Article
Biology
Adi Bar, Chen Marom, Nikol Zorin, Tomer Gilad, Aziz Subach, Susanne Foitzik, Inon Scharf
Summary: This study investigates how experience affects the behavior of ant workers towards pitfall traps. The study finds that ants improve their ability to detect and avoid traps after accumulating experience, and they can quickly adjust their behavior in response to changes in the environment.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yang Chen, Lixia Ma, Dongsheng Yu, Haidong Zhang, Kaiyue Feng, Xin Wang, Jie Song
Summary: This study investigates various feature selection methods for mapping soil organic matter (SOM) in restored forest land and finds that the ensemble method performs the best in improving prediction accuracy.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Hongyang Zhou, Kaiwen Pan, Xiaoming Sun, Belayneh Azene, Piotr Gruba, Xiaogang Wu, Lin Zhang, Meng Zhang, Tianwen Tang, Renhuan Zhu
Summary: This study investigated the nematode community in natural and planted forests in western Sichuan, China, and found that plantations increased the carbon budget of herbivorous nematodes in the soil layer, but decreased their production and carbon budget in the moss layer compared to natural forests. The daily carbon budget and production of nematodes had a negative correlation with genus richness. Water content and total carbon were identified as the most important environmental factors affecting nematode carbon budget and production.
Article
Environmental Studies
Zhijia Gu, Shaomin Cao, Ao Li, Qiang Yi, Shuang Li, Panying Li
Summary: In order to control soil erosion, it is crucial to accurately determine the intensity and distribution of soil erosion in a region and implement appropriate conservation measures. Currently, regional soil erosion assessment primarily utilizes sampling surveys and grid-based calculations. While sampling surveys provide high-precision data, the methods used and extrapolation techniques greatly affect the assessment. Conversely, grid-based calculations are limited by the accuracy of the data source. This study compared the use of sampling surveys and grid computations for soil erosion assessment in Baiquan County in Northeast China. The findings highlighted the overestimation of soil erosion rates and proportions when using the grid method, and identified limitations in using a digital elevation model with a resolution of 30 m for hilly areas. Interpolation of soil erosion proportions based on land use proved to be a more effective approach for assessing regional soil erosion.
Article
Forestry
Sanghyun Kim, E. Petter Axelsson, Miguel M. Girona, John K. Senior
Summary: Traditional clear-fell forestry significantly alters community structure and ecosystem function within boreal forests, but alternative management practices such as continuous-cover forestry may reduce these impacts. Continuous-cover forestry maintains similar invertebrate and plant communities to unmanaged forests, with soil properties more resembling those of unmanaged forests. Additionally, biodiversity of fruiting bodies is higher in continuous-cover forestry and unmanaged forests compared to clear-felled areas.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Cristina Menta, Carlos Lozano Fondon, Sara Remelli
Summary: Research shows that the Vaia storm in Italy caused significant damage to forests, but after one year, there was no radical change in the soil arthropod community and biodiversity. Hymenoptera adults and Coleoptera and Diptera larvae showed a decrease in abundance, while Chilopoda showed an increase.
Article
Entomology
Filipe Viegas de Arruda, Flavio Camarota, Rogerio R. Silva, Thiago Junqueira Izzo, Leonardo Lima Bergamini, Rony Peterson Santos Almeida
Summary: Insect pollinators, such as bees and wasps, are experiencing a decline in their populations due to human activities. To address this issue, alternative methods for sampling bees and wasps are necessary to increase sampling coverage and diversity.
ENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Gongqiao Zhang, Hui Peng, Hongmin Zhou, Xinliang Ji, Shusheng Zhang
Summary: This study compared different sampling methods for natural broad-leaved forests in the mountainous areas of Zhejiang, China, and found an efficient method that is of great significance for large-scale field surveys in similar areas.
ECOLOGICAL INFORMATICS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Rita Leogrande, Carolina Vitti, Mirko Castellini, Marcello Mastrangelo, Francisco Pedrero, Gaetano Alessandro Vivaldi, Anna Maria Stellacci
Summary: This study compared the results of calcimetric and dry combustion methods for quantitative estimation of soil total inorganic carbon (TIC), showing a concordance between the two methods. The dry combustion method was found to be reliable and provide accurate estimates of TIC in soils with different calcium carbonate content.
Article
Microbiology
Jorgen Skyrud Danielsen, Luis Morgado, Sunil Mundra, Line Nybakken, Marie Davey, Havard Kauserud
Summary: This study found that establishing plantations of Norway spruce in a landscape dominated by native birch forests in western Norway significantly impacts soil properties and belowground fungal communities, leading to a decrease in fungal diversity but an increase in biomass of ectomycorrhizal fungi.
