Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mark Hodson, Ron J. Corstanjeb, David Jones, Jo Witton, Victoria E. Burton, Tom E. Sloan, Paul E. Eggleton
Summary: The abundance and distribution of earthworms in agricultural fields are influenced by various factors at different scales. While at a local level, earthworm abundance is best predicted by nearby earthworm densities, there is no consistent environmental correlation with earthworm numbers. Therefore, caution must be taken when using earthworms as indicators of soil quality, considering the variability in earthworm populations unrelated to soil properties.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Carlos Mauricio Peredo, Nicholas D. Pyenson, Mark D. Uhen
Summary: This study examines the lateral palatal foramina in different species of cetaceans and terrestrial artiodactyls, finding consistent internal morphology across observed taxa. It suggests that the lateral palatal foramina observed in extant mysticetes are homologous to those of terrestrial artiodactyls, indicating that these structures are not unique predictors for the presence of baleen in fossil whales, and are likely associated with gingiva or other oral tissue.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Qin-Yue Cai, Xiang-Sheng Wang, Tao Ma, Jian-Sheng Ye
Summary: Understanding dryland degradation is crucial for combating desertification and maintaining land sustainability. We conducted a field survey across the Tibetan Plateau to identify key indicators of dryland degradation. Our findings suggest that soil sand content is the most important predictor of soil fertility variation, and the degradation process follows three sequential thresholds.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Poppy Watson, Claire O'Callaghan, Iain Perkes, Laura Bradfield, Karly Turner
Summary: Habits are a significant focus of international research, but there is controversy surrounding the narrow definition of habits compared to real-world habitual behaviors. Issues include defining habits as lacking goal-directed control, specific setups required for experiments, and lack of evidence for habits as stimulus-response behaviors.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Anton Kokalj, Matic Lozinsek, Barbara Kapun, Peyman Taheri, Shova Neupane, Patricia Losada-Perez, Chenyang Xie, Stojan Stavber, Daniel Crespo, Frank U. Renner, Arjan Mol, Ingrid Milosev
Summary: Research evaluated the correlation between molecular electronic parameters and experimentally determined corrosion inhibition efficiencies for a set of 24 heterocyclic organic compounds tested as corrosion inhibitors for copper in 3 wt.% NaCl aqueous solution. The study found no noticeable correlation between the molecular electronic descriptors and the inhibition efficiency. It also introduced a new metric called inhibition power for evaluating the performance of corrosion inhibitors.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alexander Tekles, Katrin Auspurg, Lutz Bornmann
Summary: Previous studies have shown that papers written by male scientists receive more citations than those written by female scientists, and this could be explained by a gender homophily bias, where scientists tend to cite others of the same gender. However, this bias may have been overestimated as previous studies have overlooked structural aspects, such as the gender composition of research topics. When controlling for research topics at a detailed level, there is little evidence to support a gender homophily bias in citation decisions. This study highlights the importance of controlling for gendered specialization in research topics when investigating gender bias in science.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hongwei Yu, Weixiao Qi, Xiaofeng Cao, Jingwen Hu, Yang Li, Jianfeng Peng, Chengzhi Hu, Jiuhui Qu
Summary: The study found that microplastics have negative impacts on wetland plant growth performance, soil microbial community structure, and soil chemical properties. The addition of microplastics alters seed germination strategies, reduces plant growth, and affects chlorophyll synthesis. Additionally, microplastics increase the concentration of reactive oxygen species in soil, leading to decreased soil enzyme activity.
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Reproductive Biology
Sebastian P. Arlt, Iris M. Reichler, Johannes Herbel, Sabine Schaefer-Somi, Lisa Riege, Johanna Leber, Bianca Frehner
Summary: Dog breeders often require breeding soundness evaluations which include andrological examinations, hormone measurements, and semen analyses. However, there is a lack of standardized procedures and reference ranges for specific examinations, making it difficult to compare results from different facilities and draw conclusive findings regarding the health and fertility of male dogs. Conventional semen examination, though, remains useful in identifying abnormalities, especially when confounding factors are considered and the exam is repeated for inconclusive findings.
