@article {pmid39665135,
year = {2024},
author = {Nigro, KM and Barton, JH and Macias, D and Chaudhary, VB and Pearse, IS and Bell, DM and Chen, A and Cleavitt, NL and Crone, EE and Greene, DF and Holland, EP and Johnstone, JF and Koenig, WD and Lyon, NJ and Miller, TEX and Schulze, M and Snell, RS and Zimmerman, JK and Knops, JMH and McNulty, S and Parmenter, RR and Winterstein, MA and Zlotin, RI and LaMontagne, JM and Redmond, MD},
title = {Co-mast: Harmonized seed production data for woody plants across US long-term research sites.},
journal = {Ecology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e4463},
doi = {10.1002/ecy.4463},
pmid = {39665135},
issn = {1939-9170},
support = {RJVA-PNW-20-JV-11261932-018//Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service/ ; 1929393//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-1114804//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-1122325//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-1546686//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-1636476//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-1637685//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-1754435//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-2025755//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-2224776//National Science Foundation/ ; },
abstract = {Plants display a range of temporal patterns of inter-annual reproduction, from relatively constant seed production to "mast seeding," the synchronized and highly variable interannual seed production of plants within a population. Previous efforts have compiled global records of seed production in long-lived plants to gain insight into seed production, forest and animal population dynamics, and the effects of global change on masting. Existing datasets focus on seed production dynamics at the population scale but are limited in their ability to examine community-level mast seeding dynamics across different plant species at the continental scale. We harmonized decades of plant reproduction data for 141 woody plant species across nine Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) or long-term ecological monitoring sites from a wide range of habitats across the United States. Plant reproduction data are reported annually between 1957 and 2021 and based on either seed traps or seed and/or cone counts on individual trees. A wide range of woody plant species including trees, shrubs, and lianas are represented within sites allowing for direct community-level comparisons among species. We share code for filtering of data that enables the comparison of plot and individual tree data across sites. For each species, we compiled relevant life history attributes (e.g., seed mass, dispersal syndrome, seed longevity, sexual system) that may serve as important predictors of mast seeding in future analyses. To aid in phylogenetically informed analyses, we also share a phylogeny and phylogenetic distance matrix for all species in the dataset. These data can be used to investigate continent-scale ecological properties of seed production, including individual and population variability, synchrony within and across species, and how these properties of seed production vary in relation to plant species traits and environmental conditions. In addition, these data can be used to assess how annual variability in seed production is associated with climate conditions and how that varies across populations, species, and regions. The dataset is released under a CC0 1.0 Universal public domain license.},
}

@article {pmid39664717,
year = {2024},
author = {Baker, KS and Millerand, F},
title = {The Incremental Growth of Data Infrastructure in Ecology (1980-2020).},
journal = {Ecology and evolution},
volume = {14},
number = {12},
pages = {e70444},
pmid = {39664717},
issn = {2045-7758},
abstract = {After decades of growth, a research community's network information system and data repository were transformed to become a national data management office and a major element of data infrastructure for ecology and the environmental sciences. Developing functional data infrastructures is key to the support of ongoing Open Science and Open Data efforts. This example of data infrastructure growth contrasts with the top-down development typical of many digital initiatives. The trajectory of this network information system evolved within a collaborative, long-term ecological research community. This particular community is funded to conduct ecological research while collective data management is also carried out across its geographically dispersed study sites. From this longitudinal ethnography, we describe an Incremental Growth Model that includes a sequence of six relatively stable phases where each phase is initiated by a rapid response to a major pivotal event. Exploring these phases and the roles of data workers provides insight into major characteristics of digital growth. Further, a transformation in assumptions about data management is reported for each phase. Investigating the growth of a community information system over four decades as it becomes data infrastructure reveals details of its social, technical, and institutional dynamics. In addition to addressing how digital data infrastructure characteristics change, this study also considers when the growth of data infrastructure begins.},
}

@article {pmid39621910,
year = {2024},
author = {Alfaro-Sánchez, R and Richardson, AD and Smith, SL and Johnstone, JF and Turetsky, MR and Cumming, SG and Le Moine, JM and Baltzer, JL},
title = {Permafrost instability negates the positive impact of warming temperatures on boreal radial growth.},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
volume = {121},
number = {50},
pages = {e2411721121},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2411721121},
pmid = {39621910},
issn = {1091-6490},
support = {15879//Aurora Research Institute (ARI)/ ; permafrost monitoring in the Mackenzie River Valley//Canadian Government | Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)/ ; MZ2021//María Zambrano program/ ; Small Research 2021 - SR21/1291//British Ecological Society (BES)/ ; Environmental Studies Research Fund and Cumulative Impacts Monitoring Program (Project 170)//Environment and Natural Resources, Northwest Territories (ENR, NWT)/ ; Discovery Grant support//Canadian Government | NSERC | RES'EAU-WaterNET/ ; Bonanza Creek LTER DEB-2224776//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; },
mesh = {*Permafrost ; *Trees/growth & development ; Temperature ; Taiga ; Global Warming ; Climate Change ; Forests ; },
abstract = {Climate warming can alleviate temperature and nutrient constraints on tree growth in boreal regions, potentially enhancing boreal productivity. However, in permafrost environments, warming also disrupts the physical foundation on which trees grow, leading to leaning trees or "drunken" forests. Tree leaning might reduce radial growth, undermining potential benefits of warming. Here, we found widespread radial growth reductions in southern latitude boreal forests since the 1980s. At mid latitudes, radial growth increased from ~1980 to ~2000 but showed recent signs of decline afterward. Increased growth was evident since the 1980 s at higher latitudes, where radial growth appears to be temperature limited. However, recent changes in permafrost stability, and the associated increased frequency of tree leaning events, emerged as a significant stressor, leading to reduced radial growth in boreal trees at the highest latitudes, where permafrost is extensive. We showed that trees growing in unstable permafrost sites allocated more nonstructural carbohydrate reserves to offset leaning which compromised radial growth and potential carbon uptake benefits of warming. This higher allocation of resources in drunken trees is needed to build the high-density reaction wood, rich in lignin, that is required to maintain a vertical position. With continued climate warming, we anticipate widespread reductions in radial growth in boreal forests, leading to lower carbon sequestration. These findings enhance our understanding of how climate warming and indirect effects, such as ground instability caused by warming permafrost, will affect boreal forest productivity in the future.},
}

*Permafrost
*Trees/growth & development
Temperature
Taiga
Global Warming
Climate Change
Forests

@article {pmid39579891,
year = {2024},
author = {Ulloa-Cedamanos, F and Probst, JL and Probst, A},
title = {Medium term hydrochemical and CO2 responses to anthropogenic and environmental changes in karst headwater streams.},
journal = {The Science of the total environment},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {177614},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177614},
pmid = {39579891},
issn = {1879-1026},
abstract = {This study investigates the intricate effects of lithology, temperature, discharge, and land use changes on headwater stream chemistry by analysing two decades of hydrochemical data from twenty karst headwater catchments in the Garonne River basin, France. Focused on the Pyrenees and the lowland (LM) and upland (UM) regions of the Massif Central, this study identified significant regional variations and commonalities in water chemistry. The headwater streams were clustered based on their hydrological and hydrochemical profiles, revealing strong similarities between upland sites, i.e. UM and Pyrenees, despite their geographical distance. The findings revealed a predominance of water driven by calcite dissolution, with specific influences from minor lithologies. Seasonal variations in water chemistry were primarily driven by hydrological conditions. Trend analyses highlighted increased pCO2 concentration in both the Pyrenees and UM, linked to higher forest density and agricultural activities, respectively. In contrast, LM exhibited increasing Ca[2+] and HCO3[-] concentrations alongside decreasing trends in pCO2 and discharge, and increased nitrate concentration. While overall water temperatures increase, only a few sites exhibited significant warming trends, consistent with similar studies in the region and worldwide. These findings underscore the complex interplay between land use changes and hydrochemical dynamics in karst headwaters. They reveal that rising pCO2 concentration trends in upland regions are driven by reforestation and agricultural practices, which have significant implications in CO2 emissions, and consequently for regional and global carbon budgets and carbon-related policies. In lowland areas, declining water resources and increasing ion concentrations highlight potential challenges for water management, particularly in sensitive karst catchments. This study provides a baseline for understanding how karst headwaters respond to environmental changes. Expanding this research to other karst systems worldwide, under different climates, would help validate and model these findings, and improve our understanding of the global carbon cycle.},
}

@article {pmid39567077,
year = {2024},
author = {Roche, KM and Church, IN and Sterling, AR and Rynearson, TA and Bertin, MJ and Kim, AM and Kirk, RD and Jenkins, BD},
title = {Connectivity of toxigenic Pseudo-nitzschia species assemblages between the Northeast U.S. continental shelf and an adjacent estuary.},
journal = {Harmful algae},
volume = {139},
number = {},
pages = {102738},
doi = {10.1016/j.hal.2024.102738},
pmid = {39567077},
issn = {1878-1470},
mesh = {*Estuaries ; *Diatoms ; Harmful Algal Bloom ; Kainic Acid/analogs & derivatives/analysis ; Seasons ; Marine Toxins/analysis ; Rhode Island ; New England ; },
abstract = {Pseudo-nitzschia harmful algal blooms have recently caused elevated domoic acid in coastal environments of the Northeast United States. In 2017, the toxigenic species P. australis was observed in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, a temperate estuarine ecosystem, for the first time since 2009 when DNA monitoring for Pseudo-nitzschia species began. This highly toxic species likely contributed to toxin-related shellfish harvest closures and is hypothesized to have been introduced by an offshore source. Little is known about offshore Pseudo-nitzschia spp. populations in the Northeast Continental Shelf marine ecosystem or how often toxigenic species enter Narragansett Bay through physical processes. Here, we collected filtered biomass samples from multiple time series sites within Narragansett Bay and along the Northeast U.S. Shelf Long-Term Ecological Research transect in winter and summer to investigate the frequency and seasonality of potential Pseudo-nitzschia spp. inflow from the continental shelf to the estuary. Species were taxonomically identified using DNA sequencing of the ITS1 region and domoic acid concentrations were quantified by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry and multiple reaction monitoring. During six years of sampling, Pseudo-nitzschia species assemblages were more similar between Narragansett Bay and the Northeast shelf in winter than summer, suggesting greater ecosystem connectivity in winter. These winter assemblages were often accompanied by higher domoic acid. Several Pseudo-nitzschia species co-occurred most often with domoic acid and were likely responsible for toxin production in this region, including P. pungens var. pungens, P. multiseries, P. calliantha, P. plurisecta, P. australis, and P. fraudulenta. Domoic acid was detected during periods of relatively low macronutrient concentrations in both seasons, warmer sea surface temperatures in winter, and colder temperatures in summer within this dataset. This study represents some of the first domoic acid measurements on the offshore Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf, a region that supplies water to other coastal environments and could seed future harmful algal blooms. The elevated domoic acid and frequency of hypothesized inflow of toxigenic Pseudo-nitzschia spp. from the Northeast continental shelf to Narragansett Bay in winter indicate the need to monitor coastal and offshore environments for toxins and harmful algal bloom taxa during colder months.},
}

*Estuaries
*Diatoms
Harmful Algal Bloom
Kainic Acid/analogs & derivatives/analysis
Seasons
Marine Toxins/analysis
Rhode Island
New England

@article {pmid39563701,
year = {2024},
author = {Liu, X and Yi, S and Wu, P and Wang, N and Li, Q},
title = {Why Are Widely Distributed Species Widely Distributed? Understanding From a Quantified Investment Acquisition Strategy.},
journal = {Ecology and evolution},
volume = {14},
number = {11},
pages = {e70581},
pmid = {39563701},
issn = {2045-7758},
abstract = {Research on plant functional traits have advanced our understanding of plant investment acquisition strategies. However, it is still unknown how a plant investment acquisition strategy varies or how the relative position of plants on the leaf economic spectrum changes across different habitats. Therefore, we conducted the field experiments at two long-term ecological research sites in Shandong and Xinjiang, China, in August 2023. Twenty-two common species in both sites and four endemics in each site were selected for leaf gas exchange traits, leaf growth traits, and leaf nutrient trait measurements. We used two different methods to quantify the leaf economic spectrum, PCA quantification and functional area quantification. We found that the 22 common species had a significantly faster investment acquisition strategy than local endemics on the leaf economic spectrum. Besides, the plasticity of the 22 common species was not coupled with the plasticity of their investment acquisition strategy. According to our results, we quantified and constructed the leaf economic spectrum of the 30 woody plant species in Shandong and Xinjiang and discussed that high plasticity and fast investment acquisition strategy may be an ecological adaptation and distribution strategy for widely distributed species.},
}

@article {pmid39468868,
year = {2024},
author = {Morton, JP and Hensel, MJS and DeLaMater, DS and Angelini, C and Atkins, RL and Prince, KD and Williams, SL and Boyd, AD and Parsons, J and Resetarits, EJ and Smith, CS and Valdez, S and Monnet, E and Farhan, R and Mobilian, C and Renzi, J and Smith, D and Craft, C and Byers, JE and Alber, M and Pennings, SC and Silliman, BR},
title = {Mesopredator release moderates trophic control of plant biomass in a Georgia salt marsh.},
journal = {Ecology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e4452},
doi = {10.1002/ecy.4452},
pmid = {39468868},
issn = {1939-9170},
support = {OCE-1237140//Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long-Term Ecological Research program/ ; OCE-1832178//Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long-Term Ecological Research program/ ; //University of Georgia Marine Institute/ ; //National Science Foundation/ ; },
abstract = {Predators regulate communities through top-down control in many ecosystems. Because most studies of top-down control last less than a year and focus on only a subset of the community, they may miss predator effects that manifest at longer timescales or across whole food webs. In southeastern US salt marshes, short-term and small-scale experiments indicate that nektonic predators (e.g., blue crab, fish, terrapins) facilitate the foundational grass, Spartina alterniflora, by consuming herbivorous snails and crabs. To test both how nekton affect marsh processes when the entire animal community is present, and how prior results scale over time, we conducted a 3-year nekton exclusion experiment in a Georgia salt marsh using replicated 19.6 m[2] plots. Our nekton exclusions increased densities of plant-grazing snails and juvenile deposit-feeding fiddler crab and, in Year 2, reduced predation on tethered juvenile snails, indicating that nektonic predators control these key macroinvertebrates. However, in Year 3, densities of mesopredatory benthic mud crabs increased threefold in nekton exclusions, erasing the tethered snails' predation refuge. Nekton exclusion had no effect on Spartina biomass, likely because the observed mesopredator release suppressed grazing snail densities and elevated densities of fiddler crabs, whose burrowing alleviates soil stresses. Structural equation modeling supported the hypotheses that nektonic predators and mesopredators control invertebrate communities, with nektonic predators having stronger total effects on Spartina than mud crabs by controlling densities of species that both suppress (grazers) and facilitate (fiddler crabs) plant growth. These findings highlight that salt marshes can be resilient to multiyear reductions in nektonic predators if mesopredators are present and that multiple pathways of trophic control manifest in different ways over time to mediate community dynamics. These results highlight that larger scale and longer-term experiments can illuminate community dynamics not previously understood, even in well-studied ecosystems such as salt marshes.},
}

@article {pmid39460672,
year = {2024},
author = {Reed, WJ and Westmoreland, AJ and Suding, KN and Doak, DF and Bowman, WD and Emery, NC},
title = {Temporal variability and predictability predict alpine plant community composition and distribution patterns.},
journal = {Ecology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e4450},
doi = {10.1002/ecy.4450},
pmid = {39460672},
issn = {1939-9170},
support = {DEB-1553053//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-1637686//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-2224439//National Science Foundation/ ; },
abstract = {One of the most reliable features of natural systems is that they change through time. Theory predicts that temporally fluctuating conditions shape community composition, species distribution patterns, and life history variation, yet features of temporal variability are rarely incorporated into studies of species-environment associations. In this study, we evaluated how two components of temporal environmental variation-variability and predictability-impact plant community composition and species distribution patterns in the alpine tundra of the Southern Rocky Mountains in Colorado (USA). Using the Sensor Network Array at the Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research site, we used in situ, high-resolution temporal measurements of soil moisture and temperature from 13 locations ("nodes") distributed throughout an alpine catchment to characterize the annual mean, variability, and predictability in these variables in each of four consecutive years. We combined these data with annual vegetation surveys at each node to evaluate whether variability over short (within-day) and seasonal (2- to 4-month) timescales could predict patterns in plant community composition, species distributions, and species abundances better than models that considered average annual conditions alone. We found that metrics for variability and predictability in soil moisture and soil temperature, at both daily and seasonal timescales, improved our ability to explain spatial variation in alpine plant community composition. Daily variability in soil moisture and temperature, along with seasonal predictability in soil moisture, was particularly important in predicting community composition and species occurrences. These results indicate that the magnitude and patterns of fluctuations in soil moisture and temperature are important predictors of community composition and plant distribution patterns in alpine plant communities. More broadly, these results highlight that components of temporal change provide important niche axes that can partition species with different growth and life history strategies along environmental gradients in heterogeneous landscapes.},
}

@article {pmid39450241,
year = {2024},
author = {Wurtzer, S and Duvivier, M and Accrombessi, H and Levert, M and Richard, E and Moulin, L},
title = {Assessing RNA integrity by digital RT-PCR: Influence of extraction, storage, and matrices.},
journal = {Biology methods & protocols},
volume = {9},
number = {1},
pages = {bpae053},
pmid = {39450241},
issn = {2396-8923},
abstract = {The development of high-throughput sequencing has greatly improved our knowledge of microbial diversity in aquatic environments and its evolution in highly diverse ecosystems. Relevant microbial diversity description based on high-throughput sequencing relies on the good quality of the nucleic acid recovered. Indeed, long genetic fragments are more informative for identifying mutation combinations that characterize variants or species in complex samples. This study describes a new analytical method based on digital Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) partitioning technology for assessing the fragmentation of nucleic acid and more specifically viral RNA. This method allows us to overcome limits associated with hydrolysis probe-based assay by focusing on the distance between different amplicons, and not, as usual, on the size of amplicons. RNA integrity can thus be determined as a new fragmentation index, the so-called Fragment size 50. The application of this method has provided information on issues that are inherent in environmental analyses, such as the storage impact of raw samples or extracted RNA, extraction methods, and the nature of the sample on the integrity of viral RNA. Finally, the estimation of fragment size by digital PCR (dPCR) showed a very strong similarity with the fragment size sequenced using Oxford Nanopore Technology. In addition to enabling objective improvements in analytical methods, this approach could become a systematic quality control prior to any long-read sequencing, avoiding insufficiently productive sequencing runs or biases in the representativeness of sequenced fragments.},
}

@article {pmid39446706,
year = {2024},
author = {Shinfuku, MS and Domeignoz-Horta, LA and Choudoir, MJ and Frey, SD and Mitchell, MF and Ranjan, R and DeAngelis, KM},
title = {Seasonal effects of long-term warming on ecosystem function and bacterial diversity.},
journal = {PloS one},
volume = {19},
number = {10},
pages = {e0311364},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0311364},
pmid = {39446706},
issn = {1932-6203},
mesh = {*Seasons ; *Soil Microbiology ; *Biodiversity ; *Bacteria/classification/genetics ; *Ecosystem ; *Climate Change ; Soil/chemistry ; Global Warming ; },
abstract = {Across biomes, soil biodiversity promotes ecosystem functions. However, whether this relationship will be maintained within ecosystems under climate change is uncertain. Here, using two long-term soil warming experiments, we investigated how warming affects the relationship between ecosystem functions and bacterial diversity across seasons, soil horizons, and warming duration. Soils were sampled from these warming experiments located at the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, where soils had been heated +5°C above ambient for 13 or 28 years at the time of sampling. We assessed seven measurements representative of different ecosystem functions and nutrient pools. We also surveyed bacterial community diversity. We found that ecosystem function was significantly affected by season, with autumn samples having a higher intercept than summer samples in our model, suggesting a higher overall baseline of ecosystem function in the fall. The effect of warming on bacterial diversity was similarly affected by season, where warming in the summer was associated with decreased bacterial evenness in the organic horizon. Despite the decreased bacterial evenness in the warmed plots, we found that the relationship between ecosystem function and bacterial diversity was unaffected by warming or warming duration. Our findings highlight that season is a consistent driver of ecosystem function as well as a modulator of climate change effects on bacterial community evenness.},
}

*Seasons
*Soil Microbiology
*Biodiversity
*Bacteria/classification/genetics
*Ecosystem
*Climate Change
Soil/chemistry
Global Warming

@article {pmid39414563,
year = {2024},
author = {Robertson, GP and Wilke, B and Ulbrich, T and Haddad, NM and Hamilton, SK and Baas, DG and Basso, B and Blesh, J and Boring, TJ and Campbell, L and Cassida, KA and Charles, C and Chen, J and Doll, JE and Guo, T and Kravchenko, AN and Landis, DA and Marquart-Pyatt, ST and Singh, MP and Sprunger, CD and Stegink, J},
title = {The LTAR Cropland Common Experiment at the Kellogg Biological Station.},
journal = {Journal of environmental quality},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1002/jeq2.20638},
pmid = {39414563},
issn = {1537-2537},
support = {DEB22224712//USDA-ARS, Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) Program/ ; //U.S. National Science Foundation/ ; DEB 2224712//Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program/ ; //AgBioResearch, Michigan State University/ ; },
abstract = {The Kellogg Biological Station Long-term Agroecosystem Research site (KBS LTAR) joined the national LTAR Network in 2015 to represent a northeast portion of the North Central Region, extending across 76,000 km[2] of southern Michigan and northern Indiana. Regional cropping systems are dominated by corn (Zea mays)-soybean (Glycine max) rotations managed with conventional tillage, industry-average rates of fertilizer and pesticide inputs uniformly applied, few cover crops, and little animal integration. In 2020, KBS LTAR initiated the Aspirational Cropping System Experiment as part of the LTAR Common Experiment, a co-production model wherein stakeholders and researchers collaborate to advance transformative change in agriculture. The Aspirational (ASP) cropping system treatment, designed by a team of agronomists, farmers, scientists, and other stakeholders, is a five-crop rotation of corn, soybean, winter wheat (Triticum aestivum), winter canola (Brassicus napus), and a diverse forage mix. All phases are managed with continuous no-till, variable rate fertilizer inputs, and integrated pest management to provide benefits related to economic returns, water quality, greenhouse gas mitigation, soil health, biodiversity, and social well-being. Cover crops follow corn and winter wheat, with fall-planted crops in the rotation providing winter cover in other years. The experiment is replicated with all rotation phases at both the plot and field scales and with perennial prairie strips in consistently low-producing areas of ASP fields. The prevailing practice (or Business as usual [BAU]) treatment mirrors regional prevailing practices as revealed by farmer surveys. Stakeholders and researchers evaluate the success of the ASP and BAU systems annually and implement management changes on a 5-year cycle.},
}

@article {pmid39403722,
year = {2024},
author = {Bryant, RL and Kothari, S and Cavender-Bares, J and Curran, SJ and Grossman, JJ and Hobbie, SE and Nash, C and Neumiller, GC and See, CR},
title = {Independent effects of tree diversity on aboveground and soil carbon pools after six years of experimental afforestation.},
journal = {Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e3042},
doi = {10.1002/eap.3042},
pmid = {39403722},
issn = {1051-0761},
support = {MIN-73-015 accession no. 1009904//Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station/ ; 1831944//Division of Environmental Biology/ ; 2024-67011-43012//United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture/ ; },
abstract = {Planting diverse forests has been proposed as a means to increase long-term carbon (C) sequestration while providing many co-benefits. Positive tree diversity-productivity relationships are well established, suggesting more diverse forests will lead to greater aboveground C sequestration. However, the effects of tree diversity on belowground C storage have the potential to either complement or offset aboveground gains, especially during early stages of afforestation when potential exists for large losses in soil C due to soil decomposition. Thus, experimental tests of the effects of planted tree biodiversity on changes in whole-ecosystem C balance are needed. Here, we present changes in above- and belowground C pools 6 years after the initiation of the Forests and Biodiversity experiment (FAB1), consisting of high-density plots of one, two, five, or 12 tree species planted in a common garden. The trees included a diverse range of native species, including both needle-leaf conifer and broadleaf angiosperm species, and both ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular mycorrhizal species. We quantified the effects of species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and functional diversity on aboveground woody C, as well as on mineral soil C accumulation, fine root C, and soil aggregation. Surprisingly, changes in aboveground woody C pools were uncorrelated to changes in mineral soil C pools, suggesting that variation in soil C accumulation was not driven by the quantity of plant litter inputs. Aboveground woody C accumulation was strongly driven by species and functional identity; however, plots with higher species richness and functional diversity accumulated more C in aboveground wood than expected based on monocultures. We also found weak but significant effects of tree species richness, identity, and mycorrhizal type on soil C accumulation. To assess the role of the microbial community in mediating these effects, we further compared changes in soil C pools to phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles. Soil C pools and accumulation were more strongly correlated with specific microbial clades than with total microbial biomass or plant diversity. Our results highlight rapidly emerging and microbially mediated effects of tree biodiversity on soil C storage in the early years of afforestation that are independent of gains in aboveground woody biomass.},
}