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Celine Pelosi, Emmanuelle Baudry, Olaf Schmidt
Summary: This study compared the efficiency of two classical methods for quantitatively assessing earthworm populations in landscape contexts with varying levels of urbanization. While the electrical extraction method and a combined mustard oil liquid extraction followed by hand-sorting produced similar estimates of species richness, the electrical method extracted significantly fewer earthworms in terms of total abundance and ecological categories. Urban land cover and soil parameters did not significantly affect total earthworm abundance or species richness. It is concluded that the electrical method is a useful tool for sampling earthworms in urbanized environments where chemical usage and soil excavation may not be feasible.
Article
Ecology
Marco Fioratti Junod, Brian J. Reid, Ian Sims, Anthony J. Miller
Summary: Sampling of soil mesofauna has traditionally been done using Berlese/Tullgren extractions, but due to the lack of commercially available equipment, this method is becoming increasingly difficult to implement and standardize. This study compares a new and easily deployable trap design with the traditional extraction method and finds that the new design significantly increases the abundance and diversity of certain soil organisms. The study also proposes a new method that combines the two sampling techniques to estimate soil organism dispersal.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Niamh Burke, Krzysztof Zacharski, Catherine C. Adley, Mark Southern
Summary: Quality strategies in the dairy industry begin at the farm level and continue through processing plants to ensure quality is maintained throughout production. Factors influencing product quality include seasonality, milk quality, technician skills, production level, and handling processes. Manufacturers often neglect optimizing analytical testing strategies, but the industry needs to adapt to a modern, process-focused quality system.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Brittney Sanchez, Astrid N. Schwalb
Summary: The design of effective surveys for freshwater mussels is challenging due to their spatial clustering and low densities. Different survey methods perform differently depending on habitat conditions, with timed searches detecting larger mussels and quantitative methods being more suitable for detecting smaller mussels.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dylan M. Osterhaus, Samuel S. Leberg, Clay L. Pierce, Timothy W. Stewart, Audrey McCombs
Summary: Throughout the world, wetlands have been degraded and their coverage has declined. Recognizing the value of wetlands, efforts have been made to preserve and restore them. However, there is a lack of recommended sampling methodology for monitoring fish communities in oxbow wetlands. This study compared different sampling methods and found that seining and fyke netting are effective for sampling oxbow fish communities.
Article
Ecology
Daquan Sun, Qiang Lin, Gerrit Angst, Lidong Huang, Csecserits Aniko, Willem-Jan Emsens, Ruurd van Diggelen, Jakub Vicena, Tomas Cajthaml, Jan Frouz
Summary: The formation and stability of soil aggregates are crucial for microbial community organization and soil carbon stabilization. Geographical location is the most important factor influencing microbial community composition, while soil aggregates play a significant role in shaping microbial networks and respiration rates. Macro-aggregates exhibit lower connectivity and microbial respiration compared to other aggregate sizes.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Karen Coradini, Jana Krejcova, Jan Frouz
Summary: Succession is a basic natural process of ecosystem recovery where vegetation cover and woody vegetation recovery rates differ between primary and secondary successions. Factors such as disturbance type, environmental conditions, and specific factors affect the speed of recovery.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Sarka Angst, Hana Vesela, Martin Bartuska, Veronika Jilkova, Jan Frouz, Gerrit Angst
Summary: Marcescent leaves, commonly found in temperate ecosystems, have higher nitrogen content and lower lignin content compared to shed senescent leaves, potentially impacting nutrient and carbon cycling in these ecosystems.
Article
Ecology
Petra Benetkova, Rudy van Diggelen, Ladislav Hanel, Fabio Vicentini, Rojyar Moradi, Maaike Weijters, Roland Bobbink, Jim A. Harris, Jan Frouz
Summary: Heathlands are threatened habitats in Europe, and restoration efforts have focused on plant community reconstruction with little attention to soil fauna restoration. A study in the Netherlands found that soil inoculation and other interventions aided in the development of target plant communities and soil faunal assemblages, but after five years, the restored areas still differed significantly from mature heathlands. Only macrofaunal densities matched those of the reference habitat in 2017.
ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Qiang Lin, Francisco Dini-Andreote, Travis B. Meador, Roey Angel, Lenka Meszarosova, Petr Hedenec, Lingjuan Li, Petr Baldrian, Jan Frouz
Summary: This study investigated the dynamics and co-occurrence patterns of bacterial and fungal communities during ecological succession. The results showed that bacterial community structures became more clustered and were influenced by changes in soil vegetation cover, while fungal community structures were not significantly correlated with soil age, soil properties or vegetation cover and were mainly influenced by stochastic processes. The decrease in bacterial co-occurrence complexity and the increase in fungal co-occurrence complexity along succession implied a decrease in potential bacterial cooperation and an increase in complexity of fungal relationships.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Adnan Mustafa, Jan Frouz, Muhammad Naveed, Zhu Ping, Sun Nan, Xu Minggang, Avelino Nunez-Delgado
Summary: Long-term fertilization has a high relevance to soil organic carbon sequestration, with manure application helping reduce SOC losses and promote accumulation of stable carbon forms. The study suggests that manure combined with mineral fertilizers can enhance SOC stability in Chinese Mollisols.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Masoud M. Ardestani, Ondrej Mudrak, Jakub Vicena, Daquan Sun, Hana Vesela, Jan Frouz
Summary: Soil properties and soil microbial communities have a significant impact on plant communities, especially in disturbed ecosystems. The study found that the preserved meadow microbial inoculum had a positive effect on the biomass of certain meadow specialist plants, while the restored meadow inoculum had a negative effect. These findings have important implications for the conservation and restoration of ecosystems.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Adnan Mustafa, Martin Bartuska, Katerina Frycova, Mohammad Tahsin Karimi Nezhad, Jan Frouz
Summary: This study compared two fractionation methods for different post-mining soils and found some differences in the results, particularly in the active, passive, and slow SOM pools. Soil texture was found to play an important role in these differences.
JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE AND PLANT NUTRITION
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Satoshi Kaneda, Petra Zednikova, Jan Frouz
Summary: Seasonal changes in the biomass and length of fine roots and their colonization by mycorrhizal fungi were measured in post-mining sites of different ages, revealing an increase in root biomass with succession age and changes in mycorrhizal colonization.
Article
Soil Science
Daquan Sun, Masoud M. Ardestani, Michael Pohorely, Jaroslav Mosko, Anne Winding, Michael Bonkowski, Ying Zhao, Jan Frouz
Summary: Micro-sized PyC has a negative effect on earthworm survival, especially in older soil substrates. However, fully moistened soil substrates containing micro-sized PyC or dry micro-sized soil particles do not result in decreased earthworm survival. When mixed with rhamnolipids, micro-sized PyC becomes hydrophobic and may hinder the uptake of dissolved oxygen by earthworm skins.
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Jiri Tuma, Jan Frouz, Hana Vesela, Filip Krivohlavy, Tom M. Fayle
Summary: Ants and termites have significant impacts on the environment in the tropics, influencing soil properties differently depending on species and habitat type.
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Jakub Vicena, Masoud M. Ardestani, Petr Baldrian, Jan Frouz
Summary: Microbial diversity plays an important role in the decomposition of soil organic matter. This study examined the relationship between microbial diversity and decomposition by manipulating microbial diversity in soils. The results showed that microbial diversity was positively correlated with the decomposition of organic matter per gram of carbon in the soil, indicating that microbial diversity supports decomposition when the microbial community is limited by available carbon. However, microbial respiration per gram of soil was negatively correlated with bacterial diversity and positively correlated with fungal biomass, suggesting that decomposition rate is controlled by the amount of fungal biomass in the absence of carbon limitation. The addition of grass litter also had a priming effect on the initial stage of decomposition. Therefore, the relationship between microbial diversity and the rate of decomposition may be complex and dependent on the context.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Daquan Sun, Ondrej Mudrak, Masoud M. Ardestani, Jan Frouz
Summary: The role of microbial communities in soil aggregates on the development of grasses and herbs during plant succession is examined in this study. The results show that late substrates have higher plant biomass than early substrates, especially when they receive microbial communities from the early substrates. However, plants grow better during secondary succession when they retain their original microbial communities.
Article
Ecology
Andres A. Salazar-Fillippo, Bert Teunkens, Herwig Leirs, Jan Frouz, Rudy van Diggelen, Ladislav Miko
Summary: This study investigated the dispersal of oribatid mites via small rodents in restored heathland sites. The results showed that rodents contribute to the assembly processes of oribatid communities, especially in early successional stages, through short-distance dispersal.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Adam Vele, Jan Frouz
Summary: Central European coniferous forests are experiencing a severe bark beetle outbreak, leading to the creation of large clearings and changes in environmental parameters. Our study focused on the impact of these changes on wood ant nests. We found that wood ant nests were less likely to survive in bark beetle-affected forests, with the Formica rufa species being more affected. The bark beetle attack was correlated with increases in understory vegetation, which negatively affected wood ant survival.
