Article
Ecology
Laurel M. Brigham, Clifton P. Bueno de Mesquita, Jane G. Smith, Samuel A. Sartwell, Steven K. Schmidt, Katharine N. Suding
Summary: In a long-term experiment in the Front Range of Colorado, researchers found that the effects of nitrogen deposition on soil microbial communities were uncoupled from the response of plant communities, indicating a lack of strong cascading effects of nitrogen deposition across the plant-soil interface in their system.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ellen I. Damschen
Summary: To predict the risk of extinction due to climate change, it is important to understand the interactions between species. Analyzing the impact of rainfall changes on competition between plant species provides a solution to this challenge.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Clare Watson
Summary: Due to climate change, some endangered animals may not survive in their current habitats. Researchers are conducting tests on a controversial strategy to relocate them before it becomes too late - starting with Australia's rarest reptile.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Niall P. Hanan, Anthony M. Swemmer
Summary: An analysis of carbon stored in plants and soil in an African savannah suggests that frequent fires may have less impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and global warming than previously thought.
Article
Ecology
Sana Romdhane, Ayme Spor, Julie Aubert, David Bru, Marie-Christine Breuil, Sara Hallin, Arnaud Mounier, Sarah Ouadah, Myrto Tsiknia, Laurent Philippot
Summary: This study utilized a top-down manipulation approach to investigate the role of biotic interactions in shaping soil microbial communities, revealing the importance of such interactions and identifying microbial community assembly rules. Modified biotic interactions had a greater impact on activities related to nitrogen cycling than carbon cycling, providing insights into microbial interactions in complex ecosystems and their relationship with ecosystem function.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hans Ammitzboll, Gregory J. Jordan, Susan C. Baker, Jules Freeman, Andrew Bissett
Summary: Understanding the effects of logging and fire on forest soil communities is crucial for forest ecology and resource management. Research in Tasmania showed that burn severity is a strong driver of soil microbial community composition, with logging and high severity burning reducing the diversity and biomass of soil bacteria and fungi. The impact of disturbance on microbial community composition is greater than site-to-site edaphic differences, and fire leads to more significant divergence in community composition than logging alone.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Moriaki Yasuhara, Curtis A. Deutsch
Summary: The increase in species diversity towards the tropics is a remarkable global phenomenon that has not been fully explained yet. Evidence from ocean microfossils suggests that this pattern emerged due to ancient climate cooling and polar-climate dynamics.
Article
Ecology
Ian R. McFadden, Agnieszka Sendek, Morgane Brosse, Peter M. Bach, Marco Baity-Jesi, Janine Bolliger, Kurt Bollmann, Eckehard G. Brockerhoff, Giulia Donati, Friederike Gebert, Shyamolina Ghosh, Hsi-Cheng Ho, Imran Khaliq, J. Jelle Lever, Ivana Logar, Helen Moor, Daniel Odermatt, Loiec Pellissier, Luiz Jardim de Queiroz, Christian Rixen, Nele Schuwirth, J. Ryan Shipley, Cornelia W. Twining, Yann Vitasse, Christoph Vorburger, Mark K. L. Wong, Niklaus E. Zimmermann, Ole Seehausen, Martin M. Gossner, Blake Matthews, Catherine H. Graham, Florian Altermatt, Anita Narwani
Summary: Human impacts such as habitat loss, climate change, and biological invasions are drastically changing biodiversity. We propose an integrative approach to explain the differences in impacts between terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems by linking them to four fundamental processes that structure communities. Through this approach, we aim to provide insights into why human impacts and responses to them may differ across ecosystem types, using a mechanistic, eco-evolutionary framework.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zeljko Zgrablic
Summary: This sentence briefly introduces the work of field mycologist Zeljko Zgrablic and his dog in tracking how climate change affects truffles.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nikki Forrester, Andrea Fischer
Summary: Glaciologist Andrea Fischer shares her firsthand experience of studying the constantly changing ice masses.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anna Akesson, Alva Curtsdotter, Anna Ekloef, Bo Ebenman, Jon Norberg, Gyoergy Barabas
Summary: Eco-evolutionary dynamics play a crucial role in shaping biological responses to climate change. Species interactions and competition can mitigate the negative impacts of climate change, leading to more variable and responsive communities.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Shengjing Jiang, Ning Ling, Zhiyuan Ma, Xiaojia He, Jin-Sheng He
Summary: This study conducted pot experiments to investigate the root-associated fungal community structure of 14 host plant species undergoing experimental warming on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The results showed that although the root-associated fungal community was resilient to short-term warming, different host plant species significantly influenced the specificity of the fungal communities.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Carlos G. Boluda, Victor J. Rico, Yamama Naciri, David L. Hawksworth, Christoph Scheidegger
Summary: This study investigated the phylogeography and genetic diversity of the lichen species Bryoria fuscescens in Europe and western North Africa, revealing Scandinavia as the region with the highest genetic diversity. Three gene pools were identified, with two linked to phenotypic characteristics and the third related to an American sister species. Migration routes were estimated to be from north to south, contradicting glacial refugia distributions. The presence of ancestral shared alleles in distant populations may bias phylogeographic reconstructions.
Article
Ecology
Frederik De Laender, Camille Carpentier, Timoteo Carletti, Chuliang Song, Samantha L. Rumschlag, Michael B. Mahon, Marie Simonin, Geza Meszena, Gyorgy Barabas
Summary: Environmental change research is plagued by the complexity of multiple communities and environmental drivers. However, we provide evidence that a general understanding of ecological effects is achievable. Our findings demonstrate that the effects of environmental change on coexistence depend on species responses and trophic interactions, and can be predicted using temperature optima and species sensitivities to pollution. We also show the applicability of our theory in analyzing field data on land use change and its impact on coexistence in natural invertebrate communities.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Chengjie Ren, Zhenghu Zhou, Yaoxin Guo, Gaihe Yang, Fazhu Zhao, Gehong Wei, Xinhui Han, Lun Feng, Yongzhong Feng, Guangxin Ren
Summary: The distribution patterns of microbial communities and enzyme activities in soil along an elevation gradient were studied, with results showing significant effects of elevation on bacterial, fungal, ectomycorrhizal, and saprotrophic fungal diversity, as well as enzyme activity dynamics. Climatic factors and soil properties played important roles in these differences, with climatic factors having a greater impact along the elevation gradient. These findings highlight the ecological importance of microbial communities in response to climate change.
