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Hybridization is increasingly recognized as an important evolutionary force. Novel genetic methods now enable us to address how the genomes of parental species are combined in hybrid lineages. However, we still do not know the relative importance of admixed proportions, genome architecture and local selection in shaping hybrid genomes. Here, we take advantage of the genetically divergent island po

Anthropogenic warming is expected to accelerate global soil organic carbon (SOC) losses via microbial decomposition, yet, there is still no consensus on the loss magnitude. In this Perspective, we argue that, despite the mechanistic uncertainty underlying these losses, there is confidence that a strong, positive land carbon–climate feedback can be expected. Two major lines of evidence support net

We investigated how legacies of land use and climate affected the microbial use of organic matter (OM) along a tropical climate gradient in Ethiopia. Four levels of land-use intensity ranging from croplands to pristine forests were assessed along a gradient from cool and moist high altitude (MAT = 16°C, MAP = 2,200 mm) to hot and dry lowland sites (MAT = 20°C, MAP = 1,050 mm). We resolved the biom

During the last decade it has been increasingly acknowledged that carbon (C) contained in root exudates can accelerate decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM), a phenomenon known as rhizosphere priming effect (RPE). However, the controlling factors and the role of different soil microorganisms in RPE are not yet well understood. There are some indications that the response of the soil microbial

Selection leading to adaptation to interactions may generate rapid evolutionary feedbacks and drive diversification of species interactions. The challenge is to understand how the many traits of interacting species combine to shape local adaptation in ways directly or indirectly resulting in diversification. We used the well-studied interactions between Lithophragma plants (Saxifragaceae) and Grey

Extreme environmental conditions make soils of the hyper-arid Atacama Desert one of the most hostile habitats for life on the planet. During the short intervals of moisture availability that occur, it remains unresolved how soil microorganisms physiologically respond to such dramatic environmental changes. Therefore, we simulated a precipitation event – without (H2O) and with (H2O + C) labile carb

The article analyses policy contingencies and welfare conditionalityof school allowances in Swedish upper-secondaryeducation. In contrast to most countries' use of positiveincentives toward school attendance through added cashbenefitsfor targeted students, Sweden employs sanctionson a universal study allowance that in essence constitutesan age-extension of the universal child benefit. We analysere

Poikilotherms have two major alternative strategies to deal with the inhospitable conditions of temperate winters: hibernation or migration. The vast majority of insects spend winter in a species-specific diapause resting stage, while others remain reproductively active after having migrated to more hospitable environments in the autumn. The butterfly clade Nymphalini offers an interesting possibi

The implementation of circular economy strategies, such as the reuse of building materials, represents a valid opportunity for the building and construction sector to diminish the consumption of raw materials and generate revenues and, thus, to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals 11 and 12. However, the reuse of building materials is still limited. Previous studies suggest that one rea

The influence of climate on soil microorganisms governs the input and output fluxes of carbon (C) from soils. The study of the drastic responses to drying-rewetting offers an opportunity to assess an aspect of ‘soil health’ via evaluating the role of microbes in soil biochemistry and C cycling. Recent evidence has consistently shown that communities exposed to extreme moisture fluctuations recurre

Adaptation to new ecological niches is known to spur population diversification and may lead to speciation if gene flow is ceased. While adaptation to the same ecological niche is expected to be parallel, it is more difficult to predict whether selection against maladaptive hybridization in secondary sympatry results in parallel divergence also in traits that are not directly related to the ecolog

Climate change is a pervasive threat to biodiversity. While range shifts are a known consequence of climate warming contributing to regional community change, less is known about how species’ positions shift within their climatic niches. Furthermore, whether the relative importance of different climatic variables prompting such shifts varies with changing climate remains unclear. Here we analysed

Understanding the causes and limits of population divergence in phenotypic traits is a fundamental aim of evolutionary biology, with the potential to yield predictions of adaptation to environmental change. Reciprocal transplant experiments and the evaluation of optimality models suggest that local adaptation is common but not universal, and some studies suggest that trait divergence is highly con

Soils harbor a vast diversity of soil microbiota, which play a crucial role in key ecosystem processes such as litter transformation and mineralization, but how complex plant-soil interactions shape the diversity and composition of soil microbiota remains elusive. We performed amplicon sequencing of DNA isolated from mineral topsoil of six common European trees planted in multi-site common garden

Ectomycorrhizal exploration types are commonly assumed to denote spatial foraging patterns and resource-related niches of extraradical mycelia. However, empirical evidence of the consistency of foraging strategies within exploration types is lacking. Here, we analysed ectomycorrhizal foraging patterns by incubating root-excluding ingrowth mesh bags filled with six different substrates in mature Pi

Individual plants can modify the microenvironment within their spatial neighborhood. However, the consequences of microenvironment modification for demography and species interactions remain unclear at the community scale. In a study of co-occurring alpine plants, we 1) determined the extent of species-specific microclimate modification by comparing temperature and soil moisture between vegetated

Håkan Wallander is a professor in Soil Biology and the reader is guided through the fascinating world below ground. The book has a free form and the author mixes scientific facts with personal stories from active research experiences and everyday life. The main focus is to make the reader aware of the vast biodiversity that exists in the soil, and to describe the important processes provided by th