Article
Environmental Sciences
Mehdi Cherif, Russell N. N. Arnott, Danielle J. J. Wain, Lee D. D. Bryant, Henrik Larsson, Emily I. I. Slavin
Summary: A mesocosm experiment was conducted to investigate the response of a natural phytoplankton community to climate change-induced changes in water column stability and mixing. Results showed that the biological response of phytoplankton groups to different turbulence scenarios did not conform to the usual expectations.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Ann-Kristin Bergstrom, Danny C. P. Lau, Peter D. F. Isles, Anders Jonsson, Irena F. Creed
Summary: Global changes have led to decreases in inorganic nitrogen concentrations and increases in colored dissolved organic carbon concentrations, while reducing the dissolved inorganic nitrogen to total phosphorus ratios in northern lakes. These changes have various effects on phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass and the N:P recycling ratio of zooplankton. A study done in Swedish headwater lakes found that lower nitrogen deposition coincided with lower phytoplankton biomass and higher zooplankton biomass. The composition of zooplankton community also differed between northern and southern regions, with different dominant species. The study suggests that declining nitrogen deposition and increasing lake browning will reduce phytoplankton biomass but enhance seston mineral quality and probably also zooplankton biomass and their recycling efficiency of phosphorus relative to nitrogen.
FRESHWATER BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Juncal Espinosa, Tatek Dejene, Cristina Fernandez, Javier Madrigal, Cristina Aponte, Pablo Martin-Pinto
Summary: Straw helimulching applied one month after a megafire in a high soil erosion risk area had a positive impact on soil fungal community composition. The application of straw mulch increased the richness of litter saprotrophs, plant pathogens, and wood saprotrophs. The fungal composition at the phylum level correlated with soil potassium content and marginally with pH and phosphorus content. The mulch promoted the dominance of saprotrophic functional groups and significantly altered the fungal composition according to guilds.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Pasquale Napoletano, Claudio Colombo, Erika Di Iorio, Valeria Memoli, Speranza Claudia Panico, Anna Gabriella Ruggiero, Lucia Santorufo, Giulia Maisto, Anna De Marco
Summary: The assessment of Technosols quality in urban environments is crucial for maintaining ecosystems impacted by human activities. This study analyzed various indices to evaluate mineral accumulation, ecological risk, edaphon activity, fertility, and overall soil quality of Technosols in suburban Naples over eight years. The study found changes in chemical and biological indices, indicating a decrease in soil quality and increase in ecological risk over time.
Article
Plant Sciences
Noemie A. Pichon, Seraina L. Cappelli, Eric Allan
Summary: The study finds that intraspecific trait variation is significant and stresses the importance of using field-collected data to determine community functional composition. However, intraspecific variation may not necessarily impact ecosystem functioning, suggesting that trait relationships between responses and effects may differ between inter- and intra-species.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Camila Serra-Pompei, Ben A. Ward, Jerome Pinti, Andre W. Visser, Thomas Kiorboe, Ken H. Andersen
Summary: The study explores the relationship between particulate carbon export, plankton community size spectrum, and time-lags in the marine ecosystem. The findings suggest that carbon export is best correlated with copepod biomass and trophic level, while the pe-ratio is best correlated with the exponent of the size spectrum and sea surface temperature. Traditional global models need improvement in capturing the size spectrum and resolving the life-cycles of multicellular zooplankton. The study highlights the importance of community metrics for understanding carbon export and pe-ratio in the ocean.
GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Srijan Chatterjee, Tubai Chowdhury, Sayan Bagchi
Summary: In this study, the microscopic structure and dynamics of a deep eutectic solvent were investigated using ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations. The results showed distinct differences in solvent fluctuations and solute reorientation dynamics with changing compositions, which were attributed to variations in the fluctuations of the different intercomponent hydrogen bonds.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Orpheus M. Butler, Stefano Manzoni, Charles R. Warren
Summary: This study investigates the dynamics and drivers of three carbon storage compounds across a soil fertility gradient in eastern Australia. The results show that in infertile soils, the allocation of neutral lipid fatty acids and polyhydroxybutyrate is higher by 2-3 times compared to fertile soils. The allocation of neutral lipid fatty acids is positively correlated with fungal:bacterial ratios, while polyhydroxybutyrate allocation is positively correlated with belowground biological phosphorus demand.
