Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Jennifer R. Weinert-Nelson, Amy S. Biddle, Harini Sampath, Carey A. Williams
Summary: Incorporating warm-season grasses into cool-season equine grazing systems can increase pasture availability and bridge the forage gap during hot, dry months. A study was conducted to evaluate the impact of this practice on the equine microbiome and its relationship with forage nutrients and metabolic responses. The results showed that changes in microbial community structure were influenced by non-structural carbohydrates and crude protein in the forage, rather than fiber. Akkermansia and Clostridium butyricum were enriched in horses adapted to warm-season grasses and were associated with specific forage nutrients and metabolic responses. Further research is needed to understand the roles of these bacteria in the equine hindgut.
Article
Ecology
Anderson Michel Soares Bolzan, Leonardo S. Szymczak, Laura Nadin, Olivier Jean F. Bonnet, Marcelo O. Wallau, Anibal de Moraes, Renata F. Moraes, Alda L. G. Monteiro, Paulo C. F. Carvalho
Summary: This study evaluated the reliability of the continuous bite monitoring method in determining herbage intake in grazing sheep compared to the standard double-weighing technique. Various potential sources of variation were tested, indicating that observer number, sward surface height, total number of bites observed per grazing session, and sward depletion affect the accuracy of intake estimation. Despite some overestimation, there was high correlation and agreement between the two methods, showing the potential of CBM for determining forage intake with increased detail on foraging patterns and diet components.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
G. Cheng, R. D. Harmel, L. Ma, J. D. Derner, D. J. Augustine, P. N. S. Bartling, Q. X. Fang, J. R. Williams, C. J. Zilverberg, R. B. Boone, D. Hoover, Q. Yu
Summary: The study aimed to evaluate APEX model in simulating forage production under grazing management, finding that APEX could reflect the relative differences in forage production between grazing treatments, but underestimated forage production in 2015 and 2017 due to overestimating drought stress.
AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Xing Wang, Zuoqiang Yuan, Arshad Ali, Teng Yang, Fei Lin, Zikun Mao, Ji Ye, Shuai Fang, Zhanqing Hao, XugaoWang, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet
Summary: This study investigates the response of the phyllosphere microbiome in mountain ranges to climate and leaf functional traits. The results show that the phyllosphere microbiome declines with increasing elevation, contrary to commonly observed hump-shaped biodiversity patterns. Host plant traits and climate have different effects on the endo- and epiphytic phyllosphere microbiomes.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Aaron G. Kamoske, Kyla M. Dahlin, Shawn P. Serbin, Scott C. Stark
Summary: Plant functional diversity is closely linked to photosynthetic carbon assimilation, but traits regulating photosynthetic capacity exhibit significant spatial heterogeneity. Combining hyperspectral imagery and lidar data can help understand the influence of forest structure on the spatial patterns of plant functional traits.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Hidehiro Ishizawa, Yusuke Onoda, Kaoru Kitajima, Masashi Kuroda, Daisuke Inoue, Michihiko Ike
Summary: Duckweeds, the fastest growing plants in the world, exhibit an acquisitive suite of traits and mostly follow the world-wide leaf economics spectrum (LES) with some slight deviations. Their unique trait coordination patterns and positive correlation between leaf mass per area (LMA) and photosynthetic rates indicate that duckweeds experience different functional significance compared to typical higher plants.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Yi Li, Douglas Chesters, Ming-Qiang Wang, Tesfaye Wubet, Andreas Schuldt, Perttu Anttonen, Peng-Fei Guo, Jing-Ting Chen, Qing-Song Zhou, Nai-Li Zhang, Ke-Ping Ma, Helge Bruelheide, Chun-Sheng Wu, Chao-Dong Zhu
Summary: The study in a controlled tree diversity setting revealed the direct and indirect effects of tree diversity on the diversity of caterpillar-associated bacteria, as well as on the community structure of caterpillars. Leaf traits, such as toughness and dry matter content, along with leaf calcium and potassium concentration, were important factors determining bacterial species composition and richness in host plants.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
