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Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The consequences of this include rising temperatures, shifts in precipitation patterns, and increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as heat waves and droughts. Elevated temperatures can accelerate microbial activity in soil, potentially resulting in an increased rate of soil

Microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) describes the partitioning of carbon (C) between respiration and growth, and this defines the soil-atmosphere C balance. Despite its importance, CUE is not properly represented in soil biogeochemical models. Here, we estimated how CUE varied in soil along a continental gradient. Through a structural equation model, we found that bacterial growth, fungal commun

Community cohesion is a recent concept in ecology referring to the varying levels of connectivity and integration between populations of different taxonomic or functional groups within ecosystems. Positive cohesion denotes positive interactions such as mutualism or facilitation, while negative cohesion implies negative interactions such as competitive exclusion or a preference for different habita

Conservation biological control in agricultural landscapes aims to promote natural enemy populations to mitigate short and long-term pest damage on crops. However, natural enemy populations in agricultural landscapes typically rely on crop pests and non-pest prey populations resulting in complex trait- dependent ecological interactions. Such communities, of pests, non-pest prey, and natural enemie

One of the most important challenges for modern society is how to feed the world in a sustainable manner. Agriculture is an essential part of food production, but at the same time it has many negative impacts on the environment, through for example pollution, nutrient leaching, and greenhouse gas emissions, and it is a big driver of biodiversity loss. Organic farming is a farming system that in ma

The dynamics of ecological communities depend partly on species interactions within and among trophic levels. Experimental work has demonstrated the impact of species interactions on the species involved, but it remains unclear whether these effects can also be detected in long-term time series across heterogeneous landscapes. We analyzed a 19-year time series of patch occupancy by the Glanville f

We report here a method for the determination of the pKa of histidine in complex or heterogeneous systems amenable to neither solid-state nor solution NMR spectroscopy. Careful synthesis of a fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl- and trityl-protected, C2-deuterated histidine produces a vibrational-probe-equipped amino acid that can readily be incorporated into any peptide accessible by standard solid-phase

Soil carbon (C) reservoirs held in forests play a significant role in the global C cycle. However, harvesting natural forests tend to lead to soil C loss, which can be countered by the establishment of plantations after clear cutting. Therefore, there is a need to determine how forest management can affect soil C sequestration. The management of stand density could provide an effective tool to con

Interactions between multiple stressors have been implicated in elevated honeybee colony losses. Here, we extend our landscape-scale study on the effects of placement at clothianidin seed-treated oilseed rape fields on honeybees with an additional year and new data on honeybee colony development, swarming, mortality, pathogens and immune gene expression. Clothianidin residues in pollen, nectar and

The aim of this study was to analyse how energy use, building physics properties and indoor environment data have been obtained in the initial evaluation phases of multifamily building renovations in Sweden. Between 1964 and 1975, approximately one million homes were built in Sweden. These buildings are now in need of renovation. To perform proper status assessment of a building before a renovatioThe aim of this study was to analyse how energy use, building physics properties and indoor environment data have been obtained in the initial evaluation phases of multifamily building renovations in Sweden. Between 1964 and 1975, approximately one million homes were built in Sweden. These buildings are now in need of renovation. To perform proper status assessment of a building before a renovatio

Extensively managed grasslands are recognized globally for their high biodiversity and their social and cultural values. However, their capacity to deliver multiple ecosystem services (ES) as parts of agricultural systems is surprisingly understudied compared to other production systems. We undertook a comprehensive overview of ES provided by natural and semi-natural grasslands, using southern Afr

Stakeholder interaction is important for enabling environmental research to support the societal transition to sustainability. We argue that it is crucial to take researchers’ approaches to and perceptions of stakeholder interaction into account, to enable more clarity in discussions about interaction, as well as more systematic interaction approaches. Through a survey and focus group interviews w

How insects promote crop pollination remains poorly understood in terms of the contribution of functional trait differences between species. We used meta-analyses to test for correlations between community abundance, species richness and functional trait metrics with oilseed rape yield, a globally important crop. While overall abundance is consistently important in predicting yield, functional div

Bacteria and fungi are the two principal decomposer groups in soils, determining rates of biogeochemical cycling. Rewetting of dry soils induces enormous dynamics in biogeochemistry. Bacteria have been shown to exhibit large variation in growth over time upon drying-rewetting (D/RW), however, in studies to date, fungal growth has shown limited responsiveness. Here we investigated whether fungal gr

As a part of the greening of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy in 2013, Ecological Focus Areas (EFA) became mandatory for many European farmers, with the aim to enhance on-farm biodiversity. However, their effects on biodiversity have been disputed. In this interdisciplinary effort, we assessed the effects of current and alternative formulations of EFA regulations in Sweden. By complementing eco

Managing agricultural landscapes to support biodiversity and ecosystem services is a key aim of a sustainable agriculture. However, how the spatial arrangement of crop fields and other habitats in landscapes impacts arthropods and their functions is poorly known. Synthesising data from 49 studies (1515 landscapes) across Europe, we examined effects of landscape composition (% habitats) and configu

Changes in farming practices over the past century have had negative influence on farmland biodiversity. Organic farming excludes most agrochemicals, such as inorganic fertilisers and synthetic pesticides, and can be an alternative to conventional farming. A recent meta-analysis indicates that there is on average 30% higher species richness on organically managed farmland compared to conventionall

Organic agriculture is a production system that aims at sustaining healthy soils, ecosystems and people by prohibiting the application of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers in crop production and by emphasising animal welfare in livestock breeding. This article shows that organic agriculture is characterised by higher soil quality and reduced nutrient or pesticide leaching compared to nonorganic

In this chapter three major concepts relating animal population dynamics to landscape change mediated by animal mobility are outlined: meta-population/community dynamics (affecting many habitat specialists), spillover (affecting e.g. ground-living predators), and landscape complementation (affecting e.g. central-place foragers). It is shown that all three concepts contribute to current understandi