@article {pmid39384550,
year = {2024},
author = {Dhaliwal, JK and Panday, D and Robertson, GP and Saha, D},
title = {Machine learning reveals dynamic controls of soil nitrous oxide emissions from diverse long-term cropping systems.},
journal = {Journal of environmental quality},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1002/jeq2.20637},
pmid = {39384550},
issn = {1537-2537},
support = {DEB 2224712//NSF Long-term Ecological Research Program/ ; 2021-67019-34247//National Institute of Food and Agriculture/ ; //USDA Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Program/ ; },
abstract = {Soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions exhibit high variability in intensively managed cropping systems, which challenges our ability to understand their complex interactions with controlling factors. We leveraged 17 years (2003-2019) of measurements at the Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER)/Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) site to better understand the controls of N2O emissions in four corn-soybean-winter wheat rotations employing conventional, no-till, reduced input, and biologically based/organic inputs. We used a random forest machine learning model to predict daily N2O fluxes, trained separately for each system with 70% of observations, using variables such as crop species, daily air temperature, cumulative 2-day precipitation, water-filled pore space, and soil nitrate and ammonium concentrations. The model explained 29%-42% of daily N2O flux variability in the test data, with greater predictability for the corn phase in each system. The long-term rotations showed different controlling factors and threshold conditions influencing N2O emissions. In the conventional system, the model identified ammonium (>15 kg N ha[-1]) and daily air temperature (>23°C) as the most influential variables; in the no-till system, climate variables such as precipitation and air temperature were important variables. In low-input and organic systems, where red clover (Trifolium repens L.; before corn) and cereal rye (Secale cereale L.; before soybean) cover crops were integrated, nitrate was the predominant predictor of N2O emissions, followed by precipitation and air temperature. In low-input and biologically based systems, red clover residues increased soil nitrogen availability to influence N2O emissions. Long-term data facilitated machine learning for predicting N2O emissions in response to differential controls and threshold responses to management, environmental, and biogeochemical drivers.},
}

@article {pmid39354751,
year = {2024},
author = {Granzotti, RV and Cassemiro, FAS and Agostinho, AA and Bini, LM},
title = {Drivers of interspecific synchrony and diversity-stability relationships in floodplain fish communities.},
journal = {The Journal of animal ecology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1111/1365-2656.14190},
pmid = {39354751},
issn = {1365-2656},
support = {465610/2014-5//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)/ ; //Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás (FAPEG)/ ; //Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)/ ; 465610/2014-5//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)/ ; 380640/2022-8//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)/ ; 308974/2020-4//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)/ ; 312549/2021-0//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)/ ; },
abstract = {Diversity and interspecific synchrony are among the main drivers behind the temporal stability of community abundance. Diversity can increase stability through the portfolio effect, while higher synchrony generally decreases stability. In turn, species interactions and similar responses to environmental variation are considered the main factors underlying the strength of interspecific synchrony, despite the challenges in determining their relative roles. The analysis of the relationship between interspecific synchrony and the trait (or phylogenetic) distance between species can increase the robustness of inferences about these factors. Here, we used pairwise interspecific and community-wide analyses to investigate, respectively, the drivers of interspecific synchrony and the influence of trait and phylogenetic diversity on the stability of fish communities. For that, we used 18 years of fish abundance data from the Upper Paraná River floodplain. At the interspecific level, we used quantile regressions to test within-guild relationships between interspecific synchrony and trait and phylogenetic distance between species. At the community level, we tested the relationships between community-wide synchrony, stability, and (trait and phylogenetic) diversity. We found that interspecific synchrony decreased with trait and phylogenetic distances. In the community-level analysis, we found that more synchronous fish communities were less stable, but the relationship between diversity and stability was in general weak. At the interspecific level, our study highlights the role of similar responses to environmental variation in driving species' temporal dynamics. At the community level, the strength of the relationships between trait or phylogenetic diversity and community stability depended on the feeding guild. On the other hand, we found strong relationships between synchrony and stability. These results suggest that increased synchrony levels in response to regional environmental changes could decrease the stability of fish communities in this floodplain.},
}

@article {pmid39282773,
year = {2024},
author = {McGraw, KJ and Hammond, R and Kraberger, S and Varsani, A},
title = {Variation in Plumage Coloration of Rosy-Faced Lovebirds (Agapornis roseicollis): Links to Sex, Age, Nutritional Condition, Viral Infection, and Habitat Urbanization.},
journal = {Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1002/jez.2867},
pmid = {39282773},
issn = {2471-5646},
support = {//This work was financially supported by the National Science Foundation (DEB-2224662; Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research Program, CAP LTER)./ ; },
abstract = {Expression of vibrant plumage color plays important communication roles in many avian clades, ranging from penguins to passerines, but comparatively less is known about color signals in parrots (order Psittaciformes). We measured variation in coloration from three plumage patches (red face, blue rump, red tail) in an introduced population of rosy-faced lovebirds (Agapornis roseicollis) in Phoenix, Arizona, USA and examined color differences between the sexes and ages as well as relationships with several indices of quality, including disease presence/absence (infection with beak and feather disease, Circovirus parrot, and a polyomavirus, Gammapolyomavirus avis), nutritional state (e.g., blood glucose and ketone levels), and habitat type from which birds were captured. We found that different plumage colors were linked to different quality indices: (a) adults had redder faces than juveniles, and birds with brighter faces had lower glucose levels and were less likely to have polyomavirus; (b) males had bluer rumps than females; and (c) birds caught farther from the city had redder and darker tail feathers than those caught closer to the urban center. Our findings reveal diverse information underlying variation in the expression of these disparate, ornate feather traits in an introduced parrot species, and suggest that these condition-dependent and/or sexually dichromatic features may serve important intraspecific signaling roles (i.e., mediating rival competitions or mate choices).},
}

@article {pmid39256479,
year = {2024},
author = {Campese, L and Russo, L and Abagnale, M and Alberti, A and Bachi, G and Balestra, C and Bellardini, D and Buondonno, A and Cardini, U and Carotenuto, Y and Checcucci, G and Chiusano, ML and D'Ambra, I and d'Ippolito, G and Di Capua, I and Donnarumma, V and Fontana, A and Furia, M and Galarza-Verkovitch, D and Gallia, R and Labadie, K and Leone, S and Licandro, P and Longo, A and Maselli, M and Merquiol, L and Murano, C and Oliveira, PH and Passarelli, A and Percopo, I and Perdereau, A and Piredda, R and Raffini, F and Roncalli, V and Ruscheweyh, HJ and Russo, E and Saggiomo, M and Santinelli, C and Sarno, D and Sunagawa, S and Tramontano, F and Trano, AC and Uttieri, M and Wincker, P and Zampicinini, G and Casotti, R and Conversano, F and D'Alelio, D and Iudicone, D and Margiotta, F and Montresor, M},
title = {The NEREA Augmented Observatory: an integrative approach to marine coastal ecology.},
journal = {Scientific data},
volume = {11},
number = {1},
pages = {989},
pmid = {39256479},
issn = {2052-4463},
mesh = {*Ecosystem ; Plankton ; Metagenome ; Biodiversity ; Metagenomics ; },
abstract = {The NEREA (Naples Ecological REsearch for Augmented observatories) initiative aims to establish an augmented observatory in the Gulf of Naples (GoN), designed to advance the understanding of marine ecosystems through a holistic approach. Inspired by the Tara Oceans expedition and building on the scientific legacy of the MareChiara Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER-MC) site, NEREA integrates traditional physical, chemical, and biological measurements with state-of-the-art methodologies such as metabarcoding and metagenomics. Here we present the first 10 months of NEREA data, collected from April 2019 to January 2020, encompassing physico-chemical parameters, plankton biodiversity (e.g., microscopy and flow cytometry), prokaryotic and eukaryotic metabarcoding, a prokaryotic gene catalogue, and a collection of 3818 prokaryotic Metagenome-Assembled Genomes (MAGs). NEREA's efforts produce a significant volume of multifaceted data, which enhances our understanding of marine ecosystems and promotes the development of scientific hypotheses and ideas.},
}

*Ecosystem
Plankton
Metagenome
Biodiversity
Metagenomics

@article {pmid39243635,
year = {2024},
author = {Haubrock, PJ and Soto, I and Tarkan, AS and Macêdo, RL and Kouba, A and Cuthbert, RN and Briski, E and Everts, T and Kurtul, I},
title = {Socioeconomic prerequisites determine national long-term biomonitoring efforts.},
journal = {Journal of environmental management},
volume = {370},
number = {},
pages = {122431},
doi = {10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122431},
pmid = {39243635},
issn = {1095-8630},
abstract = {In the current anthropogenic era characterised by human-induced environmental changes, long-term biomonitoring has become a crucial component for understanding ecological patterns and detecting shifts in biodiversity. However, spatiotemporal inconsistencies in biomonitoring efforts hinder transboundary progress in understanding and mitigating global environmental change effectively. The International Long-Term Ecosystem Research (ILTER) network is one of the largest standardised biomonitoring initiatives worldwide, encompassing 44 countries globally, including 26 European countries that are part of the European Long-Term Ecosystem Research network (eLTER). To better understand the establishment and development of such long-term biomonitoring efforts, we analysed spatial and temporal trends within the eLTER network. Additionally, we evaluated the environmental, social, and economic factors influencing engagement in biomonitoring activities within this European network. Our findings reveal a spatial imbalance, with biomonitoring efforts concentrated in Central and Western European countries, where monitoring initiatives have typically been established for a longer duration. Furthermore, our analyses underscore the complex interplay of economic, geographic, and cultural factors in the development of long-term ecological research infrastructures. Countries with greater geographic connectivity, slower economic growth, and higher research activity are more likely to be involved in the eLTER network. The intensity of biomonitoring significantly increased with greater research investments, economic growth, and elevated levels of tourism. In contrast, it decreased in countries that are more inward-facing and exhibit a belief in their ability to control environmental outcomes independently. Addressing spatial gaps in monitoring necessitates enhanced support and funding to ensure comprehensive ecological monitoring over extended time periods. This is essential for achieving transboundary sustainability and effective biodiversity conservation in the face of global change drivers.},
}

@article {pmid39231974,
year = {2024},
author = {Oliver, T and Varghese, N and Roux, S and Schulz, F and Huntemann, M and Clum, A and Foster, B and Foster, B and Riley, R and LaButti, K and Egan, R and Hajek, P and Mukherjee, S and Ovchinnikova, G and Reddy, TBK and Calhoun, S and Hayes, RD and Rohwer, RR and Zhou, Z and Daum, C and Copeland, A and Chen, IA and Ivanova, NN and Kyrpides, NC and Mouncey, NJ and Del Rio, TG and Grigoriev, IV and Hofmeyr, S and Oliker, L and Yelick, K and Anantharaman, K and McMahon, KD and Woyke, T and Eloe-Fadrosh, EA},
title = {Coassembly and binning of a twenty-year metagenomic time-series from Lake Mendota.},
journal = {Scientific data},
volume = {11},
number = {1},
pages = {966},
pmid = {39231974},
issn = {2052-4463},
support = {DEB-2025982//NSF | BIO | Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)/ ; DEB-1344254//NSF | BIO | Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)/ ; MCB-0702395//NSF | BIO | Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB)/ ; WIS01516, WIS01789, WIS03004//United States Department of Agriculture | Agricultural Research Service (USDA Agricultural Research Service)/ ; DBI-2011002//NSF | BIO | Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI)/ ; 89233218CNA000001//U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/ ; DE-AC05-76RL01830//U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/ ; DE-AC05-00OR22725//U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/ ; DE-AC02-05CH11231//U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/ ; 17-SC-20-SC//U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/ ; },
mesh = {*Lakes/microbiology ; *Metagenome ; Bacteria/genetics/classification ; Phylogeny ; Metagenomics ; },
abstract = {The North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research (NTL-LTER) program has been extensively used to improve understanding of how aquatic ecosystems respond to environmental stressors, climate fluctuations, and human activities. Here, we report on the metagenomes of samples collected between 2000 and 2019 from Lake Mendota, a freshwater eutrophic lake within the NTL-LTER site. We utilized the distributed metagenome assembler MetaHipMer to coassemble over 10 terabases (Tbp) of data from 471 individual Illumina-sequenced metagenomes. A total of 95,523,664 contigs were assembled and binned to generate 1,894 non-redundant metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) with ≥50% completeness and ≤10% contamination. Phylogenomic analysis revealed that the MAGs were nearly exclusively bacterial, dominated by Pseudomonadota (Proteobacteria, N = 623) and Bacteroidota (N = 321). Nine eukaryotic MAGs were identified by eukCC with six assigned to the phylum Chlorophyta. Additionally, 6,350 high-quality viral sequences were identified by geNomad with the majority classified in the phylum Uroviricota. This expansive coassembled metagenomic dataset provides an unprecedented foundation to advance understanding of microbial communities in freshwater ecosystems and explore temporal ecosystem dynamics.},
}

*Lakes/microbiology
*Metagenome
Bacteria/genetics/classification
Phylogeny
Metagenomics

@article {pmid39229622,
year = {2024},
author = {Vander Zanden, MJ and Gorsky, A and Hansen, GJA and Johnson, PTJ and Latzka, AW and Mikulyuk, A and Rohwer, RR and Spear, MJ and Walsh, JR},
title = {Nine Lessons about Aquatic Invasive Species from the North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research (NTL-LTER) Program.},
journal = {Bioscience},
volume = {74},
number = {8},
pages = {509-523},
pmid = {39229622},
issn = {0006-3568},
abstract = {Freshwater ecosystems can serve as model systems that reveal insights into biological invasions. In this article, we summarize nine lessons about aquatic invasive species from the North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research program and affiliated projects. The lessons about aquatic invasive species are as follows: Invasive species are more widespread than has been documented; they are usually at low abundance; they can irrupt from low-density populations in response to environmental triggers; they can occasionally have enormous and far-reaching impacts; they can affect microbial communities; reservoirs act as invasive species hotspots; ecosystem vulnerability to invasion can be estimated; invasive species removal can produce long-term benefits; and the impacts of invasive species control may be greater than the impacts of the invasive species. This synthesis highlights how long-term research on a freshwater landscape can advance our understanding of invasions.},
}

@article {pmid39164301,
year = {2024},
author = {Di Capua, I and Luise, F and Zampicinini, G and Roncalli, V and Carotenuto, Y and Piredda, R},
title = {Integrative approach to monitoring metazoan diversity and distribution in two Mediterranean coastal sites through morphology and organismal eDNA.},
journal = {Scientific reports},
volume = {14},
number = {1},
pages = {19291},
pmid = {39164301},
issn = {2045-2322},
mesh = {Animals ; Mediterranean Sea ; *Biodiversity ; *Zooplankton/genetics ; Ecosystem ; Electron Transport Complex IV/genetics ; RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics ; Climate Change ; },
abstract = {Marine and coastal ecosystems respond to climate change in various ways, such as the type of ecosystem, the species composition, interactions, and distribution, and the effect of local stressors. Metazoan organisms, particularly zooplankton, are important indicators for monitoring the effects climate-driven warming in marine coastal ecosystems over the long term. In this study, the diversity and distribution of zooplankton communities in the Mediterranean Sea (Canyon Dohrn and LTER-MareChiara, Gulf of Naples), a known biodiversity and climate changes hotspot, have been assessed using the integration of morphological-based identification and organismal eDNA. Our findings showed that the multi-locus strategy including the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene and the hypervariable region V9 of the 18S rDNA (18S V9) as targets, improved the taxonomic overview, with the COI gene being more effective than the 18S V9 region for metazoans at the species level. However, appendicularians were detected only with the 18S V9 region. Overall, organismal eDNA is a powerful approach for revealing hidden biodiversity, especially for gelatinous and meroplankton components, and provided new insights into biodiversity patterns. The ecological importance of calanoid copepods in coastal ecosystems has been confirmed. In contrast, the discovery of 13 new metazoan records in the Mediterranean Sea, including two non-indigenous copepod species, suggested that local stressors affect zooplankton community structure and resilience, highlighting the importance of biomonitoring and protecting marine coastal ecosystems.},
}

Animals
Mediterranean Sea
*Biodiversity
*Zooplankton/genetics
Ecosystem
Electron Transport Complex IV/genetics
RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics
Climate Change

@article {pmid39128525,
year = {2024},
author = {Haubrock, PJ},
title = {Specific characteristics of a site determine the prevalence of different extreme weather events that affect freshwater macroinvertebrate community richness.},
journal = {The Science of the total environment},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {175436},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175436},
pmid = {39128525},
issn = {1879-1026},
abstract = {Understanding the impact of extreme weather events on freshwater ecosystems is imperative during a time when a multitude of challenges compromises these environments' health. Exploring how such events affect macroinvertebrate communities in rivers sheds light on the resilience of freshwater ecosystems, which is essential for human well-being and biodiversity conservation. In this study, long-term time series of benthic macroinvertebrate communities from four sites in three freshwater streams within the Rhine-Main-Observatory Long-Term Ecological Research site in Germany were analyzed. Each of them was sampled annually over a span of 20 years to assess the impacts of extreme weather events (floods, droughts, and extreme heat) on macroinvertebrate communities. The findings reveal that the effects of extreme events are site-specific, suggesting that the impact of an extreme event can vary based on several potential factors, including the life history traits of the organisms within the community and the hydrography of the site. Moreover, the analysis highlights that the cumulative impact of these events over time is more significant than the impact of a single event's magnitude, while following distinct temporal dynamics. This underscores the importance of considering both the temporal dynamics and the biological characteristics of communities when evaluating the consequences of extreme weather events on biodiversity, illustrating that the resilience of freshwater ecosystems and their biodiversity under such conditions depends on a complex interplay of factors rather than the severity of individual events.},
}

@article {pmid39105280,
year = {2024},
author = {Connors, E and Dutta, A and Trinh, R and Erazo, N and Dasarathy, S and Ducklow, H and Weissman, JL and Yeh, YC and Schofield, O and Steinberg, D and Fuhrman, J and Bowman, JS},
title = {Microbial community composition predicts bacterial production across ocean ecosystems.},
journal = {The ISME journal},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/ismejo/wrae158},
pmid = {39105280},
issn = {1751-7370},
abstract = {Microbial ecological functions are an emergent property of community composition. For some ecological functions this link is strong enough that community composition can be used to estimate the quantity of an ecological function. Here, we apply random forest regression models to compare the predictive performance of community composition and environmental data for bacterial production (BP). Using data from two independent long-term ecological research sites - Palmer LTER in Antarctica and Station SPOT in California - we found that community composition was a strong predictor of BP. The top performing model achieved an R2 of 0.84 and RMSE of 20.2 pmol L-1 hr-1 on independent validation data, outperforming a model based solely on environmental data (R2 = 0.32, RMSE = 51.4 pmol L-1 hr-1). We then operationalized our top performing model, estimating BP for 346 Antarctic samples from 2015-2020 for which only community composition data were available. Our predictions resolved spatial trends in BP with significance in the Antarctic (P value = 1 x 10-4) and highlighted important taxa for BP across ocean basins. Our results demonstrate a strong link between microbial community composition and microbial ecosystem function and begin to leverage long-term datasets to construct models of BP based on microbial community composition.},
}

@article {pmid39095611,
year = {2024},
author = {Cocciardi, JM and Hoffman, AM and Alvarado-Serrano, DF and Anderson, J and Blumstein, M and Boehm, EL and Bolin, LG and Borokini, IT and Bradburd, GS and Branch, HA and Brudvig, LA and Chen, Y and Collins, SL and Des Marais, DL and Gamba, D and Hanan, NP and Howard, MM and Jaros, J and Juenger, TE and Kooyers, NJ and Kottler, EJ and Lau, JA and Menon, M and Moeller, DA and Mozdzer, TJ and Sheth, SN and Smith, M and Toll, K and Ungerer, MC and Vahsen, ML and Wadgymar, SM and Waananen, A and Whitney, KD and Avolio, ML},
title = {The value of long-term ecological research for evolutionary insights.},
journal = {Nature ecology & evolution},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {39095611},
issn = {2397-334X},
support = {2110351//NSF | BIO | Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)/ ; 2110351//NSF | BIO | Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)/ ; 2110351//NSF | BIO | Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)/ ; },
abstract = {Scientists must have an integrative understanding of ecology and evolution across spatial and temporal scales to predict how species will respond to global change. Although comprehensively investigating these processes in nature is challenging, the infrastructure and data from long-term ecological research networks can support cross-disciplinary investigations. We propose using these networks to advance our understanding of fundamental evolutionary processes and responses to global change. For ecologists, we outline how long-term ecological experiments can be expanded for evolutionary inquiry, and for evolutionary biologists, we illustrate how observed long-term ecological patterns may motivate new evolutionary questions. We advocate for collaborative, multi-site investigations and discuss barriers to conducting evolutionary work at network sites. Ultimately, these networks offer valuable information and opportunities to improve predictions of species' responses to global change.},
}

@article {pmid39046118,
year = {2024},
author = {Ghosh, S and Matthews, B},
title = {Temporal turnover in species' ranks can explain variation in Taylor's slope for ecological timeseries.},
journal = {Ecology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e4381},
doi = {10.1002/ecy.4381},
pmid = {39046118},
issn = {1939-9170},
support = {//Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology/ ; 310030-207910//Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung/ ; //UZH/ ; },
abstract = {The scaling exponent relating the mean and variance of the density of individual organisms in space (i.e., Taylor's slope: zspace) is well studied in ecology, but the analogous scaling exponent for temporal datasets (ztime) is underdeveloped. Previous theory suggests the narrow distribution of ztime (e.g., typically 1-2) could be due to interspecific competition. Here, using 1694 communities time series, we show that ztime can exceed 2, and reaffirm how this can affect our inference about the stabilizing effect of biodiversity. We also develop a new theory, based on temporal change in the ranks of species abundances, to help account for the observed ztime distribution. Specifically, we find that communities with minimal turnover in species' rank abundances are more likely to have higher ztime. Our analysis shows how species-level variability affects our inference about the stability of ecological communities.},
}

@article {pmid39030632,
year = {2024},
author = {Krinos, AI and Bowers, RM and Rohwer, RR and McMahon, KD and Woyke, T and Schulz, F},
title = {Time-series metagenomics reveals changing protistan ecology of a temperate dimictic lake.},
journal = {Microbiome},
volume = {12},
number = {1},
pages = {133},
pmid = {39030632},
issn = {2049-2618},
support = {SC0020347//U.S. Department of Energy/ ; DE-AC02-05CH11231//U.S. Department of Energy/ ; DE-AC02-05CH11231//U.S. Department of Energy/ ; DE-AC02-05CH11231//U.S. Department of Energy/ ; 2011002//National Science Foundation/ ; WIS01516//U.S. Department of Agriculture/ ; DEB-9632853//U.S. National Science Foundation/ ; },
mesh = {*Lakes/microbiology/parasitology ; *Metagenomics ; Animals ; *Bacteria/genetics/classification/isolation & purification ; Eukaryota/genetics/classification ; Phytoplankton/genetics/classification ; Food Chain ; Metagenome ; Zooplankton/genetics/classification ; },
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Protists, single-celled eukaryotic organisms, are critical to food web ecology, contributing to primary productivity and connecting small bacteria and archaea to higher trophic levels. Lake Mendota is a large, eutrophic natural lake that is a Long-Term Ecological Research site and among the world's best-studied freshwater systems. Metagenomic samples have been collected and shotgun sequenced from Lake Mendota for the last 20 years. Here, we analyze this comprehensive time series to infer changes to the structure and function of the protistan community and to hypothesize about their interactions with bacteria.

RESULTS: Based on small subunit rRNA genes extracted from the metagenomes and metagenome-assembled genomes of microeukaryotes, we identify shifts in the eukaryotic phytoplankton community over time, which we predict to be a consequence of reduced zooplankton grazing pressures after the invasion of a invasive predator (the spiny water flea) to the lake. The metagenomic data also reveal the presence of the spiny water flea and the zebra mussel, a second invasive species to Lake Mendota, prior to their visual identification during routine monitoring. Furthermore, we use species co-occurrence and co-abundance analysis to connect the protistan community with bacterial taxa. Correlation analysis suggests that protists and bacteria may interact or respond similarly to environmental conditions. Cryptophytes declined in the second decade of the timeseries, while many alveolate groups (e.g., ciliates and dinoflagellates) and diatoms increased in abundance, changes that have implications for food web efficiency in Lake Mendota.

CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that metagenomic sequence-based community analysis can complement existing efforts to monitor protists in Lake Mendota based on microscopy-based count surveys. We observed patterns of seasonal abundance in microeukaryotes in Lake Mendota that corroborated expectations from other systems, including high abundance of cryptophytes in winter and diatoms in fall and spring, but with much higher resolution than previous surveys. Our study identified long-term changes in the abundance of eukaryotic microbes and provided context for the known establishment of an invasive species that catalyzes a trophic cascade involving protists. Our findings are important for decoding potential long-term consequences of human interventions, including invasive species introduction. Video Abstract.},
}

*Lakes/microbiology/parasitology
*Metagenomics
Animals
*Bacteria/genetics/classification/isolation & purification
Eukaryota/genetics/classification
Phytoplankton/genetics/classification
Food Chain
Metagenome
Zooplankton/genetics/classification

@article {pmid38987534,
year = {2024},
author = {Zandonai, A and Fontana, V and Klotz, J and Bertoldi, G and Crepaz, H and Tappeiner, U and Niedrist, G},
title = {Six years of high-resolution climatic data collected along an elevation gradient in the Italian Alps.},
journal = {Scientific data},
volume = {11},
number = {1},
pages = {751},
pmid = {38987534},
issn = {2052-4463},
abstract = {The complex meso- and microclimatic heterogeneity inherent to mountainous regions, driven by both topographic and biotic factors, and the lack of observations, poses significant challenges to using climate models to predict and understand impacts at various scales. We present here a six-year dataset (2017-2022) of continuous climatic measurements collected at five elevations from 983 m to 2705 m above sea level in the Val Mazia - Matschertal valley in the Italian Alps. The measurements include the air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, solar radiation, soil properties, precipitation, and snow height. Collected within the European Long-Term Ecological Research program (LTER), this dataset is freely available in an open access repository. The time series may be valuable for the validation of regional climate models, atmospheric exchange modelling, and providing support for hydrological models and remote sensing products in mountain environments. Additionally, our data may be useful for research on the influence of elevation on ecological processes such as vegetation growth, plant composition, and soil biology. Beyond its utility in advancing such fundamental research, meteorological monitoring data contribute to informed socio-political decisions on climate adaptation strategies, land management, and water resource planning, enhancing the safety and resilience of mountain communities and biodiversity.},
}

@article {pmid38721801,
year = {2024},
author = {Gerolamo, CS and Pereira, L and Costa, FRC and Jansen, S and Angyalossy, V and Nogueira, A},
title = {Lianas in tropical dry seasonal forests have a high hydraulic efficiency but not always a higher embolism resistance than lianas in rainforests.},
journal = {Annals of botany},
volume = {134},
number = {2},
pages = {337-350},
pmid = {38721801},
issn = {1095-8290},
support = {2013/10679-0//São Paulo Research Foundation/ ; 88882.333016/2019-01//Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil/ ; 403764/2012-2//Brazilian Long-Term Ecological Research Program/ ; },
mesh = {*Seasons ; *Rainforest ; *Tropical Climate ; Forests ; Water/physiology ; Bignoniaceae/physiology ; Trees/physiology ; Brazil ; },
abstract = {BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Lianas have higher relative abundance and biomass in drier seasonal forests than in rainforests, but whether this difference is associated with their hydraulic strategies is unclear. Here, we investigate whether lianas of seasonally dry forests are safer and more efficient in water transport than rainforest lianas, explaining patterns of liana abundance.

METHODS: We measured hydraulic traits on five pairs of congeneric lianas of the tribe Bignonieae in two contrasting forest sites: the wet 'Dense Ombrophilous Forest' in Central Amazonia (~2 dry months) and the drier 'Semideciduous Seasonal Forest' in the inland Atlantic Forest (~6 dry months). We also gathered a broader database, including 197 trees and 58 liana species from different tropical forests, to compare hydraulic safety between habits and forest types.

KEY RESULTS: Bignonieae lianas from both forests had high and similar hydraulic efficiency but exhibited variability in resistance to embolism across forest types when phylogenetic relationships were taken into account. Three genera had higher hydraulic safety in the seasonal forest than in the rainforest, but species across both forests had similar positive hydraulic safety margins despite lower predawn water potential values of seasonal forest lianas. We did not find the safety-efficiency trade-off. Merging our results with previously published data revealed a high variability of resistance to embolism in both trees and lianas, independent of forest types.

CONCLUSIONS: The high hydraulic efficiency of lianas detected here probably favours their rapid growth across tropical forests, but differences in hydraulic safety highlight that some species are highly vulnerable and may rely on other mechanisms to cope with drought. Future research on the lethal dehydration threshold and the connection between hydraulic resistance strategies and liana abundance could offer further insights into tropical forest dynamics under climatic threats.},
}

*Seasons
*Rainforest
*Tropical Climate
Forests
Water/physiology
Bignoniaceae/physiology
Trees/physiology
Brazil

@article {pmid38976950,
year = {2024},
author = {Paolinelli Reis, B and Branquinho, C and Török, K and Řehounková, K and Nunes, A and Halassy, M},
title = {The added value of the long-term ecological research network to upscale restoration in Europe.},
journal = {Journal of environmental management},
volume = {366},
number = {},
pages = {121736},
doi = {10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121736},
pmid = {38976950},
issn = {1095-8630},
abstract = {Achieving global restoration targets poses challenges including the need for long-term research and effective monitoring of success, fostering collaborations across diverse fields and actors, ensuring the availability of suitable reference ecosystems, and securing sustained funding. Yet, these conditions are often lacking, limiting the effectiveness of restoration. We provide an overview of ecological restoration practices in the pan-European region of the Long-term Ecological Research Network (eLTER) and demonstrate the importance of eLTER and its potential contributions to support the implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Law. We developed an online questionnaire to collect information on eLTER restoration experts and restoration projects details including the use of eLTER contributions (e.g. infrastructure, data and knowledge), between November 2021 and March 2022. We identified 62 restoration experts and 42 restoration projects from 18 countries. Our results show that eLTER restoration expertise covers most of the European habitats, diverse degradation states and restoration techniques. Most restoration projects (78%) involved long-term monitoring exceeding the average project lifespan, which has proven necessary to achieve restoration success. No common protocol was used for monitoring and evaluation or cost-benefit estimates, but respondents reported effective projects, mostly financed from national funds, and benefits in five ecosystem services on average covered per project. Key eLTER contributions included providing reference ecosystems, biotic and abiotic background data, and interdisciplinary discussion or stakeholder management. Ecological restoration is time intensive and requires long-term research and monitoring standardization to fully understand the restoration process and to ensure comparability across ecosystems. The eLTER network can help address these challenges providing added-value contributions through its infrastructure, long-term datasets, diversity of expertise and strategies that can help identify best restoration practices and support the EU Nature Restoration Law. Finally, additional and long-term funding from the EU and the private sector is needed to achieve global larger-scale restoration targets.},
}

@article {pmid38965107,
year = {2024},
author = {De Michelis, S and Pietrelli, L and Battisti, C and Carosi, M},
title = {First evidence of plastics in coypu (Myocastor coypus)'s platforms.},
journal = {Environmental science and pollution research international},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {38965107},
issn = {1614-7499},
abstract = {Platforms are structures built by coypus for various purposes, such as reproduction, resting, and thermoregulation. In a coastal wetland of central Italy, during a study aimed at investigating the characteristics of coypu's platforms, it was recorded, for the first time worldwide, the presence of plastic in these structures. Through a transect survey, we censused 83 platforms, among which three (3.61%) were found with presence of macro- and megaplastics (polystyrene, polypropylene, and low-density polyethylene in film form; polyester, polyamide, and expanded polystyrene in fragments). Through the FTIR spectra, it was possible to highlight the degradation of the polymeric materials. To stimulate possible in-depth investigations at the level of the food chain (e.g., coypu predators, including canids) in wet habitats, we discussed possible causes and implications of plastic presence in coypus' nest structures.},
}

@article {pmid38952663,
year = {2024},
author = {Power, SN and Thomas, VA and Salvatore, MR and Barrett, JE},
title = {Habitat suitability of biocrust communities in a cold desert ecosystem.},
journal = {Ecology and evolution},
volume = {14},
number = {7},
pages = {e11649},
pmid = {38952663},
issn = {2045-7758},
abstract = {Drylands are unique among terrestrial ecosystems in that they have a significant proportion of primary production facilitated by non-vascular plants such as colonial cyanobacteria, moss, and lichens, i.e., biocrusts, which occur on and in the surface soil. Biocrusts inhabit all continents, including Antarctica, an increasingly dynamic continent on the precipice of change. Here, we describe in-situ field surveying and sampling, remote sensing, and modeling approaches to assess the habitat suitability of biocrusts in the Lake Fryxell basin of Taylor Valley, Antarctica, which is the main site of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research Program. Soils suitable for the development of biocrusts are typically wetter, less alkaline, and less saline compared to unvegetated soils. Using random forest models, we show that gravimetric water content, electrical conductivity, and snow frequency are the top predictors of biocrust presence and biomass. Areas most suitable for the growth of dense biocrusts are soils associated with seasonal snow patches. Using geospatial data to extrapolate our habitat suitability model to the whole basin predicts that biocrusts are present in 2.7 × 10[5] m[2] and contain 11-72 Mg of aboveground carbon, based on the 90% probability of occurrence. Our study illustrates the synergistic effect of combining field and remote sensing data for understanding the distribution and biomass of biocrusts, a foundational community in the carbon balance of this region. Extreme weather events and changing climate conditions in this region, especially those influencing snow accumulation and persistence, could have significant effects on the future distribution and abundance of biocrusts and therefore soil organic carbon storage in the McMurdo Dry Valleys.},
}

@article {pmid38829405,
year = {2024},
author = {Pilecky, M and Kämmer, SK and Winter, K and Ptacnikova, R and Meador, TB and Wassenaar, LI and Fink, P and Kainz, MJ},
title = {Compound-specific stable isotope analyses of fatty acids indicate feeding zones of zooplankton across the water column of a subalpine lake.},
journal = {Oecologia},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {38829405},
issn = {1432-1939},
support = {Lake Lunz long-term ecological research grant//Amt der NÖ Landesregierung/ ; },
abstract = {Spatial and temporal zooplankton feeding dynamics across the water column of lakes are key for understanding site-specific acquisition of diet sources. During this 6-week lake study, we examined stable carbon (δ[13]C) and nitrogen (δ[15]N) isotopes and conducted compound-specific fatty acid (FA) stable isotope analysis (CSIA) of edible seston in the epi-, meta-, and hypolimnion, and zooplankton of Lake Lunz, Austria. We predicted that CSIA of essential FA can discern the foraging grounds of zooplankton more accurately than the commonly used bulk stable isotopes. The δ[13]C and δ[15]N values of seston from different lake strata were similar, whereas a dual CSIA approach using stable carbon and hydrogen isotopes of FA (δ[13]CFA and δ[2]HFA) provided sufficient isotopic difference in essential FA to discern different lake strata-specific diet sources throughout the study period. We present a CSIA model that suggests strata-specific foraging grounds for different zooplankton groups, indicating higher preference of cladocerans for feeding on epilimnetic diet sources, while calanoid copepods retained more hypolimnetic resources. The CSIA approach thus yields strata-specific information on foraging strategies of different zooplankton taxa and provides more details on the spatial and temporal trophodynamics of planktonic food webs than commonly used bulk stable isotopes.},
}

@article {pmid38770838,
year = {2024},
author = {Marraffini, ML and Hamilton, SL and Marin Jarrin, JR and Ladd, M and Koval, G and Madden, JR and Mangino, I and Parker, LM and Emery, KA and Terhaar, K and Hubbard, DM and Miller, RJ and Dugan, JE},
title = {Evaluating the influence of marine protected areas on surf zone fish.},
journal = {Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e14296},
doi = {10.1111/cobi.14296},
pmid = {38770838},
issn = {1523-1739},
support = {R/MPA-44andR/MPA-49B//California Sea Grant, University of California, San Diego/ ; OCE-1831937//SBC Long Term Ecological Research National Science Foundation/ ; OCE-2126607//National Science Foundation/ ; C0302700//California Ocean Protection Council/ ; },
abstract = {Marine protected areas (MPAs) globally serve conservation and fisheries management goals, generating positive effects in some marine ecosystems. Surf zones and sandy beaches, critical ecotones bridging land and sea, play a pivotal role in the life cycles of numerous fish species and serve as prime areas for subsistence and recreational fishing. Despite their significance, these areas remain understudied when evaluating the effects of MPAs. We compared surf zone fish assemblages inside and outside MPAs across 3 bioregions in California (USA). Using seines and baited remote underwater videos (BRUVs), we found differences in surf zone fish inside and outside MPAs in one region. Inside south region MPAs, we observed higher abundance (Tukey's honest significant difference [HSD] = 0.83, p = 0.0001) and richness (HSD = 0.22, p = 0.0001) in BRUVs and greater biomass (HSD = 0.32, p = 0.0002) in seine surveys compared with reference sites. Selected live-bearing, fished taxa were positively affected by MPAs. Elasmobranchs displayed greater abundance in BRUV surveys and higher biomass in seine surveys inside south region MPAs (HSD = 0.35, p = 0.0003 and HSD = 0.23, p = 0.008, respectively). Although we observed no overall MPA signal for Embiotocidae, abundances of juvenile and large adult barred surfperch (Amphistichus argenteus), the most abundant fished species, were higher inside MPAs (K-S test D = 0.19, p < 0.0001). Influence of habitat characteristics on MPA performance indicated surf zone width was positively associated with fish abundance and biomass but negatively associated with richness. The south region had the largest positive effect size on all MPA performance metrics. Our findings underscored the variability in species richness and composition across regions and survey methods that significantly affected differences observed inside and outside MPAs. A comprehensive assessment of MPA performance should consider specific taxa, their distribution, and the effects of habitat factors and geography.},
}

@article {pmid38767231,
year = {2024},
author = {Stevens, BLF and Peacock, EE and Crockford, ET and Shalapyonok, A and Neubert, MG and Sosik, HM},
title = {Distinct responses to warming within picoplankton communities across an environmental gradient.},
journal = {Global change biology},
volume = {30},
number = {5},
pages = {e17316},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.17316},
pmid = {38767231},
issn = {1365-2486},
support = {//Audacious Project/ ; 561126//Simons Foundation/ ; 1655686//Division of Ocean Sciences/ ; 1657803//Division of Ocean Sciences/ ; 2322676//Division of Ocean Sciences/ ; },
mesh = {*Synechococcus/physiology/growth & development ; *Climate Change ; *Phytoplankton/physiology ; *Seasons ; Seawater/chemistry ; Temperature ; },
abstract = {Picophytoplankton are a ubiquitous component of marine plankton communities and are expected to be favored by global increases in seawater temperature and stratification associated with climate change. Eukaryotic and prokaryotic picophytoplankton have distinct ecology, and global models predict that the two groups will respond differently to future climate scenarios. At a nearshore observatory on the Northeast US Shelf, however, decades of year-round monitoring have shown these two groups to be highly synchronized in their responses to environmental variability. To reconcile the differences between regional and global predictions for picophytoplankton dynamics, we here investigate the picophytoplankton community across the continental shelf gradient from the nearshore observatory to the continental slope. We analyze flow cytometry data from 22 research cruises, comparing the response of picoeukaryote and Synechococcus communities to environmental variability across time and space. We find that the mechanisms controlling picophytoplankton abundance differ across taxa, season, and distance from shore. Like the prokaryote, Synechococcus, picoeukaryote division rates are limited nearshore by low temperatures in winter and spring, and higher temperatures offshore lead to an earlier spring bloom. Unlike Synechococcus, picoeukaryote concentration in summer decreases dramatically in offshore surface waters and exhibits deeper subsurface maxima. The offshore picoeukaryote community appears to be nutrient limited in the summer and subject to much greater loss rates than Synechococcus. This work both produces and demonstrates the necessity of taxon- and site-specific knowledge for accurately predicting the responses of picophytoplankton to ongoing environmental change.},
}

*Synechococcus/physiology/growth & development
*Climate Change
*Phytoplankton/physiology
*Seasons
Seawater/chemistry
Temperature

@article {pmid38733443,
year = {2024},
author = {Pietrelli, L and Dodaro, G and Pelosi, I and Menegoni, P and Battisti, C and Coccia, C and Scalici, M},
title = {Microplastic in an apex predator: evidence from Barn owl (Tyto alba) pellets in two sites with different levels of anthropization.},
journal = {Environmental science and pollution research international},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {38733443},
issn = {1614-7499},
abstract = {Plastic pollution in terrestrial and freshwater environments and its accumulation along food chains has been poorly studied in birds. The Barn owl (Tyto alba) is an opportunistic and nocturnal apex predator feeding mostly on small mammals. In this note, we reported evidence of microplastics (MPs) contamination in Barn owl pellets collected, for the first time, in two sites with different levels of anthropization (low: natural landscape mosaic vs. high extensive croplands). The following polymers have been recorded: polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE), expanded polyester (EPS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyester (PL), viscose, and starch-based biopolymer. We found significant higher MPs frequency in the most anthropized site. Our results suggest that pellet' analysis may represent a cost-effective method for monitoring MP contamination along food chains in terrestrial ecosystems.},
}

@article {pmid38657809,
year = {2024},
author = {Nguyen, HH and Peters, K and Kiesel, J and Welti, EAR and Gillmann, SM and Lorenz, AW and Jähnig, SC and Haase, P},
title = {Stream macroinvertebrate communities in restored and impacted catchments respond differently to climate, land-use, and runoff over a decade.},
journal = {The Science of the total environment},
volume = {929},
number = {},
pages = {172659},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172659},
pmid = {38657809},
issn = {1879-1026},
abstract = {Identifying which environmental drivers underlie degradation and improvements of ecological communities is a fundamental goal of ecology. Achieving this goal is a challenge due to diverse trends in both environmental conditions and ecological communities across regions, and it is constrained by the lack of long-term parallel monitoring of environmental and community data needed to study causal relationships. Here, we identify key environmental drivers using a high-resolution environmental - ecological dataset, an ensemble of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+) model, and ecological models to investigate effects of climate, land-use, and runoff on the decadal trend (2012-2021) of stream macroinvertebrate communities in a restored urban catchment and an impacted catchment with mixed land-uses in Germany. The decadal trends showed decreased precipitation, increased temperature, and reduced anthropogenic land-uses, which led to opposing runoff trends - with decreased runoff in the restored catchment and increased runoff in the impacted catchment. The two catchments also varied in decadal trends of taxonomic and trait composition and metrics. The most significant improvements over time were recorded in communities of the restored catchment sites, which have become wastewater free since 2007 to 2009. Within the restored catchment sites, community metric trends were primarily explained by land-use and evaporation trends, while community composition trends were mostly associated with precipitation and runoff trends. Meanwhile, the communities in the impacted catchment did not undergo significant changes between 2012 and 2021, likely influenced by the effects of prolonged droughts following floods after 2018. The results of our study confirm the significance of restoration and land-use management in fostering long-term improvements in stream communities, while climate change remains a prodigious threat. The coupling of long-term biodiversity monitoring with concurrent sampling of relevant environmental drivers is critical for preventative and restorative management in ecology.},
}

@article {pmid38655624,
year = {2024},
author = {Tumber-Dávila, SJ and Lucey, T and Boose, ER and Laflower, D and León-Sáenz, A and Wilson, BT and MacLean, MG and Thompson, JR},
title = {Hurricanes pose a substantial risk to New England forest carbon stocks.},
journal = {Global change biology},
volume = {30},
number = {4},
pages = {e17259},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.17259},
pmid = {38655624},
issn = {1365-2486},
support = {NSF-DEB1832210//NSF Funded Harvard Forest LTER Program/ ; NSF-DBI 1950364//Harvard Forest LTER REU Program/ ; },
mesh = {*Cyclonic Storms ; New England ; *Forests ; *Climate Change ; Carbon/analysis ; Carbon Sequestration ; Models, Theoretical ; },
abstract = {Nature-based climate solutions (NCS) are championed as a primary tool to mitigate climate change, especially in forested regions capable of storing and sequestering vast amounts of carbon. New England is one of the most heavily forested regions in the United States (>75% forested by land area), and forest carbon is a significant component of climate mitigation policies. Large infrequent disturbances, such as hurricanes, are a major source of uncertainty and risk for policies relying on forest carbon for climate mitigation, especially as climate change is projected to alter the intensity and extent of hurricanes. To date, most research into disturbance impacts on forest carbon stocks has focused on fire. Here, we show that a single hurricane in the region can down between 121 and 250 MMTCO2e or 4.6%-9.4% of the total aboveground forest carbon, much greater than the carbon sequestered annually by New England's forests (16 MMTCO2e year[-1]). However, emissions from hurricanes are not instantaneous; it takes approximately 19 years for downed carbon to become a net emission and 100 years for 90% of the downed carbon to be emitted. Reconstructing hurricanes with the HURRECON and EXPOS models across a range of historical and projected wind speeds, we find that an 8% and 16% increase in hurricane wind speeds leads to a 10.7- and 24.8-fold increase in the extent of high-severity damaged areas (widespread tree mortality). Increased wind speed also leads to unprecedented geographical shifts in damage, both inland and northward, into heavily forested regions traditionally less affected by hurricanes. Given that a single hurricane can emit the equivalent of 10+ years of carbon sequestered by forests in New England, the status of these forests as a durable carbon sink is uncertain. Understanding the risks to forest carbon stocks from disturbances is necessary for decision-makers relying on forests as a NCS.},
}

*Cyclonic Storms
New England
*Forests
*Climate Change
Carbon/analysis
Carbon Sequestration
Models, Theoretical

@article {pmid38643345,
year = {2024},
author = {Grove, M and Pickett, S and Boone, CG and Buckley, GL and Anderson, P and Hoover, FA and Lugo, AE and Meléndez-Ackerman, E and Muñoz-Erickson, TA and Nagendra, H and Selles, LK},
title = {Forging just ecologies: 25 years of urban long-term ecological research collaboration.},
journal = {Ambio},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {38643345},
issn = {1654-7209},
support = {DEB 1855277//National Science Foundation/ ; ENG-1934933//National Science Foundation/ ; },
abstract = {We ask how environmental justice and urban ecology have influenced one another over the past 25 years in the context of the US Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program and Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) project. BES began after environmental justice emerged through activism and scholarship in the 1980s but spans a period of increasing awareness among ecologists and environmental practitioners. The work in Baltimore provides a detailed example of how ecological research has been affected by a growing understanding of environmental justice. The shift shows how unjust environmental outcomes emerge and are reinforced over time by systemic discrimination and exclusion. We do not comprehensively review the literature on environmental justice in urban ecology but do present four brief cases from the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia, to illustrate the global relevance of the topic. The example cases demonstrate the necessity for continuous engagement with communities in addressing environmental problem solving.},
}

@article {pmid38616524,
year = {2024},
author = {Hardison, EA and Eliason, EJ},
title = {Diet effects on ectotherm thermal performance.},
journal = {Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1111/brv.13081},
pmid = {38616524},
issn = {1469-185X},
support = {//University of California, Santa Barbara (Eliason Lab Start Up Funds)/ ; OCE-9982105//National Science Foundation (Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research program) under awards/ ; OCE-0620276//National Science Foundation (Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research program) under awards/ ; OCE-1232779//National Science Foundation (Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research program) under awards/ ; OCE-1831937//National Science Foundation (Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research program) under awards/ ; },
abstract = {The environment is changing rapidly, and considerable research is aimed at understanding the capacity of organisms to respond. Changes in environmental temperature are particularly concerning as most animals are ectothermic, with temperature considered a key factor governing their ecology, biogeography, behaviour and physiology. The ability of ectotherms to persist in an increasingly warm, variable, and unpredictable future will depend on their nutritional status. Nutritional resources (e.g. food availability, quality, options) vary across space and time and in response to environmental change, but animals also have the capacity to alter how much they eat and what they eat, which may help them improve their performance under climate change. In this review, we discuss the state of knowledge in the intersection between animal nutrition and temperature. We take a mechanistic approach to describe nutrients (i.e. broad macronutrients, specific lipids, and micronutrients) that may impact thermal performance and discuss what is currently known about their role in ectotherm thermal plasticity, thermoregulatory behaviour, diet preference, and thermal tolerance. We finish by describing how this topic can inform ectotherm biogeography, behaviour, and aquaculture research.},
}

@article {pmid38576091,
year = {2024},
author = {Blumstein, M},
title = {The drivers of intraspecific trait variation and their implications for future tree productivity and survival.},
journal = {American journal of botany},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e16312},
doi = {10.1002/ajb2.16312},
pmid = {38576091},
issn = {1537-2197},
abstract = {Forests are facing unprecedented levels of stress from pest and disease outbreaks, disturbance, fragmentation, development, and a changing climate. These selective agents act to alter forest composition from regional to cellular levels. Thus, a central challenge for understanding how forests will be impacted by future change is how to integrate across scales of biology. Phenotype, or an observable trait, is the product of an individual's genes (G) and the environment in which an organism lives (E). To date, researchers have detailed how environment drives variation in tree phenotypes over long time periods (e.g., long-term ecological research sites [LTERs]) and across large spatial scales (e.g., flux network). In parallel, researchers have discovered the genes and pathways that govern phenotypes, finding high degrees of genetic control and signatures of local adaptation in many plant traits. However, the research in these two areas remain largely independent of each other, hindering our ability to generate accurate predictions of plant response to environment, an increasingly urgent need given threats to forest systems. I present the importance of both genes and environment in determining tree responses to climate stress. I highlight why the difference between G versus E in driving variation is critical for our understanding of climate responses, then propose means of accelerating research that examines G and E simultaneously by leveraging existing long-term, large-scale phenotypic data sets from ecological networks and adding newly affordable sequence (-omics) data to both drill down to find the genes and alleles influencing phenotypes and scale up to find how patterns of demography and local adaptation may influence future response to change.},
}

