Filtyp
Salinization is recognized as a threat to soil fertility worldwide. A challenge in understanding the effects of salinity on soil microbial communities is the fact that it can be difficult to disentangle the effects of salinity from those of other variables that may co-vary with salinity. Here we use a trait-based approach to identify direct effects of salinity on soil bacterial communities across
The need for sustainable agricultural systems, which for example enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) content, has increased the interest for management with reduced tillage. In this study we used a Swedish long-term (20 yrs.) systems experiment, including reduced tillage (harrowing 10 cm) and plowing (moldboard plow 0–20 cm) combined with three levels of nitrogen (N) fertilization. With this setup w
Background and aims: Decomposition and transformation of organic matter (OM) in forest soils are conducted by the concomitant action of saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungi. Here, we examine chemical changes in OM after fungal colonization in nitrogen fertilized and unfertilized soils from a Norway spruce forest. Methods: Sand-filled bags amended with composted maize leaves were placed in the forest
Simultaneously enhancing ecosystem services provided by biodiversity below and above ground is recommended to reduce dependence on chemical pesticides and mineral fertilisers in agriculture. However, consequences for crop yield have been poorly evaluated. Above ground, increased landscape complexity is assumed to enhance biological pest control, whereas below ground, soil organic carbon is a proxy
In saline soils, the severity of drought for the soil microbial community is exacerbated by accumulating concentrations of salts during drying. In this study we investigated how bacterial growth and respiration responses to drying-rewetting were affected by salinity. To do this, we adjusted a non-saline soil to four different salinities (0, 2, 7 and 22 mg NaCl g−1), followed by addition of plant m
Understanding the effects of different agricultural practices on the mycorrhizal symbiosis is important for agricultural production and the sustainable use of soil. We investigated the composition and diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in soils from fields under different agricultural practices (conventional and organic cereal fields, leys and permanent pastures) in southern Sweden. T
Predatory arthropods contribute to biological control, but to become an integral part of agricultural management, it is essential to identify drivers of their spatio-temporal distribution at the landscape scale. This study focuses on how agricultural land use affects the community composition, emergence and dispersal tendency of predatory arthropods. The arthropods were collected in emergence trap
Filamentous fungi play a key role in the terrestrial carbon cycle as they are the primary decomposers of lignocellulose in soil organic matter (SOM). Fungi secrete a wide range of oxidative and hydrolytic enzymes, and generate radicals through extracellular secondary metabolites to decompose SOM. To study fungal decomposition of SOM, the activities of isolated enzymes are typically studied as prox
Identifying field management practices to promote crop production, while conserving soil health is essential to maintain long-term food production in a changing world. Also, providing experimental evidence to support the use of traditional agricultural practices is necessary to secure sustainable agriculture. Here, we conducted a long-term 12-year experiment to investigate the impact of different
We analyze the development of biodiversity offsetting governance through a research-weaving approach. Here, we combine information from a systematized review of the literature and a qualitative analysis of the institutional developments in different world regions. Through this triangulation, we synthesize and map the different developmental streams of biodiversity offsetting governance around the
Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) enrichment in boreal forests has been shown to enhance aboveground net primary production and downregulate soil respiration, but it is not well understood if these effects are driven by reduced belowground C allocation or shifts between biomass production and respiration in fine-roots and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF). We utilized an experiment in a Pinus sylvestris (L.) f
When you think of fungi, you’ll probably picture a huddle of chubby brown mushrooms, or the large, red-capped toadstools you stumble across in the woods. In doing so, you’re reducing fungi to their reproductive organs – tasty or striking as they may often be.
While many bumblebee species decline due to climate and land-use changes, others cope well with contemporary conditions. One example is Bombus terrestris, which is common in intensively managed agricultural landscapes. During the 20th century its subgenus, which includes the B. lucorum complex (B. lucorum, B. cryptarum and B. magnus) came to dominate Scandinavian bumblebee communities, but the spe
The loss of long-tongued pollinator species and dominance of a few short-tongued generalist species, related to agricultural intensification in recent decades, may have consequences for the quality, quantity, and stability of yields in insect-pollinated crops. Interestingly, the changes in pollinator community coincide with an increase in poor and variable seed yield in red clover, an important cr
Major intrinsic proteins (MIPs) facilitate the passive transport of small polar molecules across membranes. MIPs constitute a very old family of proteins and different forms have been found in all kinds of living organisms, including bacteria, fungi, animals, and plants. In the genomic sequence of Arabidopsis, we have identified 35 different MIP-encoding genes. Based on sequence similarity, these
A major fraction of nitrogen (N) in boreal forest soils is found in organic forms associated with soil organic matter (SOM) and mineral particles. The capacity of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal symbionts to access this N is debated, considering that these fungi have lost many of the genes for decomposing organic matter that were present in their saprotrophic ancestors. To gain a molecular-level unde
Green infrastructure (GI) is increasingly used in policymaking to promote biodiversity and enhance ecosystem services through the protection, creation, restoration and connection of natural and man-made green areas. The EU Commission adopted in 2013, the concept as a strategy. When member states apply the policy, it is translated into specific bureaucratic and political systems, creating different
Bryophytes constitute a diverse plant group with important roles in ecosystem functioning, in particular in arctic and subarctic environments. As they are physiologically strongly dependent on climatic conditions bryophytes could serve as indicators of ongoing climatic change. Their spores are generally dispersed by wind, and because of contrasting phenologies among species, the composition of the