Article
Biology
Dinko Hauptman, Marta Himelreich Peric, Tihana Maric, Ana Katusic Bojanac, Nino Sincic, Zoran Zimak, Zeljko Kastelan, Davor Jezek
Summary: This study found that Leydig cells in patients with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) were sometimes organized into larger clusters and displayed abundant cytoplasm/hypertrophy, unlike in patients with obstructive azoospermia (OA). Additionally, significant fibrosis of the interstitial compartment was demonstrated in some NOA samples, often accompanied by inflammatory cells. Stereological analysis revealed a decrease in the number of Leydig cells in the NOA group, which may be explained by previous inflammatory changes and interstitial fibrosis within the testicular interstitium.
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maya Weinberg, Yossi Yovel
Summary: Although bats are often considered reservoirs of viral pathogens, not all bats pose a threat to humans. Many bats are able to fight viruses and remain immune, while others may carry viruses that could potentially mutate into human pathogens.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lenore Fahrig
Summary: This study tested the extrapolation from small-scale patch-scale edge effects to large-scale landscape-scale fragmentation effects and found that the directions of these effects were not consistent. The results suggest that policymakers cannot infer the efficacy of policies related to habitat fragmentation solely based on observed small-scale edge effects.
CONSERVATION LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Qianhui Ni, Jake Shoyer, Zoe Bautista, Alexandra Raport, Henrike Moll
Summary: In the theory of mind debate, a middle position has gained traction, stating that children younger than 4 years can track agent-object relations without understanding how agents represent or misrepresent objects. Two experiments with 3.5-year-olds supported this view, showing that toddlers can track agent-object interactions but fail to recognize misrepresentation by agents.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Mauricio Cruz Mantoani, Fawzah Talal Alhakami, Hannah Fearon, Margherita Gioria, Olaf Schmidt, Bruce Arthur Osborne
Summary: This study found that the invasive plant Gunnera tinctoria can modify soil physicochemical characteristics and litter inputs, leading to changes in the earthworm community. The invaded areas had higher litter inputs, increased soil pH, and lower soil temperatures. These changes were associated with a higher abundance and diversity of earthworms, particularly in spring samples.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Chakriya Sansupa, Witoon Purahong, Ali Nawaz, Tesfaye Wubet, Nakarin Suwannarach, Panuwan Chantawannakul, Sutthathorn Chairuangsri, Terd Disayathanoowat
Summary: This study characterized and compared the diversity and functions of soil fungal communities in a tropical limestone quarry, revealing lower fungal richness and distinct community compositions compared to a reference forest. Rehabilitation efforts introduced new fungal taxa, but did not significantly change the fungal community composition.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Julian Lee
Summary: The Poisson distribution describes the probability distribution of the number of independent events in a given period. This study introduces a new perspective that the variable following the Poisson distribution represents the number of independent events where biomolecules are created and survive until the end of a given time duration. The author uses this perspective to rederive the Poisson distribution and applies it in various stochastic gene dynamics models. Additionally, the author derives an analytic form of the time-dependent probability distribution for multispecies monomolecular reaction models and utilizes it to derive a novel series expansion form for a model with a stochastic production rate.
PHYSICA A-STATISTICAL MECHANICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Richard J. Payne, Anatoly A. Bobrov, Andrey N. Tsyganov, Kirill Babeshko, Thomas J. Sloan, Martin Kay, Dmitry A. Kupriyanov, Nikolay Surkov, Elena Y. Novenko, Andrey A. Andreev, Yuri A. Mazei
Summary: The study in the Kamchatka Peninsula reveals a diverse and abundant assemblage of testate amoebae, with 119 taxa identified. Differences were observed between the assemblages in mineral soils and peatlands, with water table depth significantly influencing the latter. The findings highlight the importance of using testate amoebae in palaeoecological studies to understand long-term environmental change in the region.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Hannah M. Griffiths, Paul Eggleton, Nicole Hemming-Schroeder, Tom Swinfield, Joel S. Woon, Steven D. Allison, David A. Coomes, Louise A. Ashton, Catherine L. Parr
Summary: Tree mortality rates are increasing in tropical rainforests due to global environmental change, accelerating the rate of wood decay, particularly in canopy gaps where termites play a major role. Through experiments and modeling, it was found that accelerated decomposition in canopy gaps leads to an increase in regional wood decay rate, which is not currently considered in carbon budgets.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Olivia Scholtz, Mairi E. Knight, Paul Eggleton
Summary: Termites in old growth rainforest in Africa and Asia exhibit differences in spatial distribution patterns based on feeding groups, with varying environmental influences and associations with predatory ants. Further studies are needed to fully understand these ecological interactions and their implications on ecosystem processes.