@article {pmid38572766,
year = {2024},
author = {Ziadeh, CP and Ziadeh, SB and Aflague, BH and Townley, MA and Ayres, MP and Contosta, AR and Garnas, JR},
title = {Distinct communities under the snow: describing characteristics of subnivium arthropod communities.},
journal = {Environmental entomology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/ee/nvae017},
pmid = {38572766},
issn = {1938-2936},
support = {1637685//NSF/ ; //LTER/ ; },
abstract = {Arthropods are active during the winter in temperate regions. Many use the seasonal snowpack as a buffer against harsh ambient conditions and are active in a refugium known as the subnivium. While the use of the subnivium by arthropods is well established, far less is known about subnivium community composition, abundance, biomass, and diversity and how these characteristics compare with the community in the summer. Understanding subnivium communities is especially important given the observed and anticipated changes in snowpack depth and duration due to the changing climate. We compared subnivium arthropod communities with those active during the summer using pitfall trapping in northern New Hampshire. We found that compositions of ground-active arthropod communities in the subnivium differed from those in the summer. The subnivium arthropod community featured moderate levels of richness and other measures of diversity that tended to be lower than the summer community. More strikingly, the subnivium community was much lower in overall abundance and biomass. Interestingly, some arthropods were dominant in the subnivium but either rare or absent in summer collections. These putative "subnivium specialists" included the spider Cicurina brevis (Emerton 1890) (Araneae: Hahniidae) and 3 rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae): Arpedium cribratum Fauvel, 1878, Lesteva pallipes LeConte, 1863, and Porrhodites inflatus (Hatch, 1957). This study provides a detailed account of the subnivium arthropod community, establishes baseline information on arthropod communities in temperate forests of northeastern North America, and explores the idea of subnivium specialist taxa that are highly active in winter and might be especially vulnerable to climate change.},
}

@article {pmid38522859,
year = {2024},
author = {Liang, M and Lamy, T and Reuman, DC and Wang, S and Bell, TW and Cavanaugh, KC and Castorani, MCN},
title = {A marine heatwave changes the stabilizing effects of biodiversity in kelp forests.},
journal = {Ecology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e4288},
doi = {10.1002/ecy.4288},
pmid = {38522859},
issn = {1939-9170},
support = {80NSSC22K0169/NASA/NASA/United States ; },
abstract = {Biodiversity can stabilize ecological communities through biological insurance, but climate and other environmental changes may disrupt this process via simultaneous ecosystem destabilization and biodiversity loss. While changes to diversity-stability relationships (DSRs) and the underlying mechanisms have been extensively explored in terrestrial plant communities, this topic remains largely unexplored in benthic marine ecosystems that comprise diverse assemblages of producers and consumers. By analyzing two decades of kelp forest biodiversity survey data, we discovered changes in diversity, stability, and their relationships at multiple scales (biological organizational levels, spatial scales, and functional groups) that were linked with the most severe marine heatwave ever documented in the North Pacific Ocean. Moreover, changes in the strength of DSRs during/after the heatwave were more apparent among functional groups than both biological organizational levels (population vs. ecosystem levels) and spatial scales (local vs. broad scales). Specifically, the strength of DSRs decreased for fishes, increased for mobile invertebrates and understory algae, and were unchanged for sessile invertebrates during/after the heatwave. Our findings suggest that biodiversity plays a key role in stabilizing marine ecosystems, but the resilience of DSRs to adverse climate impacts primarily depends on the functional identities of ecological communities.},
}

@article {pmid38472358,
year = {2024},
author = {Ruggiero, MV and Buffoli, M and Wolf, KKE and D'Alelio, D and Di Tuccio, V and Lombardi, E and Manfellotto, F and Vitale, L and Margiotta, F and Sarno, D and John, U and Ferrante, MI and Montresor, M},
title = {Multiannual patterns of genetic structure and mating type ratios highlight the complex bloom dynamics of a marine planktonic diatom.},
journal = {Scientific reports},
volume = {14},
number = {1},
pages = {6028},
pmid = {38472358},
issn = {2045-2322},
support = {Grant number 7978//Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation/ ; Grant number 7978//Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation/ ; Grant number 7978//Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation/ ; Grant number 7978//Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation/ ; Grant number 7978//Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation/ ; Grant number 7978//Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation/ ; Grant number 7978//Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation/ ; Grant number 7978//Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation/ ; LTER-MC program//Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Naples (Italy)/ ; LTER-MC program//Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Naples (Italy)/ ; LTER-MC program//Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Naples (Italy)/ ; LTER-MC program//Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Naples (Italy)/ ; LTER-MC program//Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Naples (Italy)/ ; LTER-MC program//Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Naples (Italy)/ ; LTER-MC program//Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Naples (Italy)/ ; LTER-MC program//Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Naples (Italy)/ ; LTER-MC program//Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Naples (Italy)/ ; },
abstract = {Understanding the genetic structure of populations and the processes responsible for its spatial and temporal dynamics is vital for assessing species' adaptability and survival in changing environments. We investigate the genetic fingerprinting of blooming populations of the marine diatom Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata in the Gulf of Naples (Mediterranean Sea) from 2008 to 2020. Strains were genotyped using microsatellite fingerprinting and natural samples were also analysed with Microsatellite Pool-seq Barcoding based on Illumina sequencing of microsatellite loci. Both approaches revealed a clonal expansion event in 2013 and a more stable genetic structure during 2017-2020 compared to previous years. The identification of a mating type (MT) determination gene allowed to assign MT to strains isolated over the years. MTs were generally at equilibrium with two notable exceptions, including the clonal bloom of 2013. The populations exhibited linkage equilibrium in most blooms, indicating that sexual reproduction leads to genetic homogenization. Our findings show that P. multistriata blooms exhibit a dynamic genetic and demographic composition over time, most probably determined by deeper-layer cell inocula. Occasional clonal expansions and MT imbalances can potentially affect the persistence and ecological success of planktonic diatoms.},
}

@article {pmid38452836,
year = {2024},
author = {Gallagher, KL and Cimino, MA and Dinniman, MS and Lynch, HJ},
title = {Quantifying potential marine debris sources and potential threats to penguins on the West Antarctic Peninsula.},
journal = {Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {123714},
doi = {10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123714},
pmid = {38452836},
issn = {1873-6424},
abstract = {Marine pollution is becoming ubiquitous in the environment. Observations of pollution on beaches, in the coastal ocean, and in organisms in the Antarctic are becoming distressingly common. Increasing human activity, growing tourism, and an expanding krill fishing industry along the West Antarctic Peninsula all represent potential sources of plastic pollution and other debris (collectively referred to as debris) to the region. However, the sources of these pollutants from point (pollutants released from discrete sources) versus non-point (pollutants from a large area rather than a specific source) sources are poorly understood. We used buoyant simulated particles released in a high-resolution physical ocean model to quantify pollutant loads throughout the region. We considered non-point sources of debris from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, Bellingshausen Sea, Weddell Sea, and point source pollution from human activities including tourism, research, and fishing. We also determined possible origins for observed debris based on data from the Southern Ocean Observing System and Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research program. Our results indicate that point source pollution released in the coastal Antarctic is more likely to serve as a source for observed debris than non-point sources, and that the dominant source of pollution is region-specific. Penguin colonies in the South Shetland and Elephant Islands had the greatest debris load from point sources whereas loads from non-point sources were greatest around the southernmost colonies. Penguin colonies at Cornwallis Island and Fort Point were exposed to the highest theoretical debris loads. While these results do not include physical processes such as windage and Stokes Drift that are known to impact debris distributions and transport in the coastal ocean, these results provide critical insights to building an effective stratified sampling and monitoring effort to better understand debris distributions, concentrations, and origins throughout the West Antarctic Peninsula.},
}

@article {pmid38401392,
year = {2024},
author = {Battisti, C and Cesarini, G and Gallitelli, L and Moretti, F and Scalici, M},
title = {Anthropogenic litter in a Mediterranean coastal wetland: A heterogeneous spatial pattern of historical deposition.},
journal = {Marine pollution bulletin},
volume = {201},
number = {},
pages = {116163},
doi = {10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116163},
pmid = {38401392},
issn = {1879-3363},
abstract = {Coastal wetlands represent areas that can testify historical accumulation of litter. We analyzed the anthropogenic litter deposited on the channel bottom of a coastal wetland area that experienced water stress due to extreme summer dryness after about 20 years. We hypothesize that the litter accumulated in the different areas over the years reflects the different social user categories (i.e., fishermen, beach users, hunters) and exposure to meteo-marine events. Our findings highlight that historically accumulated litter is composed of plastics (78.8 %), clothes (8.9 %), and glass (4.9 %). Moreover, litter concentration averages 53.6 items/ha in the 8 sectors. The most found categories were common household items (25.4 %), diverse (professional and consumer) items (24.2 %), and food and beverages packaging (21.4 %). Finally, litter diversity indices and the Detrended Correspondence Analysis showed sector and litter type similarities. We reported for the first time the presence of litter accumulated for 20 years testifying non-more occurring recreational activities.},
}

@article {pmid38374154,
year = {2024},
author = {Wang, FQ and Bartosik, D and Sidhu, C and Siebers, R and Lu, DC and Trautwein-Schult, A and Becher, D and Huettel, B and Rick, J and Kirstein, IV and Wiltshire, KH and Schweder, T and Fuchs, BM and Bengtsson, MM and Teeling, H and Amann, RI},
title = {Particle-attached bacteria act as gatekeepers in the decomposition of complex phytoplankton polysaccharides.},
journal = {Microbiome},
volume = {12},
number = {1},
pages = {32},
pmid = {38374154},
issn = {2049-2618},
support = {AM 73/9-3//Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,Germany/ ; SCHW 595/10-3//Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,Germany/ ; TE 813/2-3//Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,Germany/ ; RI 969/9-2//Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,Germany/ ; BE 3869/4-3//Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,Germany/ ; SCHW 595/11-3//Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,Germany/ ; FU 627/2-3//Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,Germany/ ; RI 969/9-2//Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,Germany/ ; TE 813/2-3//Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,Germany/ ; AM 73/9-3//Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,Germany/ ; AWI_BAH_o 1//Biological Station Helgoland, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research/ ; AWI_BAH_o 1//Biological Station Helgoland, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research/ ; },
mesh = {Phytoplankton/genetics/metabolism ; Eutrophication ; Polysaccharides/metabolism ; *Flavobacteriaceae/metabolism ; *Microalgae/metabolism ; },
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Marine microalgae (phytoplankton) mediate almost half of the worldwide photosynthetic carbon dioxide fixation and therefore play a pivotal role in global carbon cycling, most prominently during massive phytoplankton blooms. Phytoplankton biomass consists of considerable proportions of polysaccharides, substantial parts of which are rapidly remineralized by heterotrophic bacteria. We analyzed the diversity, activity, and functional potential of such polysaccharide-degrading bacteria in different size fractions during a diverse spring phytoplankton bloom at Helgoland Roads (southern North Sea) at high temporal resolution using microscopic, physicochemical, biodiversity, metagenome, and metaproteome analyses.

RESULTS: Prominent active 0.2-3 µm free-living clades comprised Aurantivirga, "Formosa", Cd. Prosiliicoccus, NS4, NS5, Amylibacter, Planktomarina, SAR11 Ia, SAR92, and SAR86, whereas BD1-7, Stappiaceae, Nitrincolaceae, Methylophagaceae, Sulfitobacter, NS9, Polaribacter, Lentimonas, CL500-3, Algibacter, and Glaciecola dominated 3-10 µm and > 10 µm particles. Particle-attached bacteria were more diverse and exhibited more dynamic adaptive shifts over time in terms of taxonomic composition and repertoires of encoded polysaccharide-targeting enzymes. In total, 305 species-level metagenome-assembled genomes were obtained, including 152 particle-attached bacteria, 100 of which were novel for the sampling site with 76 representing new species. Compared to free-living bacteria, they featured on average larger metagenome-assembled genomes with higher proportions of polysaccharide utilization loci. The latter were predicted to target a broader spectrum of polysaccharide substrates, ranging from readily soluble, simple structured storage polysaccharides (e.g., laminarin, α-glucans) to less soluble, complex structural, or secreted polysaccharides (e.g., xylans, cellulose, pectins). In particular, the potential to target poorly soluble or complex polysaccharides was more widespread among abundant and active particle-attached bacteria.

CONCLUSIONS: Particle-attached bacteria represented only 1% of all bloom-associated bacteria, yet our data suggest that many abundant active clades played a pivotal gatekeeping role in the solubilization and subsequent degradation of numerous important classes of algal glycans. The high diversity of polysaccharide niches among the most active particle-attached clades therefore is a determining factor for the proportion of algal polysaccharides that can be rapidly remineralized during generally short-lived phytoplankton bloom events. Video Abstract.},
}

Phytoplankton/genetics/metabolism
Eutrophication
Polysaccharides/metabolism
*Flavobacteriaceae/metabolism
*Microalgae/metabolism

@article {pmid38366166,
year = {2024},
author = {Nelson, C and Dadi, P and Shah, DD and Garcia-Pichel, F},
title = {Spatial organization of a soil cyanobacterium and its cyanosphere through GABA/Glu signaling to optimize mutualistic nitrogen fixation.},
journal = {The ISME journal},
volume = {18},
number = {1},
pages = {},
pmid = {38366166},
issn = {1751-7370},
support = {2025166//Jornada Basin LTER Graduate Research Fellowship Program/ ; 2129537//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB 2025166//Jornada Basin LTER Graduate Research Fellowship Program/ ; DEB 2129537//National Science Foundation/ ; },
mesh = {*Soil ; Symbiosis ; Nitrogen Fixation ; *Microbiota ; Soil Microbiology ; },
abstract = {Soil biocrusts are characterized by the spatial self-organization of resident microbial populations at small scales. The cyanobacterium Microcoleus vaginatus, a prominent primary producer and pioneer biocrust former, relies on a mutualistic carbon (C) for nitrogen (N) exchange with its heterotrophic cyanosphere microbiome, a mutualism that may be optimized through the ability of the cyanobacterium to aggregate into bundles of trichomes. Testing both environmental populations and representative isolates, we show that the proximity of mutualistic diazotroph populations results in M. vaginatus bundle formation orchestrated through chemophobic and chemokinetic responses to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) /glutamate (Glu) signals. The signaling system is characterized by: a high GABA sensitivity (nM range) and low Glu sensitivity (μM to mM), the fact that GABA and Glu are produced by the cyanobacterium as an autoinduction response to N deficiency, and by the presence of interspecific signaling by heterotrophs in response to C limitation. Further, it crucially switches from a positive to a negative feedback loop with increasing GABA concentration, thus setting maximal bundle sizes. The unprecedented use of GABA/Glu as an intra- and interspecific signal in the spatial organization of microbiomes highlights the pair as truly universal infochemicals.},
}

*Soil
Symbiosis
Nitrogen Fixation
*Microbiota
Soil Microbiology

@article {pmid38273535,
year = {2024},
author = {Lewis, ASL and Lau, MP and Jane, SF and Rose, KC and Be'eri-Shlevin, Y and Burnet, SH and Clayer, F and Feuchtmayr, H and Grossart, HP and Howard, DW and Mariash, H and Delgado Martin, J and North, RL and Oleksy, I and Pilla, RM and Smagula, AP and Sommaruga, R and Steiner, SE and Verburg, P and Wain, D and Weyhenmeyer, GA and Carey, CC},
title = {Anoxia begets anoxia: A positive feedback to the deoxygenation of temperate lakes.},
journal = {Global change biology},
volume = {30},
number = {1},
pages = {e17046},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.17046},
pmid = {38273535},
issn = {1365-2486},
support = {//College of Science Roundtable at Virginia Tech/ ; //Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University/ ; GR1540/37-1//Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft/ ; //EMALCSA Chair/ ; //Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science/ ; //Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei/ ; //LTSER Platform Tyrolean Alps (LTER-Austria)/ ; C01X2205//Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment/ ; //Missouri Department of Natural Resources/ ; 1737424//National Science Foundation/ ; 1753639//National Science Foundation/ ; 1754265//National Science Foundation/ ; 1840995//National Science Foundation/ ; 1933016//National Science Foundation/ ; 2019528//National Science Foundation/ ; 2048031//National Science Foundation/ ; NE/R016429/1//Natural Environment Research Council/ ; //Oak Ridge National Laboratory/ ; 2020-01091//Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas/ ; 2020-03222//Vetenskapsrådet/ ; //Water Power Technologies Office/ ; },
mesh = {Humans ; *Lakes ; Chlorophyll A/analysis ; *Environmental Monitoring/methods ; Feedback ; Hypoxia ; Phosphorus/analysis ; Oxygen ; Eutrophication ; },
abstract = {Declining oxygen concentrations in the deep waters of lakes worldwide pose a pressing environmental and societal challenge. Existing theory suggests that low deep-water dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations could trigger a positive feedback through which anoxia (i.e., very low DO) during a given summer begets increasingly severe occurrences of anoxia in following summers. Specifically, anoxic conditions can promote nutrient release from sediments, thereby stimulating phytoplankton growth, and subsequent phytoplankton decomposition can fuel heterotrophic respiration, resulting in increased spatial extent and duration of anoxia. However, while the individual relationships in this feedback are well established, to our knowledge, there has not been a systematic analysis within or across lakes that simultaneously demonstrates all of the mechanisms necessary to produce a positive feedback that reinforces anoxia. Here, we compiled data from 656 widespread temperate lakes and reservoirs to analyze the proposed anoxia begets anoxia feedback. Lakes in the dataset span a broad range of surface area (1-126,909 ha), maximum depth (6-370 m), and morphometry, with a median time-series duration of 30 years at each lake. Using linear mixed models, we found support for each of the positive feedback relationships between anoxia, phosphorus concentrations, chlorophyll a concentrations, and oxygen demand across the 656-lake dataset. Likewise, we found further support for these relationships by analyzing time-series data from individual lakes. Our results indicate that the strength of these feedback relationships may vary with lake-specific characteristics: For example, we found that surface phosphorus concentrations were more positively associated with chlorophyll a in high-phosphorus lakes, and oxygen demand had a stronger influence on the extent of anoxia in deep lakes. Taken together, these results support the existence of a positive feedback that could magnify the effects of climate change and other anthropogenic pressures driving the development of anoxia in lakes around the world.},
}

Humans
*Lakes
Chlorophyll A/analysis
*Environmental Monitoring/methods
Feedback
Hypoxia
Phosphorus/analysis
Oxygen
Eutrophication

@article {pmid38273449,
year = {2024},
author = {Wojcikiewicz, R and Ji, W and Hanan, NP},
title = {Quantifying shrub-shrub competition in drylands using aerial imagery and a novel landscape competition index.},
journal = {The New phytologist},
volume = {241},
number = {5},
pages = {1973-1984},
doi = {10.1111/nph.19505},
pmid = {38273449},
issn = {1469-8137},
support = {//National Science Foundation/ ; //Agricultural Experiment Station, New Mexico State University/ ; },
mesh = {*Ecosystem ; New Mexico ; Soil ; *Prosopis ; },
abstract = {The Jornada Basin Long-Term Ecological Research Site (JRN-LTER, or JRN) is a semiarid grassland-shrubland in southern New Mexico, USA. The role of intraspecific competition in constraining shrub growth and establishment at the JRN and in arid systems, in general, is an important question in dryland studies. Using information on shrub distributions and growth habits at the JRN, we present a novel landscape-scale (c. 1 ha) metric (the 'competition index', CI), which quantifies the potential intensity of competitive interactions. We map and compare the intensity of honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa, Torr.) competition spatially and temporally across the JRN-LTER, investigating associations of CI with shrub distribution, density, and soil types. The CI metric shows strong correlation with values of percent cover. Mapping CI across the Jornada Basin shows that high-intensity intraspecific competition is not prevalent, with few locations where intense competition is likely to be limiting further honey mesquite expansion. Comparison of CI among physiographic provinces shows differences in average CI values associated with geomorphology, topography, and soil type, suggesting that edaphic conditions may impose important constraints on honey mesquite and growth. However, declining and negative growth rates with increasing CI suggest that intraspecific competition constrains growth rates when CI increases above c. 0.5.},
}

*Ecosystem
New Mexico
Soil
*Prosopis

@article {pmid38242304,
year = {2024},
author = {Battisti, C},
title = {Changes in bird assemblages following an outdoor music festival: A BACI (before-after-control-impact) monitoring from central Italy.},
journal = {Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)},
volume = {344},
number = {},
pages = {123384},
doi = {10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123384},
pmid = {38242304},
issn = {1873-6424},
abstract = {An assessment of the short-term effects of an outdoor music festival (Jova Beach Party event; July 2019; central Italy) on bird assemblages has been carried out, adopting a BACI (Before-After-Control-Impact) survey design, and using the point counts method both in the impact site (Impact, I; where the concert was held) and in comparable Control site (C). In the I site, data have been stratified both for urban (U) and agro-mosaic (M) habitats. When comparing before and after the music event, in IU site, the species richness and the Hill diversity index decreased, differently from CU where species richness a species abundance increased. Diversity profiles highlighted the impoverishment of bird assemblages after the event, but only in the Impact urban habitats. After the musical event, individual rarefaction curves for richness were lower in IU after the concert, while, differently in CU curves are higher. These data suggest an impact in bird assemblages limited to the urban site, due to the stress mainly induced by high intensity noise pollution. Musical events may disrupt the structure of synanthropic bird assemblages, inducing a dispersal of individuals towards the surrounding landscape. Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) appeared a particularly sensitive bird. However, further efforts are necessary to study the effects of these events at species level.},
}

@article {pmid38181959,
year = {2024},
author = {Vascotto, I and Bernardi Aubry, F and Bastianini, M and Mozetič, P and Finotto, S and Francé, J},
title = {Exploring the mesoscale connectivity of phytoplankton periodic assemblages' succession in northern Adriatic pelagic habitats.},
journal = {The Science of the total environment},
volume = {913},
number = {},
pages = {169814},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169814},
pmid = {38181959},
issn = {1879-1026},
mesh = {*Phytoplankton ; *Ecosystem ; Oceans and Seas ; Rivers ; Italy ; Seasons ; },
abstract = {An appropriate model for phytoplankton distribution patterns is critical for understanding biogeochemical cycles and trophic interactions in the oceans and seas. Because phytoplankton dynamics in coastal waters are more complex due to shallow depth and proximity to land, more accurate models applied to the correct spatial and temporal scales are needed. Our study investigates the role of the atmosphere and hydrosphere in pelagic habitat by modelling phytoplankton assemblages at two Long Term Ecological Research sites in the northern Adriatic Sea using niche-forming environmental variables (wind, temperature, salinity, river discharge, rain, and water column stratification). To study the synchronization between the phytoplankton community and these environmental variables at the two LTER sites, we applied current linear and nonlinear numerical methods for ecological modelling. The aim was to use periodic and/or non-periodic properties of the environmental variables to classify the phytoplankton assemblages at one LTER site (Gulf of Trieste - Slovenia) and then predict them at another LTER site 100 km away (Gulf of Venice - Italy). We found that periodicity played a role in the explanatory and predictive power of the environmental variables and that it was more important than non-periodic events in defining the common structure of the two pelagic habitats. The non-linear classification functions of the neural networks further increased the predictive power of these variables. We observed partial synchronization of communities at the mesoscale and differences between the original and predicted assemblages under similar environmental conditions. We conclude that mesoscale connectivity plays an important role in phytoplankton communities in the northern Adriatic. However, the loss of periodicity of niche-forming variables due to more frequent extreme meteorological and hydrological events could loosen these connections and affect the temporal succession of phytoplankton assemblages.},
}

*Phytoplankton
*Ecosystem
Oceans and Seas
Rivers
Italy
Seasons

@article {pmid38170360,
year = {2024},
author = {Ciaralli, L and Rotini, A and Scalici, M and Battisti, C and Chiesa, S and Christoforou, E and Libralato, G and Manfra, L},
title = {The under-investigated plastic threat on seagrasses worldwide: a comprehensive review.},
journal = {Environmental science and pollution research international},
volume = {31},
number = {6},
pages = {8341-8353},
pmid = {38170360},
issn = {1614-7499},
mesh = {*Ecosystem ; *Plastics ; Environmental Pollution ; Microplastics ; Europe ; },
abstract = {Marine plastic pollution is a well-recognised and debated issue affecting most marine ecosystems. Despite this, the threat of plastic pollution on seagrasses has not received significant scientific attention compared to other marine species and habitats. The present review aims to summarise the scientific data published in the last decade (January 2012-2023), concerning the evaluation of plastic pollution, of all sizes and types, including bio-based polymers, on several seagrass species worldwide. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive and critical review of 26 scientific papers has been carried out, taking into consideration the investigated areas, the seagrass species and the plant parts considered, the experimental design and the type of polymers analysed, both in field monitoring and in laboratory-controlled experiments. The outcomes of the present review clearly showed that the dynamics and effects of plastic pollution in seagrass are still under-explored. Most data emerged from Europe, with little or no data on plastic pollution in North and South America, Australia, Africa and Antarctica. Most of the studies were devoted to microplastics, with limited studies dedicated to macroplastics and only one to nanoplastics. The methodological approach (in terms of experimental design and polymer physico-chemical characterisation) should be carefully standardised, beside the use of a model species, such as Zostera marina, and further laboratory experiments. All these knowledge gaps must be urgently fulfilled, since valuable and reliable scientific knowledge is necessary to improve seagrass habitat protection measures against the current plastic pollution crisis.},
}

