow. Nearly 100. years ago it was proposed that plants actively mine for nutrients locked in soil minerals. In more recent times the role of plant-associated mycorrhizal fungi has been emphasized. In this chapter we criticall
The increase in size of human populations in urban and agricultural areas has resulted in considerable habitat conversion globally. Such anthropogenic areas have specific environmental characteristics, which influence the physiology, life history, and population dynamics of plants and animals. For example, the date of bud burst is advanced in urban compared to nearby natural areas. In some birds,
Cereal grasses of the Triticeae tribe have been the major food source in temperate regions since the dawn of agriculture. Their large genomes are characterized by a high content of repetitive elements and large pericentromeric regions that are virtually devoid of meiotic recombination. Here we present a high-quality reference genome assembly for barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). We use chromosome confo
Polyporales is strongly supported as a clade of Agaricomycetes, but the lack of a consensus higher-level classification within the group is a barrier to further taxonomic revision. We amplified nrLSU, nrITS, and rpb1 genes across the Polyporales, with a special focus on the latter. We combined the new sequences with molecular data generated during the PolyPEET project and performed Maximum Likelih
We integrate field data and phylogenetic comparative analyses to investigate causes of body size evolution and stasis in an old insect order: odonates ("dragonflies and damselflies"). Fossil evidence for "Cope's Rule" in odonates is weak or nonexistent since the last major extinction event 65 million years ago, yet selection studies show consistent positive selection for increased body size among
BACKGROUND: Monitoring levels and trends in premature mortality is crucial to understanding how societies can address prominent sources of early death. The Global Burden of Disease 2016 Study (GBD 2016) provides a comprehensive assessment of cause-specific mortality for 264 causes in 195 locations from 1980 to 2016. This assessment includes evaluation of the expected epidemiological transition wit
Comparisons of the strength and form of phenotypic selection among groups provide a powerful approach for testing adaptive hypotheses. A central and largely unaddressed issue is how fitness and phenotypes are standardized in such studies; standardization across or within groups can qualitatively change conclusions whenever mean fitness differs between groups. We briefly reviewed recent relevant li
Premise of research. A major aim in plant research is to understand the micro-and macroevolutionary processes generating the great diversity of mating systems and floral traits found in flowering plants. Using Collinsia heterophylla, a mixed-mating species in a genus with described variation in selfing rate and associated floral traits among species, we investigated (i) intraspecific selfing rate
Background: The dynamics of phosphorus (P) in the environment is important for regulating nutrient cycles in natural and managed ecosystems and an integral part in assessing biological resilience against environmental change. Organic P (Po) compounds play key roles in biological and ecosystems function in the terrestrial environment being critical to cell function, growth and reproduction. Scope:
Globally, freshwater ecosystems are warming at unprecedented rates and northern temperate lakes are simultaneously experiencing increased runoff of humic substances (brownification), with little known consequences for future conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. We employed an outdoor mesocosm experiment during spring and summer to investigate the combined effects of gradually in
Rising carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and temperatures are expected to stimulate plant productivity and ecosystem C sequestration, but these effects require a concurrent increase in N availability for plants. Plants might indirectly promote N availability as they release organic C into the soil (e.g., by root exudation) that can increase microbial soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition (“pri
The first checklist of the odonates from Guyana is presented, including 46 new species records. Literature sources are provided for all species and for the new records full locality data, color scans or field photographs, taxonomic and biological notes, and maps for those species whose distribution range is increased considerably.
While ecosystem-based planning approaches are increasingly promoted through international and national policies, municipalities are still struggling with translating them into practice. Against this background, this paper aims to increase the knowledge of current advances and possible ways to support the implementation of the ecosystem services (ES) approach at the municipal level. More specifical