Article
Ecology
Paul Eggleton, Jo Smith, Sholto Holdsworth, Kelly Inward, Dan Carpenter
Summary: This study found that extrapolative nonparametric estimators tend to overestimate species richness when applied to dispersive taxa. Therefore, caution should be taken when using these estimators for estimating actual species density of dispersive taxa in ecological studies.
Review
Plant Sciences
Hannah M. Griffiths, Louise A. Ashton, Catherine L. Parr, Paul Eggleton
Summary: This article discusses the role of soil invertebrates in the decomposition of dead plant material, highlighting that they are not just facilitators of microbial decomposition, but can also break down organic matter with their own enzymes, impacting the soil environment and plants directly and indirectly. It recommends considering the synergistic effects of invertebrates and microbes in decomposition process, to provide ecological services that support plant growth and survival.
Article
Ecology
Joel S. Woon, David Atkinson, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Paul Eggleton, Catherine L. Parr
Summary: Savanna termite species have wider thermal limits than forest species, which may be one of the physiological differences that enable them to cope with the more extreme conditions in savanna environments.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Gabriel Willie Quansah, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Vincent Logah, Yadvinder Malhi, Paul Eggleton, Catherine L. Parr
Summary: This study explores how termites respond to land-use change in Kakum National Park and surrounding cocoa farms in Ghana. While termite species richness and abundance differ across different land-use types and distance from the forest edge, termite communities are robust to land-use change. Cocoa trees play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity and environmental quality in agricultural landscapes.
Article
Ecology
Alice E. L. Walker, Mark P. Robertson, Paul Eggleton, Katherine Bunney, Candice Lamb, Adam M. Fisher, Catherine L. Parr
Summary: Understanding the factors controlling decomposition is crucial for predicting changes in the carbon cycle with global change. Ants exert significant top-down control on decomposition by preying on termites, leading to increased termite-mediated decomposition at a large scale.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Amy E. Zanne, Habacuc Flores-Moreno, Jeff R. Powell, William K. Cornwell, James W. Dalling, Amy T. Austin, Aimee T. Classen, Paul Eggleton, Kei-Ichi Okada, Catherine L. Parr, E. Carol Adair, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Md Azharul Alam, Carolina Alvarez-Garzon, Deborah Apgaua, Roxana Aragon, Marcelo Ardon, Stefan K. Arndt, Louise A. Ashton, Nicholas A. Barber, Jacques Beauchene, Matty P. Berg, Jason Beringer, Matthias M. Boer, Jose Antonio Bonet, Katherine Bunney, Tynan J. Burkhardt, Dulcineia Carvalho, Dennis Castillo-Figueroa, Lucas A. Cernusak, Alexander W. Cheesman, Taina M. Cirne-Silva, Jamie R. Cleverly, Johannes H. C. Cornelissen, Timothy J. Curran, Andre M. D'Angioli, Caroline Dallstream, Nico Eisenhauer, Fidele Evouna Ondo, Alex Fajardo, Romina D. Fernandez, Astrid Ferrer, Marco A. L. Fontes, Mark L. Galatowitsch, Grizelle Gonzalez, Felix Gottschall, Peter R. Grace, Elena Granda, Hannah M. Griffiths, Mariana Guerra Lara, Motohiro Hasegawa, Mariet M. Hefting, Nina Hinko-Najera, Lindsay B. Hutley, Jennifer Jones, Anja Kahl, Mirko Karan, Joost A. Keuskamp, Tim Lardner, Michael Liddell, Craig Macfarlane, Cate Macinnis-Ng, Ravi F. Mariano, M. Soledad Mendez, Wayne S. Meyer, Akira S. Mori, Aloysio