*Ecosystem
*Plastics
Environmental Pollution
Microplastics
Europe

@article {pmid38168486,
year = {2024},
author = {Duell, EB and Baum, KA and Wilson, GWT},
title = {Drought reduces productivity and anti-herbivore defences, but not mycorrhizal associations, of perennial prairie forbs.},
journal = {Plant biology (Stuttgart, Germany)},
volume = {26},
number = {2},
pages = {204-213},
doi = {10.1111/plb.13604},
pmid = {38168486},
issn = {1438-8677},
support = {1003475//National Institute of Food and Agriculture/ ; OIA 1656006//National Science Foundation/ ; NSF DEB-1440484//National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research/ ; G12AC00002//South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center/ ; },
mesh = {Animals ; *Mycorrhizae ; Herbivory ; Plant Nectar ; Grassland ; Droughts ; Water ; Soil ; },
abstract = {During drought, plants allocate resources to aboveground biomass production and belowground carbohydrate reserves, often at the expense of production of defence traits. Additionally, drought has been shown to alter floral resources, with potential implications for plant-pollinator interactions. Although soil symbionts, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, can alleviate drought stress in plants, certain levels of drought may negatively impact this relationship, with potential cascading effects. Because of their importance to plant and animal community diversity, we examined effects of drought on biomass production, physical defence properties, nectar production, and associated AM fungal abundance of five common prairie forb species in a greenhouse study. Reduced soil moisture decreased vegetative biomass production. Production of trichomes and latex decreased under drought, relative to well-watered conditions. Ruellia humilis flowers produced less nectar under drought, relative to well-watered conditions. Intra-radical AM fungal colonization was not significantly affected by drought, although extra-radical AM fungal biomass associated with S. azurea decreased following drought. Overall, grassland forb productivity, defence, and nectar production were negatively impacted by moderate drought, with possible negative implications for biotic interactions. Reduced flower and nectar production may lead to fewer pollinator visitors, which may contribute to seed limitation in forb species. Reduced physical defences increase the likelihood of herbivory, further decreasing the ability to store energy for essential functions, such as reproduction. Together, these results suggest drought can potentially impact biotic interactions between plants and herbivores, pollinators, and soil symbionts, and highlights the need for direct assessments of these relationships under climate change scenarios.},
}

Animals
*Mycorrhizae
Herbivory
Plant Nectar
Grassland
Droughts
Water
Soil

@article {pmid38129676,
year = {2023},
author = {Zhu, Q and Larson, KL},
title = {Multi-Scalar Drivers of Residential Vegetation Changes in Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona.},
journal = {Environmental management},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {38129676},
issn = {1432-1009},
support = {DEB-1832016//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-1832016//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-2224662//Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research Program/ ; DEB-2224662//Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research Program/ ; },
abstract = {In the arid southwestern U.S., urban greening strategies have been promoted to alleviate ecosystem disservices associated with lawns, including the adoption of xeric yards with desert-adapted floras and gravel groundcover and wildlife-friendly yards with complex vegetation structure and composition. Scant studies have investigated the extent of different vegetation changes in urban greening practices and the complexity of associated human drivers. We addressed this gap by analyzing survey data from two survey periods (2017 and 2021) to answer the following questions: to what extent have residents from metropolitan Phoenix made different vegetation changes in their yards over the last decade, and how do multi-scalar human drivers affect different vegetation changes? We found a sustainable trajectory for residential vegetation changes in Phoenix since mid-2010s, with declining additions of grass and increases in trees and desert plants across residential neighborhoods. Esthetics was an influential driver of both tree planting and native gardening. Additionally, tree planting was associated with anthropocentric values (i.e., low-maintenance needs), while desert plant additions reflected the appreciation of nature (i.e., attitudes towards the desert) and environmental concerns (i.e., supporting wildlife). Institutions such as local government programs might shape residents' vegetation choices, as tree planting differed among municipalities. We also found counterintuitive influences of residential tenure controls on landscaping decisions. Specifically, renters were more likely to add yard trees compared to homeowners. Our results inform landscape sustainability by identifying potential pathways to residential yard changes that offer a multitude of services while being appreciated and maintained by residents.},
}

@article {pmid38091643,
year = {2024},
author = {Vollrath, SR and Lemos, VM and Vieira, JP and Garcia, AM},
title = {Long-term trends in juvenile Mugil liza abundance in relation to selected environmental and fisheries influences in southern Brazil.},
journal = {Marine environmental research},
volume = {193},
number = {},
pages = {106290},
doi = {10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106290},
pmid = {38091643},
issn = {1879-0291},
mesh = {Animals ; *Ecosystem ; Fisheries ; Brazil ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Water ; *Smegmamorpha/physiology ; },
abstract = {Overfishing constitutes a major threat affecting marine fish population worldwide, including mullet species that have been exploited by fisheries during the reproductive migration in temperate and tropical latitudes for millennia. In the present study, we investigated the relationship of fishing intensity of mullet Mugil liza during its reproductive migration and the abundance of their juveniles in an essential nursery ground for the species in the southwest Atlantic Ocean. To carry out this analysis, we used a 23-year standardized long-term time series (1997-2019) of monthly abundance of M. liza juveniles, local/regional (water temperature, salinity, water transparency and river discharge) and global (ENSO) environmental factors, along with compilations of fishing landing data for the species. Generalized Additive Models (GAM) revealed the negative effect of fishing adult populations on the abundance of juveniles when they reach the marine surf-zone and after recruiting into the estuary. Our results reinforce the importance of adequate conservation and fishery regulation policies to prevent the species' stock from collapsing.},
}

Animals
*Ecosystem
Fisheries
Brazil
Conservation of Natural Resources
Water
*Smegmamorpha/physiology

@article {pmid38071696,
year = {2023},
author = {Peinetti, HR and Bestelmeyer, BT and Chirino, CC and Vivalda, FL and Kin, AG},
title = {Thresholds and alternative states in a Neotropical dry forest in response to fire severity.},
journal = {Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e2937},
doi = {10.1002/eap.2937},
pmid = {38071696},
issn = {1051-0761},
support = {agreement 3050-11210-009-51-N//Agricultural Research Service/ ; DEB-1832194//Jornada Basin Long-Term Ecological Research Program/ ; POIRE 2016-18//Universidad Nacional de La Pampa/ ; },
abstract = {Neotropical xerophytic forest ecosystems evolved with fires that shaped their resilience to disturbance events. However, it is unknown whether forest resilience to fires persists under a new fire regime influenced by anthropogenic disturbance and climate change. We asked whether there was evidence for a fire severity threshold causing an abrupt transition from a forest to an alternative shrub thicket state in the presence of typical postfire management. We studied a heterogeneous wildfire event to assess medium-term effects (11 years) of varying fire severity in a xerophytic Caldén forest in central Argentina. We conducted vegetation surveys in patches that were exposed to low (LFS), medium (MFS), and high (HFS) fire severities but had similar prefire woody canopy cover. Satellite images were used to quantify fire severity using a delta Normalized Burning Ratio (dNBR) and to map prefire canopy cover. Postfire total woody canopy cover was higher in low and medium than high severity patches, but the understory woody component was highest in HFS patches. The density of woody plants was over three times higher under HFS than MFS and LFS due to the contribution of small woody plants to the total density. Unlike LFS and MFS patches, the small plants in HFS patches were persistent, multistem shrubs that resulted from the resprouting of top-killed Prosopis caldenia trees and, more importantly, from young shrubs that probably established after the wildfire. Our results suggest that the Caldén forest is resilient to fires of low to moderate severities but not to high-severity fires. Fire severities with dNBR values > ~600 triggered an abrupt transition to a shrub thicket state. Postfire grazing and controlled-fire treatments likely contributed to shrub dominance after high-severity wildfire. Forest to shrub thicket transitions enable recurring high-severity fire events. We propose that repeated fires combined with grazing can trap the system in a shrub thicket state. Further studies are needed to determine whether the relationships between fire and vegetation structure examined in this case study represent general mechanisms of irreversible state changes across the Caldenal forest region and whether analogous threshold relationships exist in other fire-prone woodland ecosystems.},
}

@article {pmid38070183,
year = {2024},
author = {Zukswert, JM and Vadeboncoeur, MA and Yanai, RD},
title = {Responses of stomatal density and carbon isotope composition of sugar maple and yellow birch foliage to N, P and CaSiO3 fertilization.},
journal = {Tree physiology},
volume = {44},
number = {1},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/treephys/tpad142},
pmid = {38070183},
issn = {1758-4469},
support = {2019-67019-29464//United Stated Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture/ ; DEB-1637685//National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research/ ; //Edna B. Sussman Fellowship/ ; },
mesh = {*Betula/physiology ; *Acer/physiology ; Carbon Isotopes ; Trees/physiology ; Fertilization ; Plant Leaves/physiology ; },
abstract = {Stomatal density, stomatal length and carbon isotope composition can all provide insights into environmental controls on photosynthesis and transpiration. Stomatal measurements can be time-consuming; it is therefore wise to consider efficient sampling schemes. Knowing the variance partitioning at different measurement levels (i.e., among stands, plots, trees, leaves and within leaves) can aid in making informed decisions around where to focus sampling effort. In this study, we explored the effects of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and calcium silicate (CaSiO3) addition on stomatal density, length and carbon isotope composition (δ13C) of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton). We observed a positive but small (8%) increase in stomatal density with P addition and an increase in δ13C with N and CaSiO3 addition in sugar maple, but we did not observe effects of nutrient addition on these characteristics in yellow birch. Variability was highest within leaves and among trees for stomatal density and highest among stomata for stomatal length. To reduce variability and increase chances of detecting treatment differences in stomatal density and length, future protocols should consider pretreatment and repeated measurements of trees over time or measure more trees per plot, increase the number of leaf impressions or standardize their locations, measure more stomata per image and ensure consistent light availability.},
}

*Betula/physiology
*Acer/physiology
Carbon Isotopes
Trees/physiology
Fertilization
Plant Leaves/physiology

@article {pmid38037301,
year = {2024},
author = {Siqueira, T and Hawkins, CP and Olden, JD and Tonkin, J and Comte, L and Saito, VS and Anderson, TL and Barbosa, GP and Bonada, N and Bonecker, CC and Cañedo-Argüelles, M and Datry, T and Flinn, MB and Fortuño, P and Gerrish, GA and Haase, P and Hill, MJ and Hood, JM and Huttunen, KL and Jeffries, MJ and Muotka, T and O'Donnell, DR and Paavola, R and Paril, P and Paterson, MJ and Patrick, CJ and Perbiche-Neves, G and Rodrigues, LC and Schneider, SC and Straka, M and Ruhi, A},
title = {Understanding temporal variability across trophic levels and spatial scales in freshwater ecosystems.},
journal = {Ecology},
volume = {105},
number = {2},
pages = {e4219},
doi = {10.1002/ecy.4219},
pmid = {38037301},
issn = {1939-9170},
support = {2017SGR1643//Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca/ ; 309496/2021-7//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico/ ; 871128//eLTER PLUS/ ; FADR65//Fish and Wildlife Service and the Division of Wildlife/ ; FADX09//Fish and Wildlife Service and the Division of Wildlife/ ; FADB02//Fish and Wildlife Service and the Division of Wildlife/ ; 19/04033-7//Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo/ ; 2019/06291-3//Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo/ ; 21/00619-7//Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo/ ; P505-20-17305S//Grantová Agentura České Republiky/ ; 2047324//National Science Foundation/ ; IOS-1754838//National Science Foundation/ ; #DEB-2025982//NTL LTER/ ; RYC2020-029829-I//Ramón y Cajal Fellowship/ ; RDF-18-UOC-007//Royal Society Te Apārangi/ ; },
mesh = {*Ecosystem ; *Food Chain ; Biodiversity ; Fresh Water ; Time Factors ; },
abstract = {A tenet of ecology is that temporal variability in ecological structure and processes tends to decrease with increasing spatial scales (from locales to regions) and levels of biological organization (from populations to communities). However, patterns in temporal variability across trophic levels and the mechanisms that produce them remain poorly understood. Here we analyzed the abundance time series of spatially structured communities (i.e., metacommunities) spanning basal resources to top predators from 355 freshwater sites across three continents. Specifically, we used a hierarchical partitioning method to disentangle the propagation of temporal variability in abundance across spatial scales and trophic levels. We then used structural equation modeling to determine if the strength and direction of relationships between temporal variability, synchrony, biodiversity, and environmental and spatial settings depended on trophic level and spatial scale. We found that temporal variability in abundance decreased from producers to tertiary consumers but did so mainly at the local scale. Species population synchrony within sites increased with trophic level, whereas synchrony among communities decreased. At the local scale, temporal variability in precipitation and species diversity were associated with population variability (linear partial coefficient, β = 0.23) and population synchrony (β = -0.39) similarly across trophic levels, respectively. At the regional scale, community synchrony was not related to climatic or spatial predictors, but the strength of relationships between metacommunity variability and community synchrony decreased systematically from top predators (β = 0.73) to secondary consumers (β = 0.54), to primary consumers (β = 0.30) to producers (β = 0). Our results suggest that mobile predators may often stabilize metacommunities by buffering variability that originates at the base of food webs. This finding illustrates that the trophic structure of metacommunities, which integrates variation in organismal body size and its correlates, should be considered when investigating ecological stability in natural systems. More broadly, our work advances the notion that temporal stability is an emergent property of ecosystems that may be threatened in complex ways by biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation.},
}

*Ecosystem
*Food Chain
Biodiversity
Fresh Water
Time Factors

@article {pmid37991585,
year = {2024},
author = {Albuquerque-Lima, S and Lopes, AV and Machado, IC},
title = {Reproductive isolation between two sympatric bat-pollinated Bauhinia (Leguminosae).},
journal = {Journal of plant research},
volume = {137},
number = {1},
pages = {65-77},
pmid = {37991585},
issn = {1618-0860},
support = {PROEX-0487//Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior/ ; 001//Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior/ ; 88887.898666/2023-00//Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior/ ; 459485/2014-8//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico/ ; , 437424/2018-9//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico/ ; LTER-Catimbau 403770/2012-2//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico/ ; 311021/2014-0//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico/ ; 310508/2019-3//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico/ ; 309505/2018-6//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico/ ; 306286/2022-0//Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico/ ; },
mesh = {Animals ; *Chiroptera ; *Bauhinia ; *Fabaceae ; Reproductive Isolation ; Pollination ; Flowers/anatomy & histology ; },
abstract = {Several barriers contribute to reproductive isolation between plant species, which can be classified as pre- or post-pollination. Understanding the strength of these barriers could clarify the factors that maintain reproductive isolation and thus species integrity. In this study, we quantified reproductive isolation between two bat-pollinated co-occurring Bauhinia species (B. acuruana and B. pentandra) with similar flower morphology. Over the course of 18 months, we assessed reproductive isolation between these two Bauhinia species by quantifying the individual strengths and absolute contributions of five pre- and post- pollination barriers. Our data showed that both species are completely isolated in their reproduction by a combination of several barriers. Although they co-occur in a few populations, we found a high degree of geographic isolation between them. And although their flowering periods overlap, there is a significant difference in flowering peaks. Both species have the same pollinating bats, but the interspecific transfer of pollen between the plant species may be reduced due to the different length of the flower stamens, resulting in different pollen deposition on the bats' bodies. We have documented complete incompatibility between taxa and conclude that pre- and post-pollination barriers are important factors in preventing gene flow, even in contact zones between these two species of Bauhinia. We highlight that our work is the first study to use methods to estimate the strength of reproductive isolation barriers between bat-pollinated species.},
}

Animals
*Chiroptera
*Bauhinia
*Fabaceae
Reproductive Isolation
Pollination
Flowers/anatomy & histology

@article {pmid37967209,
year = {2023},
author = {Taniguchi, DAA and Menden-Deuer, S},
title = {Planktonic predator selectivity: Eating local with global implications.},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
volume = {120},
number = {48},
pages = {e2317302120},
pmid = {37967209},
issn = {1091-6490},
support = {LTER-1655686//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; OCE-1736635//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; 80NSSC17K0716//National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/ ; },
mesh = {Animals ; *Plankton ; *Food Chain ; Predatory Behavior ; Oceans and Seas ; },
}

Animals
*Plankton
*Food Chain
Predatory Behavior
Oceans and Seas

@article {pmid37933324,
year = {2023},
author = {Matthews, SA and Blanco-Bercial, L},
title = {Divergent patterns of zooplankton connectivity in the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones of the eastern North Pacific.},
journal = {Ecology and evolution},
volume = {13},
number = {11},
pages = {e10664},
pmid = {37933324},
issn = {2045-7758},
abstract = {Due to historical under-sampling of the deep ocean, the distributional ranges of mesopelagic zooplankton are not well documented, leading to uncertainty about the mechanisms that shape midwater zooplankton community composition. Using a combination of DNA metabarcoding (18S-V4 and mtCOI) and trait-based analysis, we characterized zooplankton diversity and community composition in the upper 1000 m of the northeast Pacific Ocean. We tested whether the North Pacific Transition Zone is a biogeographic boundary region for mesopelagic zooplankton. We also tested whether zooplankton taxa occupying different vertical habitats and exhibiting different ecological traits differed in the ranges of temperature, Chl-a, and dissolved oxygen conditions inhabited. The depth of the maximum taxonomic richness deepened with increasing latitude in the North Pacific. Community similarity in the mesopelagic zone also increased in comparison with the epipelagic zone, and no evidence was found for a biogeographic boundary between previously delineated mesopelagic biogeochemical provinces. Epipelagic zooplankton exhibited broader temperature and Chl-a ranges than mesopelagic taxa. Within the epipelagic, taxa with broader temperature and Chl-a ranges also had broader distributional ranges. However, mesopelagic taxa were distributed across wider dissolved oxygen ranges, and within the mesopelagic, only oxygen ranges covaried with distributional ranges. Environmental and distributional ranges also varied among traits, both for epipelagic taxa and mesopelagic taxa. The strongest differences in both environmental and distributional ranges were observed for taxa with or without diel vertical migration behavior. Our results suggest that species traits can influence the differential effects of physical dispersal and environmental selection in shaping biogeographic distributions.},
}

@article {pmid37878914,
year = {2023},
author = {Bergallo, HG and Rosa, C and Ochoa, AC and Manzatto, AG and Guimaraes, AF and Banhos, A and Castilho, CV and Barros, CF and Norris, D and Drucker, DP and Rodrigues, DJ and Baccaro, FB and Lourenço, IH and Zuanon, J and Stegmann, LF and Anjos, MR and Silveira, M and Araújo, PSG and Bobrowiec, PED and Fadini, R and Neckel-Oliveira, S and Emilio, T and Santorelli Junior, S and Magnusson, WE},
title = {Long-term Ecological Research: Chasing fashions or being prepared for fashion changes?.},
journal = {Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias},
volume = {95},
number = {3},
pages = {e20230051},
doi = {10.1590/0001-3765202320230051},
pmid = {37878914},
issn = {1678-2690},
mesh = {Humans ; *Ecosystem ; *Biodiversity ; Longitudinal Studies ; },
abstract = {Long-term-ecological-research (LTER) faces many challenges, including the difficulty of obtaining long-term funding, changes in research questions and sampling designs, keeping researchers collecting standardized data for many years, impediments to interactions with local people, and the difficulty of integrating the needs of local decision makers with "big science". These issues result in a lack of universally accepted guidelines as to how research should be done and integrated among LTER sites. Here we discuss how the RAPELD (standardized field infrastructure system), can help deal with these issues as a complementary technique in LTER studies, allowing comparisons across landscapes and ecosystems and reducing sampling costs. RAPELD uses local surveys to understand broad spatial and temporal patterns while enhancing decision-making and training of researchers, local indigenous groups and traditional communities. Sampling of ecological data can be carried out by different researchers through standardized protocols, resulting in spatial data that can be used to answer temporal questions, and allow new questions to be investigated. Results can also be integrated into existing biodiversity networks. Integrated systems are the most efficient way to save resources, maximize results, and accumulate information that can be used in the face of the unknown unknowns upon which our future depends.},
}

Humans
*Ecosystem
*Biodiversity
Longitudinal Studies

@article {pmid37841229,
year = {2023},
author = {Turner, TF and Bart, HL and McCormick, F and Besser, AC and Bowes, RE and Capps, KA and DeArmon, ES and Dillman, CB and Driscoll, KP and Dugger, A and Hamilton, GL and Harris, PM and Hendrickson, DA and Hoffman, J and Knouft, JH and Lepak, RF and López-Fernández, H and Montaña, CG and Newsome, SD and Pease, AA and Smith, WL and Taylor, CA and Welicky, RL},
title = {Long-term ecological research in freshwaters enabled by regional biodiversity collections, stable isotope analysis, and environmental informatics.},
journal = {Bioscience},
volume = {73},
number = {7},
pages = {479-493},
pmid = {37841229},
issn = {0006-3568},
support = {EPA999999/ImEPA/Intramural EPA/United States ; },
abstract = {Biodiversity collections are experiencing a renaissance fueled by the intersection of informatics, emerging technologies, and the extended use and interpretation of specimens and archived databases. In this article, we explore the potential for transformative research in ecology integrating biodiversity collections, stable isotope analysis (SIA), and environmental informatics. Like genomic DNA, SIA provides a common currency interpreted in the context of biogeochemical principles. Integration of SIA data across collections allows for evaluation of long-term ecological change at local to continental scales. Challenges including the analysis of sparse samples, a lack of information about baseline isotopic composition, and the effects of preservation remain, but none of these challenges is insurmountable. The proposed research framework interfaces with existing databases and observatories to provide benchmarks for retrospective studies and ecological forecasting. Collections and SIA add historical context to fundamental questions in freshwater ecological research, reference points for ecosystem monitoring, and a means of quantitative assessment for ecosystem restoration.},
}

@article {pmid37804992,
year = {2024},
author = {Chandrakanthan, K and Fraser, MP and Herckes, P},
title = {Microplastics are ubiquitous and increasing in soil of a sprawling urban area, Phoenix (Arizona).},
journal = {The Science of the total environment},
volume = {906},
number = {},
pages = {167617},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167617},
pmid = {37804992},
issn = {1879-1026},
abstract = {Microplastics are environmental contaminants that have been extensively studied in marine and aquatic environments; terrestrial ecosystems, where most microplastics originate and have the potential to accumulate, typically receive less attention. This study aims to investigate the spatial and temporal soil concentrations of microplastics in a large desert metropolitan area, the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP-LTER) area. Soil samples from the Ecological Survey of Central Arizona (ESCA) surveys (2005 and 2015) were leveraged to study spatial distributions and the temporal change of microplastic abundances. The temporal soil microplastics data were supplemented by microplastics deposition fluxes in a central location within the area (Tempe, AZ) for a period of one year (Oct 5th, 2020 to Sept 22nd, 2021). Samples were processed and microplastics were counted under an optical microscope to obtain quantitative information of their distribution in soil. Results for the spatial variation of the microplastic abundances in soil samples in Phoenix and the surrounding areas of the Sonoran Desert from 2015 depict microplastics as ubiquitous and abundant in soils (122 to 1299 microplastics/kg) with no clear trends between different locations. Microplastics deposition fluxes show substantial deposition in the local area (71 to 389 microplastics/m[2]/day with an average deposition flux of 178 microplastics/m[2]/day) but the role of resuspension and redistribution by dust storms to deposition may contribute to the unclear spatial trends. Comparison between the 2005 and 2015 surveys show a systematic increase in the abundance of microplastics and a decrease in microplastics size. Micro-Raman spectroscopy identified a variety of plastics including PE, PS, PVC, PA, PES and PP. However, a majority of microplastics remained chemically unidentifiable. Polyethylene was present in 75 % of the sampling sites and was the most abundant polymer on average in all soil samples.},
}

@article {pmid37793967,
year = {2023},
author = {Brehm, AM and Orrock, JL},
title = {Extensive behavioral data contained within existing ecological datasets.},
journal = {Trends in ecology & evolution},
volume = {38},
number = {12},
pages = {1129-1133},
doi = {10.1016/j.tree.2023.08.016},
pmid = {37793967},
issn = {1872-8383},
mesh = {*Ecology ; },
abstract = {Long-term ecological datasets contain vast behavioral data, enabling the quantification of among-individual behavioral variation at unprecedented spatiotemporal scales. We detail how behaviors can be extracted and describe how such data can be used to test new hypotheses, inform population and community ecology, and address pressing conservation needs.},
}