David Bauman, Claire Fortunel, Lucas A. Cernusak, Lisa P. Bentley, Sean M. McMahon, Sami W. Rifai, Jesus Aguirre-Gutierrez, Imma Oliveras, Matt Bradford, Susan G. W. Laurance, Guillaume Delhaye, Michael F. Hutchinson, Raymond Dempsey, Brandon E. McNellis, Paul E. Santos-Andrade, Hugo R. Ninantay-Rivera, Jimmy R. Chambi Paucar, Oliver L. Phillips, Yadvinder Malhi
Summary: Both climate means and anomalies shape tree growth in tropical forests, and species' sensitivity to climate can vary widely among different species. Drier forests and fast-growing species are more sensitive to water stress anomalies, and species traits related to water use and photosynthesis partly explain differences in growth sensitivity to both climate means and anomalies.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Solveig Franziska Bucher, Christine Roemermann
Summary: Leaf senescence is a crucial event in a plant's life cycle that is influenced by species-specific traits and elevation. The timing of leaf senescence, from the beginning to the peak, is delayed with increasing altitude. Flowering phenology and leaf functional traits are closely related to leaf senescence, providing valuable insights for predicting species-specific responses to changes in abiotic conditions and ecosystem functioning in the future.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Frank Chukwuzuoke Akamagwuna, Phindiwe Ntloko, Augustine Ovie Edegbene, Oghenekaro Nelson Odume
Summary: This study identified rural indicator and sensitive traits of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) taxa by examining their trait distribution pattern in relation to rural pollution. Traits such as large body size, swimming, and shredding were considered tolerant signature traits of semi-urban pollution, while small body size, operculate gills, spherical body shape, and preference for sediments were correlated with sensitive traits of semi-urban disturbance. Overall, the study provided critical insights into how semi-urban activities influence EPT traits in the Tsitsa River.
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Songbo Tang, Lingling Zhang, Hans Lambers, Wendan Ren, Xiaofei Lu, Enqing Hou, Shenglei Fu, Yuanwen Kuang
Summary: The study compared the effects of understorey nitrogen (UAN) and canopy nitrogen (CAN) addition on leaf traits of understorey plants in a subtropical evergreen forest. The results indicated significant differences in the effects of different addition methods on leaf traits, suggesting that understorey plants respond differently to UAN compared to atmospheric nitrogen deposition.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Paleontology
Anita Roth-Nebelsick, Michaela Grein, Christopher Traiser, Lutz Kunzmann, Jiri Kvacek, Janina Wypich, Johanna Kovar-Eder
Summary: The study revealed significant differences in leaf traits among fossil plant species and different sites, with the highest plasticity found in data from allochthonous marine deposits. Roundness data was confirmed as a reliable indicator for climate. Results for the Oligocene and Miocene were consistent with paleo-temperature data, while the variability of Eocene data was attributed to environmental instability during climate transition.
PALAEONTOLOGIA ELECTRONICA
(2021)
Article
Development Studies
Roland Riachi, Giuliano Martiniello
Summary: This paper aims to answer questions about how imperialism, colonialism, and the Cold War influenced the MENA food systems, and the effects of trade liberalization and neoliberalism on agricultural systems in the region. Understanding contemporary social dynamics requires an understanding of the long-term power relations and ecological transformations in the MENA region.
JOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
M. Susan Botha, Richard M. Cowling, Jan C. De Vynck, Karen J. Esler, Alastair J. Potts
Summary: Underground storage organs (USOs) show resilience to human foraging, with evidence of substantial declines in yield only after two consecutive years of harvesting.
Article
Ornithology
Federico Pirez, Joaquin Aldabe
Summary: Grassland birds in Uruguay are under great threat due to habitat loss caused by livestock farming, the most common agricultural activity in the country. A study on 40 cattle ranches in eastern Uruguay compared the effects of continuous grazing systems (CGSs) and rotational grazing systems (RGSs) on grassland plant structure and bird communities. The results showed that RGSs had higher grass height, greater habitat heterogeneity, and higher species richness and effective number of species compared to CGSs. The study highlights the importance of grazing systems in managing grasslands to promote bird biodiversity.