S. Moura, Matthew Northwood, Roma Ogaya, Rafael S. Oliveira, Alberto Orgiazzi, Juliana Pardo, Guille Peguero, Josep Penuelas, Luis I. Perez, Juan M. Posada, Cecilia M. Prada, Tomas Privetivy, Suzanne M. Prober, Jonathan Prunier, Gabriel W. Quansah, Victor Resco De Dios, Ronny Richter, Mark P. Robertson, Lucas F. Rocha, Megan A. Rua, Carolina Sarmiento, Richard P. Silberstein, Mateus C. Silva, Flavia Freire Siqueira, Matthew Glenn Stillwagon, Jacqui Stol, Melanie K. Taylor, Francois P. Teste, David Y. P. Tng, David Tucker, Manfred Turke, Michael D. Ulyshen, Oscar J. Valverde-Barrantes, Eduardo Van den Berg, Richard S. P. Van Logtestijn, G. F. (Ciska) Veen, Jason G. Vogel, Timothy J. Wardlaw, Georg Wiehl, Christian Wirth, Michaela J. Woods, Paul-Camilo Zalamea
Summary: Deadwood is a significant global carbon store, with its size influenced by biotic decay. Termites, as important decomposers in the tropics, show higher sensitivity to temperature changes than microbes in terms of wood consumption. As the climate warms and shifts towards tropical climates, termites are likely to have a greater impact on wood decay.
Article
Soil Science
Victoria J. Burton, Andres Baselga, Adriana De Palma, Helen R. P. Phillips, Christian Mulder, Paul Eggleton, Andy Purvis
Summary: Land-use change and habitat degradation have significant impacts on soil biodiversity, but their effects are not well understood globally. This study combined multiple global datasets and found that soil organism abundance and taxon richness were reduced in all land uses except pasture, compared to undisturbed vegetation. Soil properties mediated the response of soil biota, but the effect varied across different land uses.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Barbara M. Smith, Dan Carpenter, John Holland, Felicity Andruszko, Alfred Gathorne-Hardy, Paul Eggleton
Summary: Lowland heath is an important habitat for biodiversity conservation. Prescribed burning has historically been the main management tool, but there is increasing interest in using cutting. Our study in the New Forest National Park compared prescribed burning with cutting to evaluate their impacts on biodiversity for up to 20 years after management. We found that burning provided better habitat condition, higher heather cover, lower bracken cover, and more bare ground compared to cutting. Swiping cutting supported high invertebrate diversity and provided food resources for specific heathland bird species.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Victoria J. Burton, Sara Contu, Adriana De Palma, Samantha L. L. Hill, Harald Albrecht, James S. Bone, Daniel Carpenter, Ronald Corstanje, Pallieter De Smedt, Mark Farrell, Helen Ford, Lawrence N. Hudson, Kelly Inward, David T. Jones, Agnieszka Kosewska, Nancy F. Lo-Man-Hung, Tibor Magura, Christian Mulder, Maka Murvanidze, Tim Newbold, Jo Smith, Andrew Suarez, Sasha Suryometaram, Bela Tothmeresz, Marcio Uehara-Prado, Adam J. Vanbergen, Kris Verheyen, Karen Wuyts, Jorn P. W. Scharlemann, Paul Eggleton, Andy Purvis
Summary: Background land-use has a significant impact on soil biodiversity, but its effects have been less studied compared to above-ground taxa. This study shows that different land uses affect soil organisms in distinct ways, with cropland and plantation habitats having lower soil biodiversity compared to primary vegetation and pasture. The results highlight the importance of considering soil properties in biodiversity models and caution against assuming that above-ground data can be directly applied to soil assemblages.
BMC ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)