*Ecology

@article {pmid37759619,
year = {2023},
author = {Nativ, H and Galili, O and Almuly, R and Einbinder, S and Tchernov, D and Mass, T},
title = {New Record of Dendronephthya sp. (Family: Nephtheidae) from Mediterranean Israel: Evidence for Tropicalization?.},
journal = {Biology},
volume = {12},
number = {9},
pages = {},
pmid = {37759619},
issn = {2079-7737},
support = {23241//the Ministry of Innovation, Science & Technology, Israel./ ; },
abstract = {Bio-invasions have the potential to provoke cascade effects that can disrupt natural ecosystems and cause ecological regime shifts. The Mediterranean Sea is particularly prone to bio-invasions as the changing water conditions, evoked by climate change, are creating advantageous conditions for Lessepsian migrants from the Red Sea. Recently, in May 2023, a new alien species was documented in the Mediterranean Sea-a soft coral of the genus Dendronephthya. This discovery was made by divers conducting 'Long-Term Ecological Research' surveys, along the coast of Israel, at a depth of 42 m. Genetic and morphological testing suggest that the species identity may be Dendronepthya hemprichi, an Indo-Pacific coral, common in the Red Sea. According to life history traits of this species, such as accelerated attachment to available surfaces and fast growth, we expect it to rapidly expand its distribution and abundance across the Mediterranean Sea.},
}

@article {pmid37694963,
year = {2023},
author = {Rodenhizer, H and Natali, SM and Mauritz, M and Taylor, MA and Celis, G and Kadej, S and Kelley, AK and Lathrop, ER and Ledman, J and Pegoraro, EF and Salmon, VG and Schädel, C and See, C and Webb, EE and Schuur, EAG},
title = {Abrupt permafrost thaw drives spatially heterogeneous soil moisture and carbon dioxide fluxes in upland tundra.},
journal = {Global change biology},
volume = {29},
number = {22},
pages = {6286-6302},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.16936},
pmid = {37694963},
issn = {1365-2486},
support = {DE-SC0006982//Biological and Environmental Research, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science Program/ ; DE-SC0014085//Biological and Environmental Research, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science Program/ ; DE-SC0020227//Biological and Environmental Research, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science Program/ ; 1026415//National Science Foundation Bonanza Creek LTER Program/ ; 0747195//National Science Foundation CAREER/ ; },
abstract = {Permafrost thaw causes the seasonally thawed active layer to deepen, causing the Arctic to shift toward carbon release as soil organic matter becomes susceptible to decomposition. Ground subsidence initiated by ice loss can cause these soils to collapse abruptly, rapidly shifting soil moisture as microtopography changes and also accelerating carbon and nutrient mobilization. The uncertainty of soil moisture trajectories during thaw makes it difficult to predict the role of abrupt thaw in suppressing or exacerbating carbon losses. In this study, we investigated the role of shifting soil moisture conditions on carbon dioxide fluxes during a 13-year permafrost warming experiment that exhibited abrupt thaw. Warming deepened the active layer differentially across treatments, leading to variable rates of subsidence and formation of thermokarst depressions. In turn, differential subsidence caused a gradient of moisture conditions, with some plots becoming consistently inundated with water within thermokarst depressions and others exhibiting generally dry, but more variable soil moisture conditions outside of thermokarst depressions. Experimentally induced permafrost thaw initially drove increasing rates of growing season gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (Reco), and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) (higher carbon uptake), but the formation of thermokarst depressions began to reverse this trend with a high level of spatial heterogeneity. Plots that subsided at the slowest rate stayed relatively dry and supported higher CO2 fluxes throughout the 13-year experiment, while plots that subsided very rapidly into the center of a thermokarst feature became consistently wet and experienced a rapid decline in growing season GPP, Reco , and NEE (lower carbon uptake or carbon release). These findings indicate that Earth system models, which do not simulate subsidence and often predict drier active layer conditions, likely overestimate net growing season carbon uptake in abruptly thawing landscapes.},
}

@article {pmid37665531,
year = {2023},
author = {Aneaus, S and Rashid, I and Srivastava, PK and Charoo, SA},
title = {Quantifying the landscape changes within and outside the Dachigam National Park, Kashmir Himalaya, India using observations and models.},
journal = {Environmental monitoring and assessment},
volume = {195},
number = {10},
pages = {1139},
doi = {10.1007/s10661-023-11676-x},
pmid = {37665531},
issn = {1573-2959},
mesh = {Humans ; *Ecosystem ; *Parks, Recreational ; Environmental Monitoring ; India ; Agriculture ; },
abstract = {Protected areas are the cornerstone of biodiversity and serve as a haven for biodiversity conservation. However, due to immense anthropic pressures and ongoing changes in climate, the protected reserves are under immense threat. Human interference through land system changes is a major precusor of fragmentation of landscapes resulting in the decline of Himalayan biodiversity. In this context, this research assessed land use land cover changes (LULCCs) and fragmentation within and outside the Dachigam National Park (DNP) using remote sensing data, GIS-based models and ground truth over the past 55 years (1965-2020). Landscape Fragmentation Tool (LFT) helped to compute edge effect, patchiness, perforation and core areas. The Land Change Modeller (LCM) of IDRISI TerrSet was used for simulating the future LULC for the years 2030, 2050, 2700 and 2100. The analysis of LULCCs showed that built-up and aquatic vegetation expanded by 326% and 174%, respectively in the vicinity of the DNP. The area under agriculture, scrub and pasture decreased primarily due to intensified land use activities. Within the DNP, the area under forest cover declined by 7%. A substantial decrease was observed in the core zone both within (39%) and outside (30%) the DNP indicative of fragmentation of natural habitats. LCM analysis projected 10% increase in the built-up extents besides forests, shrublands and pastures. This knowledge generated in this study shall form an important baseline for understanding and characterising the human-wildlife relationship, initiating long-term ecological research (LTER) on naturally vegetated and aquatic ecosystems (primarily Dal Lake) of the region.},
}

Humans
*Ecosystem
*Parks, Recreational
Environmental Monitoring
India
Agriculture

@article {pmid37659519,
year = {2023},
author = {Gallitelli, L and D'Agostino, M and Battisti, C and Cózar, A and Scalici, M},
title = {Dune plants as a sink for beach litter: The species-specific role and edge effect on litter entrapment by plants.},
journal = {The Science of the total environment},
volume = {904},
number = {},
pages = {166756},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166756},
pmid = {37659519},
issn = {1879-1026},
mesh = {*Ecosystem ; *Plants ; Plastics/analysis ; Poaceae ; Sand ; },
abstract = {Anthropogenic litter accumulates along coasts worldwide. In addition to the flowing litter load, wind, sea currents, geomorphology and vegetation determine the distribution of litter trapped on the sandy coasts. Although some studies highlighted the role of dune plants in trapping marine litter, little is known about their efficiency as sinks and about the small-scale spatial distribution of litter across the dune area. Here, we explore these gaps by analysing six plant species widespread in Mediterranean coastal habitats, namely Echinophora spinosa, Limbarda crithmoides, Anthemis maritima, Pancratium maritimum, Thinopyrum junceum, and Salsola kali. The present study analyses for the first time the capture of litter by dune vegetation at a multi-species level, considering their morphological structure. Data on plastic accumulation on dune plants were compared with unvegetated control plots located at embryo-dune and foredune belts. We found that dunal plants mainly entrapped macrolitter (> 0.5 cm). Particularly, E. spinosa, L. crithmoides, A. maritima and P. maritimum mostly accumulated litter in the embryo dune while T. junceum and S. kali entrapped more in the foredune area. Moreover, beach litter was mainly blocked at the edge of the plant patches rather than in the core, highlighting the 'Plant-edge litter effect'. As A. maritima and S. kali entrapped respectively more litter in embryo and foredune habitats, these species could be used to monitor and recollect litter. In this light, our findings provide further insight into the role of dune plants in the beach litter dynamics, suppling useful information for beach clean-up actions.},
}

*Ecosystem
*Plants
Plastics/analysis
Poaceae
Sand

@article {pmid37658674,
year = {2023},
author = {Niu, F and Pierce, NA and Okin, GS and Archer, SR and Fischella, MR and Nadoum, S},
title = {Sandblasting promotes shrub encroachment in arid grasslands.},
journal = {The New phytologist},
volume = {240},
number = {5},
pages = {1817-1829},
doi = {10.1111/nph.19238},
pmid = {37658674},
issn = {1469-8137},
support = {NSF DEB-1556587//National Science Foundation/ ; NSF DEB-1556735//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB 12-35828//the Jornada Basin Long Term Ecological Research Program/ ; DEB 18-32194//the Jornada Basin Long Term Ecological Research Program/ ; },
mesh = {*Grassland ; *Ecosystem ; Desert Climate ; Poaceae/physiology ; Soil ; },
abstract = {Shrub encroachment is a common ecological state transition in global drylands and has myriad adverse effects on grasslands and the services they provide. This physiognomic shift is often ascribed to changes in climate (e.g. precipitation) and disturbance regimes (e.g. grazing and fire), but this remains debated. Aeolian processes are known to impact resource distribution in drylands, but their potential role in grassland-to-shrubland state changes has received little attention. We quantified the effects of 'sandblasting' (abrasive damage by wind-blown soil) on the ecophysiology of dryland grass vs shrub functional types using a portable wind tunnel to test the hypothesis that grasses would be more susceptible to sandblasting than shrubs and, thus, reinforce transitions to shrub dominance in wind-erodible grasslands when climate- or disturbance-induced reductions in ground cover occur. Grasses and shrubs responded differently to sandblasting, wherein water-use efficiency declined substantially in grasses, but only slightly in shrubs, owing to grasses having greater increases in day/nighttime leaf conductance and transpiration. The differential ecophysiological response to sandblasting exhibited by grass and shrub functional types could consequently alter the vegetation dynamics in dryland grasslands in favour of the xerophytic shrubs. Sandblasting could thus be an overlooked driver of shrub encroachment in wind-erodible grasslands.},
}

*Grassland
*Ecosystem
Desert Climate
Poaceae/physiology
Soil

@article {pmid37552457,
year = {2023},
author = {Vaca-Sánchez, MS and Cuevas-Reyes, P and Munck, I and Oki, Y and Moia, N and Freitas, T and Almeida, A and Castelan, K and Fernandes, GW},
title = {Patterns in Wing Morphology and Fluctuating Asymmetry in Eulaema nigrita along an Altitudinal Gradient in the Brazilian Rupestrian Grassland.},
journal = {Neotropical entomology},
volume = {52},
number = {5},
pages = {837-847},
pmid = {37552457},
issn = {1678-8052},
mesh = {Humans ; Bees ; Animals ; *Ecosystem ; *Grassland ; Brazil ; Altitude ; Phenotype ; },
abstract = {Mountain ecosystems experience abrupt abiotic changes that represent environmental filters for many organisms, shaping their phenotypic expressions. However, little is known about the morphological and symmetric adjustments of native bees along altitudinal gradients. We evaluated the changes on wing morphology, wing size, and vein fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of Eulaema nigrita Lepeletier (Apidae: Euglossini) associated with climatic variables along an altitudinal gradient in the rupestrian grassland (known also as campo rupestre or rupestrian field) of Serra do Cipó, Brazil. Seven sampling points along the altitudinal gradient were selected and distributed among 800 and 1400 m.a.s.l., and then, 40 individuals of E. nigrita were collected per each altitudinal point to determine the FA levels and the morphological changes using geometric morphometric techniques. We found that the wing size of E. nigrita decreased with increasing altitude. At the highest altitudes, the levels of FA of the wing veins were greater compared to bees from lower altitudes. We detected significant changes in wing morphology along the altitudinal gradient; bees of lower altitudes showed longer and wider wings than bees of higher altitudes, which had narrower and less elongated wings. Our results show a set of morphological adjustments and phenotypic expressions in E. nigrita associated with the variation in environmental conditions along the altitudinal gradient. We highlight the importance of environmental variables as insect-stressor factors, and that FA and geometric morphometric can be excellent tools for monitoring and evaluating environmental stresses.},
}

Humans
Bees
Animals
*Ecosystem
*Grassland
Brazil
Altitude
Phenotype

@article {pmid37457913,
year = {2023},
author = {Perez-Quezada, JF and Barichivich, J and Urrutia-Jalabert, R and Carrasco, E and Aguilera, D and Bacour, C and Lara, A},
title = {Warming and drought weaken the carbon sink capacity of an endangered paleoendemic temperate rainforest in South America.},
journal = {Journal of geophysical research. Biogeosciences},
volume = {128},
number = {4},
pages = {2022jg007258},
pmid = {37457913},
issn = {2169-8953},
abstract = {Measurements of ecosystem carbon (C) fluxes in temperate forests are concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere, leaving the functionally diverse temperate forests in the Southern Hemisphere underrepresented. Here, we report three years (February 2018-January 2021) of C fluxes, studied with eddy-covariance and closed chamber techniques, in an endangered temperate evergreen rainforest of the long-lived paleoendemic South American conifer Fitzroya cupressoides. Using classification and regression trees we analyzed the most relevant drivers and thresholds of daily net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and soil respiration. The annual NEE showed that the forest was a moderate C sink during the period analyzed (-287±38 g C m[-2] year [-1]). We found that the capacity to capture C of the Fitzroya rainforests in the Coastal Range of southern Chile is optimal under cool and rainy conditions in the early austral spring (October-November) and decreases rapidly towards the summer dry season (January-February) and autumn. Although the studied forest type has a narrow geographical coverage, the gross primary productivity measured at the tower was highly representative of Fitzroya and other rainforests in the region. Our results suggest that C fluxes in paleoendemic cool F. cupressoides forests may be negatively affected by the warming and drying predicted by climate change models, reinforcing the importance of maintaining this and other long-term ecological research sites in the Southern Hemisphere.},
}

@article {pmid37435715,
year = {2023},
author = {Tennies, NK and Alberto, F},
title = {A tool for detecting giant kelp canopy biomass decline in the Californias.},
journal = {Journal of phycology},
volume = {59},
number = {5},
pages = {1100-1106},
doi = {10.1111/jpy.13365},
pmid = {37435715},
issn = {1529-8817},
support = {DE-FOA-0001726//Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy/ ; C0874002//California Sea Grant, University of California, San Diego/ ; },
abstract = {Kelp species provide many ecosystem services associated with their three-dimensional structures. Among these, fast-growth, canopy-forming species, like giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera, are the foundation of kelp forests across many temperate reefs. Giant kelp populations have experienced regional declines in different parts of the world. Giant kelp canopy is very dynamic and can take years to recover from disturbance, challenging comparisons of standing biomass with historical baselines. The Santa Barbara Coastal LTER (SBC LTER), curates a time series of Landsat sensed surface cover and biomass for giant kelp in the west coast of North America. In the last decade, this resource has been fundamental to understanding the species' population dynamics and drivers. However, simple ready-to-use summary statistics aimed at classifying regional kelp decline or recovery are not readily available to stakeholders and coastal managers. To this end, we describe here two simple metrics made available through the R package kelpdecline. First, the proportion of Landsat pixels in decline (PPD), in which current biomass is compared with a historical baseline, and second, a pixel occupancy trend (POT), in which current year pixel occupancy is compared to the time-series long probability of occupancy. The package produces raster maps and output tables summarizing kelp decline and trends over a 0.25 × 0.25° scale. Using kelpdecline, we show how sensitivity analysis on PPD parameter variation can increase the confidence of kelp decline estimates.},
}

@article {pmid37424354,
year = {2023},
author = {Hardison, SB and McGlathery, KJ and Castorani, MCN},
title = {Effects of seagrass restoration on coastal fish abundance and diversity.},
journal = {Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology},
volume = {37},
number = {6},
pages = {e14147},
doi = {10.1111/cobi.14147},
pmid = {37424354},
issn = {1523-1739},
support = {//NSF/ ; DEB-1237733//Virginia Coast Reserve Long Term Ecological Research/ ; DEB-1832221//Virginia Coast Reserve Long Term Ecological Research/ ; },
mesh = {Animals ; *Ecosystem ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; *Zosteraceae ; Biodiversity ; Fishes ; },
abstract = {Restoration is accelerating to reverse global declines of key habitats and recover lost ecosystem functions, particularly in coastal ecosystems. However, there is high uncertainty about the long-term capacity of restored ecosystems to provide habitat and increase biodiversity and the degree to which these ecosystem services are mediated by spatial and temporal environmental variability. We addressed these gaps by sampling fishes biannually for 5-7 years (2012-2018) at 16 sites inside and outside a rapidly expanding restored seagrass meadow in coastal Virginia (USA). Despite substantial among-year variation in abundance and species composition, seine catches in restored seagrass beds were consistently larger (6.4 times more fish, p < 0.001) and more speciose (2.6 times greater species richness, p < 0.001; 3.1 times greater Hill-Shannon diversity, p = 0.03) than seine catches in adjacent unvegetated areas. Catches were particularly larger during summer than autumn (p < 0.01). Structural equation modeling revealed that depth and water residence time interacted to control seagrass presence, leading to higher fish abundance and richness in shallow, well-flushed areas that supported seagrass. Together, our results indicate that seagrass restoration yields large and consistent benefits for many coastal fishes, but that restoration and its benefits are sensitive to the dynamic seascapes in which restoration is conducted. Consideration of how seascape-scale environmental variability affects the success of habitat restoration and subsequent ecosystem function will improve restoration outcomes and the provisioning of ecosystem services.},
}

Animals
*Ecosystem
Conservation of Natural Resources
*Zosteraceae
Biodiversity
Fishes

@article {pmid37362204,
year = {2023},
author = {Holzer, JM and Orenstein, DE},
title = {Organizational transformation for greater sustainability impact: recent changes in a scientific research infrastructure in Europe.},
journal = {Landscape ecology},
volume = {38},
number = {12},
pages = {1-15},
pmid = {37362204},
issn = {0921-2973},
abstract = {CONTEXT: Scholars across holistic, transdisciplinary, place-based fields of research, such as landscape ecology and social ecology, have increasingly called for an 'all-hands-on-deck' approach for transformations toward greater sustainability of social-ecological systems. This Perspective showcases organizational transformation toward sustainability in the context of a research network dedicated to place-based, social-ecological research in Europe.

OBJECTIVES: Using the European LTER research infrastructure (eLTER RI) as a case, we analyze recent organizational-level shifts motivated by desires to increase sustainability impact. These shifts include knowledge integration between the natural and social sciences, stakeholder engagement, and a reformulation of administrative guidelines and practices.

METHODS: Following a program evaluation, new conversations led to new initiatives in the eLTER RI. As researchers who were involved in the program evaluation and the development of new initiatives, we rely on our professional experience and participant observation to provide insights about this process and its developments.

RESULTS: Recommendations from a recent assessment that critiqued and provided recommendations for the research infrastructure have recently been implemented in the eLTER RI. eLTER has leveraged a unique and timely opportunity-formal recognition and project funding by the EU-to upscale and standardize its infrastructure by creating novel protocols and enacting steps towards implementation.

CONCLUSIONS: This Perspective demonstrates how eLTER's research agenda and related protocols have evolved to better integrate multiple knowledge types, promote stakeholder integration into research, and foster greater equity and reflexivity in doing science, all of which are considered necessary to increase sustainability impact. We conclude by considering current and potential future challenges.},
}

@article {pmid37350785,
year = {2023},
author = {Hansen, FA and James, DK and Anderson, JP and Meredith, CS and Dominguez, AJ and Pombubpa, N and Stajich, JE and Romero-Olivares, AL and Salley, SW and Pietrasiak, N},
title = {Landscape characteristics shape surface soil microbiomes in the Chihuahuan Desert.},
journal = {Frontiers in microbiology},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1135800},
pmid = {37350785},
issn = {1664-302X},
abstract = {INTRODUCTION: Soil microbial communities, including biological soil crust microbiomes, play key roles in water, carbon and nitrogen cycling, biological weathering, and other nutrient releasing processes of desert ecosystems. However, our knowledge of microbial distribution patterns and ecological drivers is still poor, especially so for the Chihuahuan Desert.

METHODS: This project investigated the effects of trampling disturbance on surface soil microbiomes, explored community composition and structure, and related patterns to abiotic and biotic landscape characteristics within the Chihuahuan Desert biome. Composite soil samples were collected in disturbed and undisturbed areas of 15 long-term ecological research plots in the Jornada Basin, New Mexico. Microbial diversity of cross-domain microbial groups (total Bacteria, Cyanobacteria, Archaea, and Fungi) was obtained via DNA amplicon metabarcode sequencing. Sequence data were related to landscape characteristics including vegetation type, landforms, ecological site and state as well as soil properties including gravel content, soil texture, pH, and electrical conductivity.

RESULTS: Filamentous Cyanobacteria dominated the photoautotrophic community while Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria dominated among the heterotrophic bacteria. Thaumarchaeota were the most abundant Archaea and drought adapted taxa in Dothideomycetes and Agaricomycetes were most abundant fungi in the soil surface microbiomes. Apart from richness within Archaea (p = 0.0124), disturbed samples did not differ from undisturbed samples with respect to alpha diversity and community composition (p ≥ 0.05), possibly due to a lack of frequent or impactful disturbance. Vegetation type and landform showed differences in richness of Bacteria, Archaea, and Cyanobacteria but not in Fungi. Richness lacked strong relationships with soil variables. Landscape features including parent material, vegetation type, landform type, and ecological sites and states, exhibited stronger influence on relative abundances and microbial community composition than on alpha diversity, especially for Cyanobacteria and Fungi. Soil texture, moisture, pH, electrical conductivity, lichen cover, and perennial plant biomass correlated strongly with microbial community gradients detected in NMDS ordinations.

DISCUSSION: Our study provides first comprehensive insights into the relationships between landscape characteristics, associated soil properties, and cross-domain soil microbiomes in the Chihuahuan Desert. Our findings will inform land management and restoration efforts and aid in the understanding of processes such as desertification and state transitioning, which represent urgent ecological and economical challenges in drylands around the world.},
}

@article {pmid37345539,
year = {2023},
author = {Volf, M and Leong, JV and de Lima Ferreira, P and Volfová, T and Kozel, P and Matos-Maraví, P and Hörandl, E and Wagner, ND and Luntamo, N and Salminen, JP and Segar, ST and Sedio, BE},
title = {Contrasting levels of β-diversity and underlying phylogenetic trends indicate different paths to chemical diversity in highland and lowland willow species.},
journal = {Ecology letters},
volume = {26},
number = {9},
pages = {1559-1571},
doi = {10.1111/ele.14273},
pmid = {37345539},
issn = {1461-0248},
support = {MSM200962004//Akademie Věd České Republiky/ ; MEMOVA CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/18_053///EU Operational Programme Research/ ; 20-10543Y//Grantová Agentura České Republiky/ ; ASCEND BII (DBI 2021898)//National Science Foundation/ ; Cedar Creek LTER (DEB 1831944)//National Science Foundation/ ; DEB 2240430//National Science Foundation/ ; },
mesh = {*Salix/genetics ; Phylogeny ; Ecosystem ; Plants ; Biodiversity ; },
abstract = {Diverse specialised metabolites contributed to the success of vascular plants in colonising most terrestrial habitats. Understanding how distinct aspects of chemical diversity arise through heterogeneous environmental pressures can help us understand the effects of abiotic and biotic stress on plant evolution and community assembly. We examined highland and lowland willow species within a phylogenetic framework to test for trends in their chemical α-diversity (richness) and β-diversity (variation among species sympatric in elevation). We show that differences in chemistry among willows growing at different elevations occur mainly through shifts in chemical β-diversity and due to convergence or divergence among species sharing their elevation level. We also detect contrasting phylogenetic trends in concentration and α-diversity of metabolites in highland and lowland willow species. The resulting elevational patterns contribute to the chemical diversity of willows and suggest that variable selective pressure across ecological gradients may, more generally, underpin complex changes in plant chemistry.},
}

*Salix/genetics
Phylogeny
Ecosystem
Plants
Biodiversity

@article {pmid37328644,
year = {2023},
author = {Kumar, J and Coffin, AW and Baffaut, C and Ponce-Campos, GE and Witthaus, L and Hargrove, WW},
title = {Quantitative Representativeness and Constituency of the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network and Analysis of Complementarity with Existing Ecological Networks.},
journal = {Environmental management},
volume = {72},
number = {4},
pages = {705-726},
pmid = {37328644},
issn = {1432-1009},
mesh = {United States ; Neon ; *Agriculture ; },
abstract = {Studies conducted at sites across ecological research networks usually strive to scale their results to larger areas, trying to reach conclusions that are valid throughout larger enclosing regions. Network representativeness and constituency can show how well conditions at sampling locations represent conditions also found elsewhere and can be used to help scale-up results over larger regions. Multivariate statistical methods have been used to design networks and select sites that optimize regional representation, thereby maximizing the value of datasets and research. However, in networks created from already established sites, an immediate challenge is to understand how well existing sites represent the range of environments in the whole area of interest. We performed an analysis to show how well sites in the USDA Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) Network represent all agricultural working lands within the conterminous United States (CONUS). Our analysis of 18 LTAR sites, based on 15 climatic and edaphic characteristics, produced maps of representativeness and constituency. Representativeness of the LTAR sites was quantified through an exhaustive pairwise Euclidean distance calculation in multivariate space, between the locations of experiments within each LTAR site and every 1 km cell across the CONUS. Network representativeness is from the perspective of all CONUS locations, but we also considered the perspective from each LTAR site. For every LTAR site, we identified the region that is best represented by that particular site-its constituency-as the set of 1 km grid locations best represented by the environmental drivers at that particular LTAR site. Representativeness shows how well the combination of characteristics at each CONUS location was represented by the LTAR sites' environments, while constituency shows which LTAR site was the closest match for each location. LTAR representativeness was good across most of the CONUS. Representativeness for croplands was higher than for grazinglands, probably because croplands have more specific environmental criteria. Constituencies resemble ecoregions but have their environmental conditions "centered" on those at particular existing LTAR sites. Constituency of LTAR sites can be used to prioritize the locations of experimental research at or even within particular sites, or to identify the extents that can likely be included when generalizing knowledge across larger regions of the CONUS. Sites with a large constituency have generalist environments, while those with smaller constituency areas have more specialized environmental combinations. These "specialist" sites are the best representatives for smaller, more unusual areas. The potential of sharing complementary sites from the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network and the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) to boost representativeness was also explored. LTAR network representativeness would benefit from borrowing several NEON sites and the Sevilleta LTER site. Later network additions must include such specialist sites that are targeted to represent unique missing environments. While this analysis exhaustively considered principal environmental characteristics related to production on working lands, we did not consider the focal agronomic systems under study, or their socio-economic context.},
}