ORNITHOLOGY RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Liana Kindermann, Magnus Dobler, Daniela Niedeggen, Anja Linstadter
Summary: This study proposes a methodology to estimate woody aboveground biomass (AGB) in disturbance-prone ecosystems and compares it with a less adapted forest inventory method. The results show that methods tailored to disturbance-prone environments are necessary for accurate AGB estimation in savanna vegetation, and that disturbances significantly impact woody AGB.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Christoph Zielhofer, Johannes Schmidt, Niklas Reiche, Marie Tautenhahn, Helen Ballasus, Michael Burkart, Anja Linstaedter, Elisabeth Dietze, Knut Kaiser, Natascha Mehler
Summary: Instrumental data shows that groundwater and lake levels in Northeast Germany have been decreasing, with an accelerated rate in recent years. Besides global warming, the direct impact of human activities on the local water balance is suspected to be a contributing factor. This study quantitatively reconstructs the surface water areas in the Lower Havel Inner Delta and Lake Gulpe in Brandenburg using historical and modern maps from 1797 to 2020. The major finding is a continuous decline in surface water areas by approximately 30% since the pre-industrial period. It is suggested that comprehensive measures in Lower Havel hydro-engineering correspond to the groundwater lowering, and large-scale melioration measures in the upstream wetlands may have amplified the decline in downstream surface water areas.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Thuy Huu Nguyen, Matthias Langensiepen, Hubert Hueging, Thomas Gaiser, Sabine J. Seidel, Frank Ewert
Summary: The study integrates leaf water pressure head and its thresholds characterizing stomatal control of transpiration into dynamic crop models for maize under field conditions, in order to improve model performance and accuracy.
VADOSE ZONE JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jannis Groh, Efstathios Diamantopoulos, Xiaohong Duan, Frank Ewert, Florian Heinlein, Michael Herbst, Maja Holbak, Bahareh Kamali, Kurt-Christian Kersebaum, Matthias Kuhnert, Claas Nendel, Eckart Priesack, Jorg Steidl, Michael Sommer, Thomas Puetz, Jan Vanderborght, Harry Vereecken, Evelyn Wallor, Tobias K. D. Weber, Martin Wegehenkel, Lutz Weihermueller, Horst H. Gerke
Summary: Crop model intercomparison studies have focused on predictive capabilities for crop development, but still face challenges when considering complex interrelations between soil and crop dynamics under changing climate. This study tested the performance of crop models in predicting agronomic crop and environmental flux-related data, and found differences in model performance under different climatic conditions.
VADOSE ZONE JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Amit Kumar Srivastava, Nima Safaei, Saeed Khaki, Gina Lopez, Wenzhi Zeng, Frank Ewert, Thomas Gaiser, Jaber Rahimi
Summary: This study analyzes the performance of machine learning and deep learning methods for winter wheat yield prediction, proposes a convolutional neural network model, and compares it with eight baseline models. The results show that nonlinear models are more effective in understanding the relationship between crop yield and input data, and the proposed CNN model outperforms all other baseline models in winter wheat yield prediction.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bahareh Kamali, Ignacio J. Lorite, Heidi A. Webber, Ehsan Eyshi Rezaei, Clara Gabaldon-Leal, Claas Nendel, Stefan Siebert, Juan Miguel Ramirez-Cuesta, Frank Ewert, Jonathan J. Ojeda
Summary: This study investigates the main drivers of uncertainties in simulated irrigated maize yield under historical conditions as well as scenarios of increased temperatures and altered irrigation water availability. The results show that irrigation strategies are the main driver of uncertainty in simulated yields, but under temperature increase scenarios, the contribution of crop model and cultivar choice to uncertainty in simulated yields are as important as irrigation strategy.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Liana Kindermann, Magnus Dobler, Daniela Niedeggen, Ezequiel Chimbioputo Fabiano, Anja Linstaedter
Summary: This dataset consists of tree inventories and damage assessments conducted in Namibia's semi-arid Zambezi Region, providing valuable information on the effects of disturbances on aboveground woody biomass and carbon storage. The dataset includes raw and processed data on dendrometric measures, specific wood density, and biomass losses due to various disturbance agents.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yanru Feng, Thuy Huu Nguyen, Muhammad Shahedul Alam, Lisa Emberson, Thomas Gaiser, Frank Ewert, Michael Frei
Summary: Tropospheric ozone poses a threat to crop production globally, particularly in densely populated countries undergoing economic transition. This study aimed to identify physiological traits contributing to yield losses or stability under ozone stress in 18 contrasting wheat cultivars. Results showed that foliar chlorophyll content and net CO2 assimilation rate of young leaves during grain filling were the most strongly correlated physiological traits with grain yield losses or stability.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Maria Sporbert, Desiree Jakubka, Solveig Franziska Bucher, Isabell Hensen, Martin Freiberg, Katja Heubach, Andreas Koenig, Birgit Nordt, Carolin Plos, Ilona Blinova, Aletta Bonn, Barbara Knickmann, Tomas Koubek, Anja Linstaedter, Tereza Maskova, Richard B. Primack, Christoph Rosche, Manzoor A. Shah, Albert-Dieter Stevens, Katja Tielboerger, Sabrina Traeger, Christian Wirth, Christine Roemermann
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between phenology and functional traits in 212 plant species across five botanical gardens in Germany, finding that closely related species showed greater similarities in timing of phenological events, but species' traits had a high degree of explanatory power, indicating the importance of species' life-history strategies. Taller and large-leaved plants exhibited later phenology and higher competitiveness.