United States
Neon
*Agriculture

@article {pmid37289010,
year = {2023},
author = {Besser, AC and Manlick, PJ and Blevins, CM and Takacs-Vesbach, CD and Newsome, SD},
title = {Variation in gut microbial contribution of essential amino acids to host protein metabolism in a wild small mammal community.},
journal = {Ecology letters},
volume = {26},
number = {8},
pages = {1359-1369},
doi = {10.1111/ele.14246},
pmid = {37289010},
issn = {1461-0248},
support = {1655499//National Science Foundation/ ; 1755402//National Science Foundation/ ; 1939267//National Science Foundation/ ; },
mesh = {Animals ; *Amino Acids, Essential ; *Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Mammals ; Amino Acids/analysis/metabolism ; Nitrogen ; },
abstract = {Herbivory is a dominant feeding strategy among animals, yet herbivores are often protein limited. The gut microbiome is hypothesized to help maintain host protein balance by provisioning essential macromolecules, but this has never been tested in wild consumers. Using amino acid carbon (δ[13] C) and nitrogen (δ[15] N) isotope analysis, we estimated the proportional contributions of essential amino acids (AAESS) synthesized by gut microbes to five co-occurring desert rodents representing herbivorous, omnivorous and insectivorous functional groups. We found that herbivorous rodents occupying lower trophic positions (Dipodomys spp.) routed a substantial proportion (~40%-50%) of their AAESS from gut microbes, while higher trophic level omnivores (Peromyscus spp.) and insectivores (Onychomys arenicola) obtained most of their AAESS (~58%) from plant-based energy channels but still received ~20% of their AAESS from gut microbes. These findings empirically demonstrate that gut microbes play a key functional role in host protein metabolism in wild animals.},
}

Animals
*Amino Acids, Essential
*Gastrointestinal Microbiome
Mammals
Amino Acids/analysis/metabolism
Nitrogen

@article {pmid37286887,
year = {2023},
author = {Thompson, GL and Bray, N and Groffman, PM and Kao-Kniffin, J},
title = {Soil microbiomes in lawns reveal land-use legacy impacts on urban landscapes.},
journal = {Oecologia},
volume = {202},
number = {2},
pages = {337-351},
pmid = {37286887},
issn = {1432-1939},
support = {1069193//National Science Foundation/ ; 1615560//National Science Foundation/ ; },
mesh = {*Ecosystem ; Soil ; Forests ; Biodiversity ; Urbanization ; *Microbiota ; Soil Microbiology ; Agriculture ; },
abstract = {Land-use change is highly dynamic globally and there is great uncertainty about the effects of land-use legacies on contemporary environmental performance. We used a chronosequence of urban grasslands (lawns) that were converted from agricultural and forested lands from 10 to over 130 years prior to determine if land-use legacy influences components of soil biodiversity and composition over time. We used historical aerial imagery to identify sites in Baltimore County, MD (USA) with agricultural versus forest land-use history. Soil samples were taken from these sites as well as from existing well-studied agricultural and forest sites used as historical references by the National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research Baltimore Ecosystem Study program. We found that the microbiomes in lawns of agricultural origin were similar to those in agricultural reference sites, which suggests that the ecological parameters on lawns and reference agricultural systems are similar in how they influence soil microbial community dynamics. In contrast, lawns that were previously forest showed distinct shifts in soil bacterial composition upon recent conversion but reverted back in composition similar to forest soils as the lawns aged over decades. Soil fungal communities shifted after forested land was converted to lawns, but unlike bacterial communities, did not revert in composition over time. Our results show that components of bacterial biodiversity and composition are resistant to change in previously forested lawns despite urbanization processes. Therefore land-use legacy, depending on the prior use, is an important factor to consider when examining urban ecological homogenization.},
}

*Ecosystem
Soil
Forests
Biodiversity
Urbanization
*Microbiota
Soil Microbiology
Agriculture

@article {pmid37275172,
year = {2023},
author = {Dutta, A and Connors, E and Trinh, R and Erazo, N and Dasarathy, S and Ducklow, HW and Steinberg, DK and Schofield, OM and Bowman, JS},
title = {Depth drives the distribution of microbial ecological functions in the coastal western Antarctic Peninsula.},
journal = {Frontiers in microbiology},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1168507},
pmid = {37275172},
issn = {1664-302X},
abstract = {The Antarctic marine environment is a dynamic ecosystem where microorganisms play an important role in key biogeochemical cycles. Despite the role that microbes play in this ecosystem, little is known about the genetic and metabolic diversity of Antarctic marine microbes. In this study we leveraged DNA samples collected by the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project to sequence shotgun metagenomes of 48 key samples collected across the marine ecosystem of the western Antarctic Peninsula (wAP). We developed an in silico metagenomics pipeline (iMAGine) for processing metagenomic data and constructing metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), identifying a diverse genomic repertoire related to the carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen cycles. A novel analytical approach based on gene coverage was used to understand the differences in microbial community functions across depth and region. Our results showed that microbial community functions were partitioned based on depth. Bacterial members harbored diverse genes for carbohydrate transformation, indicating the availability of processes to convert complex carbons into simpler bioavailable forms. We generated 137 dereplicated MAGs giving us a new perspective on the role of prokaryotes in the coastal wAP. In particular, the presence of mixotrophic prokaryotes capable of autotrophic and heterotrophic lifestyles indicated a metabolically flexible community, which we hypothesize enables survival under rapidly changing conditions. Overall, the study identified key microbial community functions and created a valuable sequence library collection for future Antarctic genomics research.},
}

@article {pmid37186000,
year = {2023},
author = {Gou, X and Reich, PB and Qiu, L and Shao, M and Wei, G and Wang, J and Wei, X},
title = {Leguminous plants significantly increase soil nitrogen cycling across global climates and ecosystem types.},
journal = {Global change biology},
volume = {29},
number = {14},
pages = {4028-4043},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.16742},
pmid = {37186000},
issn = {1365-2486},
support = {2022YFF1302804//National Key Research and Development Program/ ; 41977068//National Natural Science Foundation of China/ ; 41977105//National Natural Science Foundation of China/ ; 42277349//National Natural Science Foundation of China/ ; QYZDB-SSW-DQC039//Programs from Chinese Academy of Sciences/ ; XDA23070202//Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences/ ; XDB40020000//Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences/ ; NSF-DBI-2021898//the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Biological Integration Institutes grant/ ; DEB-1831944//the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) grant/ ; LTREB DEB-1753859//the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) grant/ ; },
mesh = {*Ecosystem ; *Fabaceae ; Soil ; Forests ; Nitrogen/analysis ; Plants ; },
abstract = {Leguminous plants are an important component of terrestrial ecosystems and significantly increase soil nitrogen (N) cycling and availability, which affects productivity in most ecosystems. Clarifying whether the effects of legumes on N cycling vary with contrasting ecosystem types and climatic regions is crucial for understanding and predicting ecosystem processes, but these effects are currently unknown. By conducting a global meta-analysis, we revealed that legumes increased the soil net N mineralization rate (Rmin) by 67%, which was greater than the recently reported increase associated with N deposition (25%). This effect was similar for tropical (53%) and temperate regions (81%) but was significantly greater in grasslands (151%) and forests (74%) than in croplands (-3%) and was greater in in situ incubation (101%) or short-term experiments (112%) than in laboratory incubation (55%) or long-term experiments (37%). Legumes significantly influenced the dependence of Rmin on N fertilization and experimental factors. The Rmin was significantly increased by N fertilization in the nonlegume soils, but not in the legume soils. In addition, the effects of mean annual temperature, soil nutrients and experimental duration on Rmin were smaller in the legume soils than in the nonlegume soils. Collectively, our results highlighted the significant positive effects of legumes on soil N cycling, and indicated that the effects of legumes should be elucidated when addressing the response of soils to plants.},
}

*Ecosystem
*Fabaceae
Soil
Forests
Nitrogen/analysis
Plants

@article {pmid37182241,
year = {2023},
author = {Battisti, C and Fanelli, G and Gallitelli, L and Scalici, M},
title = {Dunal plants as sink for anthropogenic marine litter: The entrapping role of Salsola kali L. (1753) in a Mediterranean remote beach (Sardinia, Italy).},
journal = {Marine pollution bulletin},
volume = {192},
number = {},
pages = {115033},
doi = {10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115033},
pmid = {37182241},
issn = {1879-3363},
mesh = {*Salsola ; Plants ; *Chenopodiaceae ; Italy ; *Alismatales ; Plastics ; Waste Products/analysis ; Environmental Monitoring ; Bathing Beaches ; },
abstract = {The ability to retain anthropogenic marine litter by a halo-psammophilous plant formation dominated by a single prostrate species (Salsola kali) on a Sardinian beach was measured. We hypothesized that the anthropogenic litter (i) is trapped by plants to a greater extent than in control areas, and (ii) has more elongated size, mimicking the organic Posidonia wrack, largely occurring locally as 'banquettes'. Salsola kali patches show an apparently higher anthropogenic litter density than control sites without vegetation. Salsola kali plants trap litter items significantly longer and a larger number of size length categories than control plots. These effects may be due to the prostrate structure of the plant with small thorns at the apex. Also, litter entrapped by plants can interfere with the mechanisms of dune deposition and structuration, in turn affecting food chains by decreasing the availability of organic material for pedofauna.},
}

*Salsola
Plants
*Chenopodiaceae
Italy
*Alismatales
Plastics
Waste Products/analysis
Environmental Monitoring
Bathing Beaches

@article {pmid37127731,
year = {2023},
author = {Henschke, N and Espinasse, B and Stock, CA and Liu, X and Barrier, N and Pakhomov, EA},
title = {The role of water mass advection in staging of the Southern Ocean Salpa thompsoni populations.},
journal = {Scientific reports},
volume = {13},
number = {1},
pages = {7088},
pmid = {37127731},
issn = {2045-2322},
abstract = {Salpa thompsoni is an important grazer in the Southern Ocean. Their abundance in the western Antarctic Peninsula is highly variable, varying by up to 5000-fold inter-annually. Here, we use a particle-tracking model to simulate the potential dispersal of salp populations from a source location in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) to the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (PAL LTER) study area. Tracking simulations are run from 1998 to 2015, and compared against both a stationary salp population model simulated at the PAL LTER study area and observations from the PAL LTER program. The tracking simulation was able to recreate closely the long-term trend and the higher abundances at the slope stations. The higher abundances observed at slope stations are likely due to the advection of salp populations from a source location in the ACC, highlighting the significant role of water mass circulation in the distribution and abundance of Southern Ocean salp populations.},
}

@article {pmid37127152,
year = {2023},
author = {Haubrock, PJ and Pilotto, F and Soto, I and Kühn, I and Verreycken, H and Seebens, H and Cuthbert, RN and Haase, P},
title = {Long-term trends in abundances of non-native species across biomes, realms, and taxonomic groups in Europe.},
journal = {The Science of the total environment},
volume = {884},
number = {},
pages = {163808},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163808},
pmid = {37127152},
issn = {1879-1026},
mesh = {Animals ; *Introduced Species ; *Ecosystem ; Temperature ; Fresh Water ; Europe ; Biodiversity ; },
abstract = {Rates of biological invasion have increased over recent centuries and are expected to increase in the future. Whereas increasing rates of non-native species incursions across realms, taxonomic groups, and regions are well-reported, trends in abundances within these contexts have lacked analysis due to a paucity of long-term data at large spatiotemporal scales. These knowledge gaps impede prioritisation of realms, regions, and taxonomic groups for management. We analysed 180 biological time series (median 15 ± 12.8 sampling years) mainly from Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites comprising abundances of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial non-native species in Europe. A high number (150; 83,3 %) of these time series were invaded by at least one non-native species. We tested whether (i) local long-term abundance trends of non-native species are consistent among environmental realms, taxonomic groups, and regions, and (ii) if any detected trend can be explained by climatic conditions. Our results indicate that abundance trends at local scales are highly variable, with evidence of declines in marine and freshwater long-term monitoring sites, despite non-native species reports increasing rapidly since the late 1970s. These declines were driven mostly by abundance trends in non-native fish, birds, and invertebrate species in three biogeographic regions (Continental, Atlantic, and the North Sea). Temperature and precipitation were important predictors of observed abundance trends across Europe. Yet, the response was larger for species with already declining trends and differed among taxa. Our results indicate that trends in biological invasions, especially across different taxonomic groups, are context-dependent and require robust local data to understand long-term trends across contexts at large scales. While the process of biological invasion is spatiotemporally broad, economic or ecological impacts are generally realised on the local level. Accordingly, we urge proactive and coordinated management actions from local to large scales, as invasion impacts are substantial and dynamics are prone to change.},
}

Animals
*Introduced Species
*Ecosystem
Temperature
Fresh Water
Europe
Biodiversity

@article {pmid37106790,
year = {2023},
author = {Pozojević, I and Dorić, V and Miliša, M and Ternjej, I and Ivković, M},
title = {Defining Patterns and Rates of Natural vs. Drought Driven Aquatic Community Variability Indicates the Ongoing Need for Long Term Ecological Research.},
journal = {Biology},
volume = {12},
number = {4},
pages = {},
pmid = {37106790},
issn = {2079-7737},
abstract = {Most ecologists have used climate change, as an omnipresent pressure, to support their findings in researching the vulnerability of specific taxa, communities, or ecosystems. However, there is a widespread lack of long-term biological, biocoenological, or community data of periods longer than several years to ascertain patterns as to how climate change affects communities. Since the 1950s, southern Europe has faced an ongoing trend of drying and loss of precipitation. A 13-year research program in the Dinaric karst ecoregion of Croatia aimed to comprehensively track emergence patterns of freshwater insects (true flies: Diptera) in a pristine aquatic environment. Three sites, spring, upper, and lower tufa barriers (calcium carbonate barriers on a barrage lake system that act as natural damns), were sampled monthly over 154 months. This coincided with a severe drought event in 2011/2012. This was the most significant drought (very low precipitation rates for an extended period of time) in the Croatian Dinaric ecoregion since the start of detailed records in the early 20th century. Significant shifts in dipteran taxa occurrence were determined using indicator species analysis. Patterns of seasonal and yearly dynamics were presented as Euclidian distance metrics of similarity in true fly community composition compared at increasing time intervals, to ascertain the degree of temporal variability of similarity within the community of a specific site and to define patterns of similarity change over time. Analyses detected significant shifts in community structure linked to changes in discharge regimes, especially to the drought period.},
}

@article {pmid37105953,
year = {2023},
author = {Hartline, DK and Cieslak, MC and Castelfranco, AM and Lieberman, B and Roncalli, V and Lenz, PH},
title = {De novo transcriptomes of six calanoid copepods (Crustacea): a resource for the discovery of novel genes.},
journal = {Scientific data},
volume = {10},
number = {1},
pages = {242},
pmid = {37105953},
issn = {2052-4463},
support = {OCE-1756859//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; LTER-1656070//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; OCE-1756767//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; OCE-1756859//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; LTER-1656070//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; OCE-1756767//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; OCE-1756859//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; LTER-1656070//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; OCE-1756767//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; OCE-1756859//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; LTER-1656070//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; OCE-1756767//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; OCE-1756859//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; LTER-1656070//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; OCE-1756767//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; OCE-1756859//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; LTER-1656070//National Science Foundation (NSF)/ ; },
mesh = {Animals ; Humans ; Base Sequence ; *Copepoda/genetics ; *Transcriptome ; },
abstract = {This study presents eight new high-quality de novo transcriptomes from six co-occurring species of calanoid copepods, the first published for Neocalanus plumchrus, N. cristatus, Eucalanus bungii and Metridia pacifica and additional ones for N. flemingeri and Calanus marshallae. They are ecologically-important members of sub-arctic North Pacific marine zooplankton communities. 'Omics data for this diverse and numerous taxonomic group are sparse and difficult to obtain. Total RNA from single individuals was used to construct gene libraries that were sequenced on an Illumina Next-Seq platform. Quality filtered reads were assembled with Trinity software and validated using multiple criteria. The study's primary purpose is to provide a resource for gene expression studies. The integrated database can be used for quantitative inter- and intra-species comparisons of gene expression patterns across biological processes. An example of an additional use is provided for discovering novel and evolutionarily-significant proteins within the Calanoida. A workflow was designed to find and characterize unannotated transcripts with homologies across de novo assemblies that have also been shown to be eco-responsive.},
}

Animals
Humans
Base Sequence
*Copepoda/genetics
*Transcriptome

@article {pmid37081674,
year = {2023},
author = {Rypel, AL},
title = {Ecosystem size filters life-history strategies to shape community assembly in lakes.},
journal = {The Journal of animal ecology},
volume = {92},
number = {6},
pages = {1161-1175},
doi = {10.1111/1365-2656.13925},
pmid = {37081674},
issn = {1365-2656},
mesh = {Animals ; *Ecosystem ; Lakes ; *Life History Traits ; Biological Evolution ; Biodiversity ; },
abstract = {Enhancing understanding of community assembly rules hinges on shared conceptualizations that operate across scales and levels of ecological organization. Knowledge of the biogeography of life-history strategies is especially limited but crucial for building fundamental information on the relationships between trait diversity and species richness. The goals of this study were to (i) demonstrate how life histories can be classified using a previously identified triangular continuum of evolutionary trade-offs; (ii) test whether spatial and temporal heterogeneity in species abundances is linked to life-history strategy; (iii) compare species-area relationships across the primary life-history strategist groups and (iv) explore how species life-history niche spaces are shaped by ecosystem size and landscape architecture. Fish communities were sampled in 40 lakes that varied widely in volume; 11 lakes were sampled annually for 28 or 42 years. Seventy-one species were classified as equilibrium, periodic or opportunistic strategists, and species-area curves were quantified and compared among strategy types. As predicted by life-history theory, relative abundances of opportunistic strategists were extremely variable over space and time, whereas abundances of equilibrium and periodic strategists were more stable. Small lakes were often dominated by only one species, usually an opportunistic strategist. Species richness increased with ecosystem size, but larger ecosystems were increasingly inhabited by equilibrium, and then, periodic strategists. Richness of periodic species increased with ecosystem size at a faster rate compared with opportunistic species showing that colonization-extinction points fundamentally vary by strategy. Similarly, life-history niche space increased with ecosystem size in accord with species-area relationships but showed saturation behaviour. Niche space became increasingly crowded in large lakes, particularly in lakes with higher hydrologic connectance. Ecosystem size mediates the assembly of communities through effects on environmental stability, hydrology and life-history filtering. This finding provides novel insights into community assembly at multiple scales and has broad conservation applications. Because ecosystem size filters towards orthogonal and inverse life histories, conservation actions (e.g. fish stockings) that do not consider life-history and community filtering rules will probably fail.},
}

Animals
*Ecosystem
Lakes
*Life History Traits
Biological Evolution
Biodiversity

@article {pmid37069671,
year = {2023},
author = {Sidhu, C and Kirstein, IV and Meunier, CL and Rick, J and Fofonova, V and Wiltshire, KH and Steinke, N and Vidal-Melgosa, S and Hehemann, JH and Huettel, B and Schweder, T and Fuchs, BM and Amann, RI and Teeling, H},
title = {Dissolved storage glycans shaped the community composition of abundant bacterioplankton clades during a North Sea spring phytoplankton bloom.},
journal = {Microbiome},
volume = {11},
number = {1},
pages = {77},
pmid = {37069671},
issn = {2049-2618},
mesh = {*Phytoplankton/genetics/metabolism ; North Sea ; *Eutrophication ; Plankton/genetics ; Polysaccharides/metabolism ; Bacteria/genetics/metabolism ; },
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Blooms of marine microalgae play a pivotal role in global carbon cycling. Such blooms entail successive blooms of specialized clades of planktonic bacteria that collectively remineralize gigatons of algal biomass on a global scale. This biomass is largely composed of distinct polysaccharides, and the microbial decomposition of these polysaccharides is therefore a process of prime importance.

RESULTS: In 2020, we sampled a complete biphasic spring bloom in the German Bight over a 90-day period. Bacterioplankton metagenomes from 30 time points allowed reconstruction of 251 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). Corresponding metatranscriptomes highlighted 50 particularly active MAGs of the most abundant clades, including many polysaccharide degraders. Saccharide measurements together with bacterial polysaccharide utilization loci (PUL) expression data identified β-glucans (diatom laminarin) and α-glucans as the most prominent and actively metabolized dissolved polysaccharide substrates. Both substrates were consumed throughout the bloom, with α-glucan PUL expression peaking at the beginning of the second bloom phase shortly after a peak in flagellate and the nadir in bacterial total cell counts.

CONCLUSIONS: We show that the amounts and composition of dissolved polysaccharides, in particular abundant storage polysaccharides, have a pronounced influence on the composition of abundant bacterioplankton members during phytoplankton blooms, some of which compete for similar polysaccharide niches. We hypothesize that besides the release of algal glycans, also recycling of bacterial glycans as a result of increased bacterial cell mortality can have a significant influence on bacterioplankton composition during phytoplankton blooms. Video Abstract.},
}

*Phytoplankton/genetics/metabolism
North Sea
*Eutrophication
Plankton/genetics
Polysaccharides/metabolism
Bacteria/genetics/metabolism

@article {pmid37061583,
year = {2023},
author = {Chase, AB and Bogdanov, A and Demko, AM and Jensen, PR},
title = {Biogeographic patterns of biosynthetic potential and specialized metabolites in marine sediments.},
journal = {The ISME journal},
volume = {17},
number = {7},
pages = {976-983},
pmid = {37061583},
issn = {1751-7370},
support = {R01 GM085770/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States ; S10 OD010786/OD/NIH HHS/United States ; },
mesh = {*Geologic Sediments ; *Microbiota/genetics ; Metabolome ; },
abstract = {While the field of microbial biogeography has largely focused on the contributions of abiotic factors to community patterns, the potential influence of biotic interactions in structuring microbial communities, such as those mediated by the production of specialized metabolites, remains largely unknown. Here, we examined the relationship between microbial community structure and specialized metabolism at local spatial scales in marine sediment samples collected from the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in Moorea, French Polynesia. By employing a multi-omic approach to characterize the taxonomic, functional, and specialized metabolite composition within sediment communities, we find that biogeographic patterns were driven by local scale processes (e.g., biotic interactions) and largely independent of dispersal limitation. Specifically, we observed high variation in biosynthetic potential (based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) between samples, even within 1 m[2] plots, that reflected uncharacterized chemical space associated with site-specific metabolomes. Ultimately, connecting biosynthetic potential to community metabolomes facilitated the in situ detection of natural products and revealed new insights into the complex metabolic dynamics associated with sediment microbial communities. Our study demonstrates the potential to integrate biosynthetic genes and metabolite production into assessments of microbial community dynamics.},
}

*Geologic Sediments
*Microbiota/genetics
Metabolome

@article {pmid36988091,
year = {2023},
author = {Matthews, TJ and Wayman, JP and Whittaker, RJ and Cardoso, P and Hume, JP and Sayol, F and Proios, K and Martin, TE and Baiser, B and Borges, PAV and Kubota, Y and Dos Anjos, L and Tobias, JA and Soares, FC and Si, X and Ding, P and Mendenhall, CD and Sin, YCK and Rheindt, FE and Triantis, KA and Guilhaumon, F and Watson, DM and Brotons, L and Battisti, C and Chu, O and Rigal, F},
title = {A global analysis of avian island diversity-area relationships in the Anthropocene.},
journal = {Ecology letters},
volume = {26},
number = {6},
pages = {965-982},
doi = {10.1111/ele.14203},
pmid = {36988091},
issn = {1461-0248},
mesh = {Animals ; Phylogeny ; *Biodiversity ; Islands ; *Birds ; Ecosystem ; },
abstract = {Research on island species-area relationships (ISAR) has expanded to incorporate functional (IFDAR) and phylogenetic (IPDAR) diversity. However, relative to the ISAR, we know little about IFDARs and IPDARs, and lack synthetic global analyses of variation in form of these three categories of island diversity-area relationship (IDAR). Here, we undertake the first comparative evaluation of IDARs at the global scale using 51 avian archipelagic data sets representing true and habitat islands. Using null models, we explore how richness-corrected functional and phylogenetic diversity scale with island area. We also provide the largest global assessment of the impacts of species introductions and extinctions on the IDAR. Results show that increasing richness with area is the primary driver of the (non-richness corrected) IPDAR and IFDAR for many data sets. However, for several archipelagos, richness-corrected functional and phylogenetic diversity changes linearly with island area, suggesting that the dominant community assembly processes shift along the island area gradient. We also find that archipelagos with the steepest ISARs exhibit the biggest differences in slope between IDARs, indicating increased functional and phylogenetic redundancy on larger islands in these archipelagos. In several cases introduced species seem to have 're-calibrated' the IDARs such that they resemble the historic period prior to recent extinctions.},
}

Animals
Phylogeny
*Biodiversity
Islands
*Birds
Ecosystem

@article {pmid36910211,
year = {2023},
author = {Bregman, G and Lalzar, M and Livne, L and Bigal, E and Zemah-Shamir, Z and Morick, D and Tchernov, D and Scheinin, A and Meron, D},
title = {Preliminary study of shark microbiota at a unique mix-species shark aggregation site, in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.},
journal = {Frontiers in microbiology},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1027804},
pmid = {36910211},
issn = {1664-302X},
abstract = {Sharks, as apex predators, play an essential ecological role in shaping the marine food web and maintaining healthy and balanced marine ecosystems. Sharks are sensitive to environmental changes and anthropogenic pressure and demonstrate a clear and rapid response. This designates them a "keystone" or "sentinel" group that may describe the structure and function of the ecosystem. As a meta-organism, sharks offer selective niches (organs) for microorganisms that can provide benefits for their hosts. However, changes in the microbiota (due to physiological or environmental changes) can turn the symbiosis into a dysbiosis and may affect the physiology, immunity and ecology of the host. Although the importance of sharks within the ecosystem is well known, relatively few studies have focused on the microbiome aspect, especially with long-term sampling. Our study was conducted at a site of coastal development in Israel where a mixed-species shark aggregation (November-May) is observed. The aggregation includes two shark species, the dusky (Carcharhinus obscurus) and sandbar (Carcharhinus plumbeus) which segregate by sex (females and males, respectively). In order to characterize the bacterial profile and examine the physiological and ecological aspects, microbiome samples were collected from different organs (gills, skin, and cloaca) from both shark species over 3 years (sampling seasons: 2019, 2020, and 2021). The bacterial composition was significantly different between the shark individuals and the surrounding seawater and between the shark species. Additionally, differences were apparent between all the organs and the seawater, and between the skin and gills. The most dominant groups for both shark species were Flavobacteriaceae, Moraxellaceae, and Rhodobacteraceae. However, specific microbial biomarkers were also identified for each shark. An unexpected difference in the microbiome profile and diversity between the 2019-2020 and 2021 sampling seasons, revealed an increase in the potential pathogen Streptococcus. The fluctuations in the relative abundance of Streptococcus between the months of the third sampling season were also reflected in the seawater. Our study provides initial information on shark microbiome in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. In addition, we demonstrated that these methods were also able to describe environmental episodes and the microbiome is a robust measure for long-term ecological research.},
}

@article {pmid36864338,
year = {2023},
author = {Ferri, V and Crescia, P and Battisti, C},
title = {Discarded bottles entrap endemic small mammals species in a large Mediterranean island.},
journal = {Environmental science and pollution research international},
volume = {30},
number = {19},
pages = {57164-57173},
pmid = {36864338},
issn = {1614-7499},
mesh = {Animals ; *Shrews ; *Invertebrates ; Food Chain ; Mediterranean Islands ; Biomass ; },
abstract = {We examined the entrapment effect of discarded bottles on small mammals, along a road network located in North-Western Sardinia (Italy). On 162 bottles, 49 (> 30%) contained at least one animal specimen (invertebrate or vertebrate) and 26 (16%) entrapped 151 small mammals: insectivorous shrews (Soricomorpha) were more frequently recorded. Larger bottles (66 cl.) showed a higher number of entrapped mammals, but difference was not significant when compared to smaller bottles (33 cl.). Our data highlighted as abandoned bottles represent a threatening factor for small mammals on a large Mediterranean island with over-represented endemic shrews (predators of high trophic level) attracted by insects entrapped in bottles. Correspondence analysis suggest a weak segregation between bottles of different size, related to the abundance of the most entrapped species, the Mediterranean shrew (Crocidura pachyura). This still neglected type of litter, reducing number and biomass of insectivorous mammals of high trophic level and high ecological value may affect the food web in terrestrial insular communities, yet impoverished for biogeographical reasons. However, discarded bottles may represent as low-cost surrogate pitfall traps useful to improve knowledge in poor studied areas. Following the DPSIR (Driving force, Pressure, State, Impact, Response) approach as a framework to select indicator, we suggest as the effectiveness of removal clean-ups could be monitored using both the density of discarded bottles (as indicator of threat pressure) and the abundance of entrapped animals (as indicator of impact on small mammals).},
}

Animals
*Shrews
*Invertebrates
Food Chain
Mediterranean Islands
Biomass

@article {pmid36847530,
year = {2023},
author = {Propster, JR and Schwartz, E and Hayer, M and Miller, S and Monsaint-Queeney, V and Koch, BJ and Morrissey, EM and Mack, MC and Hungate, BA},
title = {Distinct Growth Responses of Tundra Soil Bacteria to Short-Term and Long-Term Warming.},
journal = {Applied and environmental microbiology},
volume = {89},
number = {3},
pages = {e0154322},
pmid = {36847530},
issn = {1098-5336},
mesh = {*Soil ; *Ecosystem ; Phylogeny ; Tundra ; Arctic Regions ; Climate Change ; Carbon/metabolism ; },
abstract = {Increases in Arctic temperatures have thawed permafrost and accelerated tundra soil microbial activity, releasing greenhouse gases that amplify climate warming. Warming over time has also accelerated shrub encroachment in the tundra, altering plant input abundance and quality, and causing further changes to soil microbial processes. To better understand the effects of increased temperature and the accumulated effects of climate change on soil bacterial activity, we quantified the growth responses of individual bacterial taxa to short-term warming (3 months) and long-term warming (29 years) in moist acidic tussock tundra. Intact soil was assayed in the field for 30 days using [18]O-labeled water, from which taxon-specific rates of [18]O incorporation into DNA were estimated as a proxy for growth. Experimental treatments warmed the soil by approximately 1.5°C. Short-term warming increased average relative growth rates across the assemblage by 36%, and this increase was attributable to emergent growing taxa not detected in other treatments that doubled the diversity of growing bacteria. However, long-term warming increased average relative growth rates by 151%, and this was largely attributable to taxa that co-occurred in the ambient temperature controls. There was also coherence in relative growth rates within broad taxonomic levels with orders tending to have similar growth rates in all treatments. Growth responses tended to be neutral in short-term warming and positive in long-term warming for most taxa and phylogenetic groups co-occurring across treatments regardless of phylogeny. Taken together, growing bacteria responded distinctly to short-term and long-term warming, and taxa growing in each treatment exhibited deep phylogenetic organization. IMPORTANCE Soil carbon stocks in the tundra and underlying permafrost have become increasingly vulnerable to microbial decomposition due to climate change. The microbial responses to Arctic warming must be understood in order to predict the effects of future microbial activity on carbon balance in a warming Arctic. In response to our warming treatments, tundra soil bacteria grew faster, consistent with increased rates of decomposition and carbon flux to the atmosphere. Our findings suggest that bacterial growth rates may continue to increase in the coming decades as faster growth is driven by the accumulated effects of long-term warming. Observed phylogenetic organization of bacterial growth rates may also permit taxonomy-based predictions of bacterial responses to climate change and inclusion into ecosystem models.},
}

*Soil
*Ecosystem
Phylogeny
Tundra
Arctic Regions
Climate Change
Carbon/metabolism

@article {pmid36816760,
year = {2023},
author = {Battisti, C and Cento, M and Circosta, A and Coppola, M and Muratore, S},
title = {Resurrecting seasonal dynamics in waterbirds after wetland restoration: before-after monitoring highlights the role of a single dominant species.},
journal = {Wetlands ecology and management},
volume = {31},
number = {2},
pages = {203-211},
pmid = {36816760},
issn = {0923-4861},
abstract = {We compared a set of uni-varied diversity metrics of a guild of water-related birds (hereafter 'waterbirds') before and after a wetland restoration carried out on uncultivated (reclaimed) lands. Over a period of five years, we observed a restart of seasonal waterbirds dynamics after wetland restoration by flooding of abandoned croplands, with a significant increase in all metrics of diversity, more evident in autumn-winter periods. Seasonal thresholds were evident before (2017-2018) and after (2018-2019) the flooding. These dynamics appeared irregular, probably for a different inter-annual suitability of the flooded meadows due to local ecological factors (e.g., change in meteorological regime and in rush-bed vegetation cover). Rarefaction curves, both for richness and diversity, showed how the waterbird community moved towards a greater complexity. Flooded meadow restoration, particularly favoured wintering species in Mediterranean sites, which explained the strong fluctuations in total abundance. At the species level, Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), absent before restoration, was the most abundant species after flooding, using flooded meadows with its gregarious behaviour. This 'crowding' may be explained also for a lack of similar habitats in the surrounding. Other dominant species (Anas platyrhynchos, Ardea cinerea, Egretta garzetta) showed a significant increase after restoration. Standardized before-after monitoring on medium term time periods seem suitable to evidence inter-annual season dynamics in diversity metrics of waterbird assemblages.},
}

@article {pmid36734695,
year = {2023},
author = {Solokas, MA and Feiner, ZS and Al-Chokachy, R and Budy, P and DeWeber, JT and Sarvala, J and Sass, GG and Tolentino, SA and Walsworth, TE and Jensen, OP},
title = {Shrinking body size and climate warming: Many freshwater salmonids do not follow the rule.},
journal = {Global change biology},
volume = {29},
number = {9},
pages = {2478-2492},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.16626},
pmid = {36734695},
issn = {1365-2486},
support = {//U.S. Geological Survey/ ; //United States Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Aid in Sportfish Restoration Program/ ; //Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources/ ; OPP 9911278//National Science Foundation Arctic Long Term Ecological Research Program/ ; 1637459//National Science Foundation Arctic Long Term Ecological Research Program/ ; 1026843//National Science Foundation Arctic Long Term Ecological Research Program/ ; 0508570//National Science Foundation Arctic Long Term Ecological Research Program/ ; 0423385//National Science Foundation Arctic Long Term Ecological Research Program/ ; 1716066//National Science Foundation/ ; 2025982//National Science Foundation North Temperate Lakes Long Term Ecological Research Program/ ; },
mesh = {Animals ; *Salmonidae ; Fishes ; Climate Change ; Temperature ; Fresh Water ; Body Size ; },
abstract = {Declining body size is believed to be a universal response to climate warming and has been documented in numerous studies of marine and anadromous fishes. The Salmonidae are a family of coldwater fishes considered to be among the most sensitive species to climate warming; however, whether the shrinking body size response holds true for freshwater salmonids has yet to be examined at a broad spatial scale. We compiled observations of individual fish lengths from long-term surveys across the Northern Hemisphere for 12 species of freshwater salmonids and used linear mixed models to test for spatial and temporal trends in body size (fish length) spanning recent decades. Contrary to expectations, we found a significant increase in length overall but with high variability in trends among populations and species. More than two-thirds of the populations we examined increased in length over time. Secondary regressions revealed larger-bodied populations are experiencing greater increases in length than smaller-bodied populations. Mean water temperature was weakly predictive of changes in body length but overall minimal influences of environmental variables suggest that it is difficult to predict an organism's response to changing temperatures by solely looking at climatic factors. Our results suggest that declining body size is not universal, and the response of fishes to climate change may be largely influenced by local factors. It is important to know that we cannot assume the effects of climate change are predictable and negative at a large spatial scale.},
}

Animals
*Salmonidae
Fishes
Climate Change
Temperature
Fresh Water
Body Size

@article {pmid36644792,
year = {2023},
author = {Pallin, LJ and Kellar, NM and Steel, D and Botero-Acosta, N and Baker, CS and Conroy, JA and Costa, DP and Johnson, CM and Johnston, DW and Nichols, RC and Nowacek, DP and Read, AJ and Savenko, O and Schofield, OM and Stammerjohn, SE and Steinberg, DK and Friedlaender, AS},
title = {A surplus no more? Variation in krill availability impacts reproductive rates of Antarctic baleen whales.},
journal = {Global change biology},
volume = {29},
number = {8},
pages = {2108-2121},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.16559},
pmid = {36644792},
issn = {1365-2486},
support = {//American Cetacean Society-Monterey Bay Chapter/ ; //Dr. Earl H. Myers & Ethel M. Myers Oceanographic & Marine Biology Trust/ ; //Marine Mammal Commission/ ; NGS-909906R-21//National Geographic Society/ ; DGE1339067//NSF GRFP/ ; 1440435//Palmer Long Term Ecological Research Program/ ; 2026045//Palmer Long Term Ecological Research Program/ ; //Scientific Committee of Antarctic Research/ ; //State Special-Purpose Research Program in Antarctica for 2011-2023 of the State Institution National Antarctic Scientific Center, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine/ ; //The International Whaling Commission's Southern Ocean Research Partnership/ ; //UC Santa Cruz's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology/ ; //UC Santa Cruz's Graduate Division/ ; //World Wide Fund for Nature - Australia (WWF-Australia)/ ; 1643877//National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs/ ; //US Biological Adaptations to Environmental Change in Antarctica/ ; V724070//Virginia Sea Grant Project/ ; //National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/ ; //U.S. Department of Commerce/ ; },
mesh = {Animals ; Humans ; Antarctic Regions ; Climate ; Ecosystem ; *Euphausiacea ; *Humpback Whale ; Population Dynamics ; Ice Cover ; },
abstract = {The krill surplus hypothesis of unlimited prey resources available for Antarctic predators due to commercial whaling in the 20th century has remained largely untested since the 1970s. Rapid warming of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) over the past 50 years has resulted in decreased seasonal ice cover and a reduction of krill. The latter is being exacerbated by a commercial krill fishery in the region. Despite this, humpback whale populations have increased but may be at a threshold for growth based on these human-induced changes. Understanding how climate-mediated variation in prey availability influences humpback whale population dynamics is critical for focused management and conservation actions. Using an 8-year dataset (2013-2020), we show that inter-annual humpback whale pregnancy rates, as determined from skin-blubber biopsy samples (n = 616), are positively correlated with krill availability and fluctuations in ice cover in the previous year. Pregnancy rates showed significant inter-annual variability, between 29% and 86%. Our results indicate that krill availability is in fact limiting and affecting reproductive rates, in contrast to the krill surplus hypothesis. This suggests that this population of humpback whales may be at a threshold for population growth due to prey limitations. As a result, continued warming and increased fishing along the WAP, which continue to reduce krill stocks, will likely impact this humpback whale population and other krill predators in the region. Humpback whales are sentinel species of ecosystem health, and changes in pregnancy rates can provide quantifiable signals of the impact of environmental change at the population level. Our findings must be considered paramount in developing new and more restrictive conservation and management plans for the Antarctic marine ecosystem and minimizing the negative impacts of human activities in the region.},
}

Animals
Humans
Antarctic Regions
Climate
Ecosystem
*Euphausiacea
*Humpback Whale
Population Dynamics
Ice Cover

@article {pmid36640197,
year = {2023},
author = {Griffin-Nolan, RJ and Felton, AJ and Slette, IJ and Smith, MD and Knapp, AK},
title = {Traits that distinguish dominant species across aridity gradients differ from those that respond to soil moisture.},
journal = {Oecologia},
volume = {201},
number = {2},
pages = {311-322},
pmid = {36640197},
issn = {1432-1939},
support = {1137378//Division of Environmental Biology/ ; 1137363//Division of Environmental Biology/ ; 1137342//Division of Environmental Biology/ ; },
mesh = {*Ecosystem ; *Soil ; Poaceae/physiology ; Biomass ; Plant Leaves/physiology ; Water/physiology ; },
abstract = {Many plant traits respond to changes in water availability and might be useful for understanding ecosystem properties such as net primary production (NPP). This is especially evident in grasslands where NPP is water-limited and primarily determined by the traits of dominant species. We measured root and shoot morphology, leaf hydraulic traits, and NPP of four dominant North American prairie grasses in response to four levels of soil moisture in a greenhouse experiment. We expected that traits of species from drier regions would be more responsive to reduced water availability and that this would make these species more resistant to low soil moisture than species from wetter regions. All four species grew taller, produced more biomass, and increased total root length in wetter treatments. Each species reduced its leaf turgor loss point (TLP) in drier conditions, but only two species (one xeric, one mesic) maintained leaf water potential above TLP. We identified a suite of traits that clearly distinguished species from one another, but, surprisingly, these traits were relatively unresponsive to reduced soil moisture. Specifically, more xeric species produced thinner roots with higher specific root length and had a lower root mass fraction. This suggest that root traits are critical for distinguishing species from one another but might not respond strongly to changing water availability, though this warrants further investigation in the field. Overall, we found that NPP of these dominant grass species responded similarly to varying levels of soil moisture despite differences in species morphology, physiology, and habitat of origin.},
}

*Ecosystem
*Soil
Poaceae/physiology
Biomass
Plant Leaves/physiology
Water/physiology

@article {pmid36638716,
year = {2023},
author = {Gallitelli, L and Battisti, C and Scalici, M},
title = {Dunal plants intercepting macrolitter: Implications for beach clean-ups.},
journal = {Marine pollution bulletin},
volume = {187},
number = {},
pages = {114585},
doi = {10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114585},
pmid = {36638716},
issn = {1879-3363},
mesh = {*Plants ; *Poaceae ; Plastics ; Waste Products/analysis ; Environmental Monitoring ; Bathing Beaches ; },
abstract = {Coastal vegetation intercepts macroplastics and, consequently, it may represent a reservoir of anthropogenic litter and organic wrack. We aimed at investigating (i) the abundance variation of macrolitter from the beach to foredune and backdune (three cross-shore plots over 20 long-shore sectors) and (ii) the role of the halo-psammophilous plants and Phragmites australis reedbed in intercepting the macrolitter, respectively, in the foredunes and backdunes. The vegetation in the foredunes (mainly halo-psammophilous species) acted as a first interception belt for macrolitter, while the bigger litter reached the backdunes. Our results might be of great concern with implications for beach clean-ups - which must also be mainly focused in foredunes and backdunes, however warning operators in advance that they could damage the vegetation by trampling on.},
}

*Plants
*Poaceae
Plastics
Waste Products/analysis
Environmental Monitoring
Bathing Beaches

@article {pmid36630533,
year = {2023},
author = {Ueyama, M and Knox, SH and Delwiche, KB and Bansal, S and Riley, WJ and Baldocchi, D and Hirano, T and McNicol, G and Schafer, K and Windham-Myers, L and Poulter, B and Jackson, RB and Chang, KY and Chen, J and Chu, H and Desai, AR and Gogo, S and Iwata, H and Kang, M and Mammarella, I and Peichl, M and Sonnentag, O and Tuittila, ES and Ryu, Y and Euskirchen, ES and Göckede, M and Jacotot, A and Nilsson, MB and Sachs, T},
title = {Modeled production, oxidation, and transport processes of wetland methane emissions in temperate, boreal, and Arctic regions.},
journal = {Global change biology},
volume = {29},
number = {8},
pages = {2313-2334},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.16594},
pmid = {36630533},
issn = {1365-2486},
support = {JPMXD1420318865//Arctic Challenge for Sustainability II/ ; 1936752//Arctic Observatory Program of the National Science Foundation/ ; 1503912//Arctic Observatory Program of the National Science Foundation/ ; 1107892//Arctic Observatory Program of the National Science Foundation/ ; NSF DEB-1026415//Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research Program funded by the National Science Foundation/ ; DEB-1636476//Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research Program funded by the National Science Foundation/ ; //California Department of Water Resources, CA Fish and Wildlife/ ; //Canada Research Chairs, Canada Foundation for Innovation Leaders Opportunity Fund/ ; 3119871//ICOS-Finland/ ; 20K21849//JSPS KAKENHI/ ; 2022003640002//Ministry of Environment of Korea/ ; //Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grant Programs/ ; NSF LTREB 2011276//NSF Long-Term Research in Environmental Biology Program/ ; //Reducing Uncertainties in Biogeochemical Interactions through Synthesis and Computation (RUBISCO) Scientific Focus Area, Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science/ ; PJ014892022022//Rural Development Administration/ ; //SNO Tourbières, CNRS-INSU/ ; DE-AC02-05CH11231//U.S. Department of Energy/ ; //U.S. Geological Survey, Ecosystems Mission Area, Land Change Science Program/ ; 7544821//US DOE Ameriflux/ ; Order 224//US Geological Survey, Research Work/ ; VH-NG-821//Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres/ ; 341348//Academy of Finland project N-PERM/ ; 101056921//Horizon Europe project GreenFeedBack/ ; //U.S. Geological Survey, John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis/ ; //U.S. Geological Survey, Water Mission Area, Earth Systems Processes Division/ ; },
mesh = {*Wetlands ; *Ecosystem ; Methane/metabolism ; Arctic Regions ; Soil ; Carbon Dioxide/analysis ; },
abstract = {Wetlands are the largest natural source of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere. The eddy covariance method provides robust measurements of net ecosystem exchange of CH4 , but interpreting its spatiotemporal variations is challenging due to the co-occurrence of CH4 production, oxidation, and transport dynamics. Here, we estimate these three processes using a data-model fusion approach across 25 wetlands in temperate, boreal, and Arctic regions. Our data-constrained model-iPEACE-reasonably reproduced CH4 emissions at 19 of the 25 sites with normalized root mean square error of 0.59, correlation coefficient of 0.82, and normalized standard deviation of 0.87. Among the three processes, CH4 production appeared to be the most important process, followed by oxidation in explaining inter-site variations in CH4 emissions. Based on a sensitivity analysis, CH4 emissions were generally more sensitive to decreased water table than to increased gross primary productivity or soil temperature. For periods with leaf area index (LAI) of ≥20% of its annual peak, plant-mediated transport appeared to be the major pathway for CH4 transport. Contributions from ebullition and diffusion were relatively high during low LAI (<20%) periods. The lag time between CH4 production and CH4 emissions tended to be short in fen sites (3 ± 2 days) and long in bog sites (13 ± 10 days). Based on a principal component analysis, we found that parameters for CH4 production, plant-mediated transport, and diffusion through water explained 77% of the variance in the parameters across the 19 sites, highlighting the importance of these parameters for predicting wetland CH4 emissions across biomes. These processes and associated parameters for CH4 emissions among and within the wetlands provide useful insights for interpreting observed net CH4 fluxes, estimating sensitivities to biophysical variables, and modeling global CH4 fluxes.},
}

*Wetlands
*Ecosystem
Methane/metabolism
Arctic Regions
Soil
Carbon Dioxide/analysis

@article {pmid36607159,
year = {2023},
author = {Tang, B and Rocci, KS and Lehmann, A and Rillig, MC},
title = {Nitrogen increases soil organic carbon accrual and alters its functionality.},
journal = {Global change biology},
volume = {29},
number = {7},
pages = {1971-1983},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.16588},
pmid = {36607159},
issn = {1365-2486},
support = {//Cedar Creek LTER/ ; //National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship/ ; //Nutrient Network experiment/ ; //Rising Star Fellowship of the Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin/ ; },
mesh = {*Soil ; *Carbon ; Nitrogen/analysis ; Biomass ; Plants ; Minerals ; Dust ; },
abstract = {Nitrogen (N) availability has been considered as a critical factor for the cycling and storage of soil organic carbon (SOC), but effects of N enrichment on the SOC pool appear highly variable. Given the complex nature of the SOC pool, recent frameworks suggest that separating this pool into different functional components, for example, particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC), is of great importance for understanding and predicting SOC dynamics. Importantly, little is known about how these N-induced changes in SOC components (e.g., changes in the ratios among these fractions) would affect the functionality of the SOC pool, given the differences in nutrient density, resistance to disturbance, and turnover time between POC and MAOC pool. Here, we conducted a global meta-analysis of 803 paired observations from 98 published studies to assess the effect of N addition on these SOC components, and the ratios among these fractions. We found that N addition, on average, significantly increased POC and MAOC pools by 16.4% and 3.7%, respectively. In contrast, both the ratios of MAOC to SOC and MAOC to POC were remarkably decreased by N enrichment (4.1% and 10.1%, respectively). Increases in the POC pool were positively correlated with changes in aboveground plant biomass and with hydrolytic enzymes. However, the positive responses of MAOC to N enrichment were correlated with increases in microbial biomass. Our results suggest that although reactive N deposition could facilitate soil C sequestration to some extent, it might decrease the nutrient density, turnover time, and resistance to disturbance of the SOC pool. Our study provides mechanistic insights into the effects of N enrichment on the SOC pool and its functionality at global scale, which is pivotal for understanding soil C dynamics especially in future scenarios with more frequent and severe perturbations.},
}

*Soil
*Carbon
Nitrogen/analysis
Biomass
Plants
Minerals
Dust