Article
Soil Science
A. Sandhage-Hofmann, S. Angombe, L. Kindermann, A. Linstaedter, R. Moerchen
Summary: Nature conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly focused on elephants, has led to increases in soil organic carbon stocks due to the input of decaying wood and dung. This study found that the increasing densities of elephants were associated with rising contents of lignin-derived phenols in the soil, indicating the accumulation of plant residues. However, agricultural intensification had the opposite effect. The input of woody residues into soil by browsing elephants is an important mechanism for controlling soil organic carbon supply in the context of wildlife conservation.
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Cristian A. Moreno Garcia, Huitong Zhou, David Altimira, Robyn Dynes, Pablo Gregorini, Sadeepa Jayathunga, Thomas M. R. Maxwell, Jonathan Hickford
Summary: This study investigated the genetic variation within the glutamate metabotropic receptor 5 gene (GRM5) and its association with grazing personality behaviors (GP-behaviors) in beef cattle. The results revealed that GRM5 variation was significantly associated with home range and movement tortuosity. Furthermore, a trade-off was observed between home range and movement tortuosity.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Gregor Schmitz, Anja Linstaedter, Anke S. K. Frank, Hannes Dittberner, Jessica Thome, Andrea Schrader, Karl-Heinz Linne von Berg, Andrea Fulgione, George Coupland, Juliette de Meaux
Summary: This study reveals the non-random distribution of genetic diversity in urban environments, indicating the presence of environmental filtering that enhances local genetic adaptation.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lena Laerm, Felix Maximilian Bauer, Normen Hermes, Jan van der Kruk, Harry Vereecken, Jan Vanderborght, Thuy Huu Nguyen, Gina Lopez, Sabine Julia Seidel, Frank Ewert, Andrea Schnepf, Anja Klotzsche
Summary: The production of crops is crucial for ensuring the human food supply, but climate change presents new challenges. This study collects root and soil data to explore crop responses to the changing environment. Two minirhizotron facilities were used to obtain a comprehensive collection of root and soil data, which can be utilized to investigate processes within the soil-plant continuum and analyze root images.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Nimai Senapati, Mikhail A. Semenov, Nigel G. Halford, Malcolm J. Hawkesford, Senthold Asseng, Mark Cooper, Frank Ewert, Martin K. van Ittersum, Pierre Martre, Jorgen E. Olesen, Matthew Reynolds, Reimund P. Roetter, Heidi Webber
Summary: Closing the existing genetic yield gap in global wheat production has the potential to significantly increase crop yield and address issues of global food security.
Article
Plant Sciences
Sabine Julia Seidel, Thomas Gaiser, Amit Kumar Srivastava, Daniel Leitner, Oliver Schmittmann, Miriam Athmann, Timo Kautz, Julien Guigue, Frank Ewert, Andrea Schnepf
Summary: Accurate prediction of root growth and resource uptake is crucial for accurately simulating crop growth, especially under unfavorable environmental conditions. In this study, a 1D field-scale crop-soil model was coupled with a 3D architectural root model to simulate the effects of soil conditions on root growth. The model was tested and validated using field data, and the results showed that mechanical strip-wise subsoil loosening significantly enhanced root length densities and improved crop productivity, particularly under dry conditions.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)