Article
Ecology
Jacob D. Hart, David G. Jenkins
Summary: This study provides experimental evidence for the combined effects of disturbance and productivity on ecological diversity, and proposes the dynamic equilibrium model (DEM) as a theoretical framework.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
John Atherton, Wanni Xie, Leonardus Kevin Aditya, Xiaochi Zhou, Gourab Karmakar, Jethro Akroyd, Sebastian Mosbach, Mei Qi Lim, Markus Kraft
Summary: The study examines the impact of different carbon tax rates on Britain's power generation composition using a regional, geospatial model. The transition from coal to CCGT generated power is observed, with the regional model showing a wider window for this transition compared to the nationally aggregated model. More than 50% of the transition to CCGT occurs before it becomes more economical than coal from a national perspective due to regional differences in demand and technology types.
Article
Ecology
M. P. Latorre, C. M. Iachetti, I. R. Schloss, J. Antoni, A. Malits, F. de la Rosa, M. De Troch, M. D. Garcia, X. Flores-Melo, S. I. Romero, M. N. Gilj, M. Hernando
Summary: Record high temperatures were observed in the Western Antarctic Peninsula in the summer of 2020, providing a unique opportunity to assess the impact of extreme sea surface temperature and natural heatwaves on microbial communities in coastal Antarctic. Two marine heatwaves resulted in significant changes in biomass, metabolism, and lipid composition of these communities. The study confirmed previous experimental findings on the effects of global warming on plankton composition and physiology.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MARINE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tanguy Soulie, Francesca Vidussi, Sebastien Mas, Behzad Mostajir
Summary: This study conducted an experiment in a coastal Mediterranean lagoon to investigate the effects of heatwaves on the composition and function of coastal plankton communities. The results showed that heatwaves increased key functions of the plankton community, and this effect persisted after the heatwave ended. Additionally, the heatwave also altered the composition of phytoplankton functional types.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Josef Simmel, Petr Karlik, Peter Poschlod
Summary: Land-use history is found to be the main factor shaping vascular plant composition in ancient and recent grasslands. While ancient grasslands are richer in rare and threatened species, the terricolous cryptogam vegetation in both ancient and recent sites showed similar species numbers and indicator values, with different indicator species identified for each grassland type. Land-use history seems to have less influence on cryptogam vegetation in grasslands, likely due to enhanced dispersability of cryptogam propagules. Rare and endangered cryptogam species were found in both ancient and recent sites, indicating the importance of species maintenance measures in grassland conservation.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ivan R. A. Laurino, Helio H. Checon, Guilherme N. Corte, Alexander Turra
Summary: Coastal armoring has negative impacts on sandy beach fauna, reducing infaunal richness and abundance in the subtidal zones. However, overall functional richness is not affected by coastal armoring. Small suspension feeders are more associated with armored beaches, while large-bodied species and predators are more frequent at vegetated beaches.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Casey L. Lewis, Elise F. Granek
Summary: Management of established non-native plants is challenging due to the expensive removal process and potential negative consequences, but their growth can also result in the creation of novel ecosystems. Research comparing zooplankton communities in novel mangrove habitats and historical non-mangrove habitats revealed similarities in diversity, richness, and community composition during the tropical summer reproductive season. Fishponds were found to create unique habitats with zooplankton community structures significantly differing from open-coast areas.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Ecology
Pubin Hong, Bernhard Schmid, Frederik De Laender, Nico Eisenhauer, Xingwen Zhang, Haozhen Chen, Dylan Craven, Hans J. De Boeck, Yann Hautier, Owen L. Petchey, Peter B. Reich, Bastian Steudel, Maren Striebel, Madhav P. Thakur, Shaopeng Wang
Summary: The research shows that biodiversity has a positive impact on ecosystem functioning, especially in high-stress environments affected by global environmental change factors. This positive impact is mainly driven by interspecific complementarity and increases over time.
Review
Ecology
Helmut Hillebrand, Esteban Acevedo-Trejos, Stefanie D. Moorthi, Alexey Ryabov, Maren Striebel, Patrick K. Thomas, Marie-Luise Schneider
Summary: From a systematic literature review, it was found that there are consistent and significant allometric relationships between cell sizes and the functional performance of phytoplankton species. Additionally, there is a rich literature on how cell sizes change in response to various environmental factors, which helps in understanding the impact of cell size on phytoplankton community dynamics. In conclusion, cell size is a highly predictive trait for phytoplankton metabolism at the cellular scale and serves as a suitable sentinel of phytoplankton responses to changing environments.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Miriam Gerhard, Alexandra Schlenker, Helmut Hillebrand, Maren Striebel
Summary: This study investigated the impact of phytoplankton diversity on ecosystem functioning under variable nutrient ratios. The results showed that increasing species diversity led to higher community resource use efficiency (RUE) under a gradient of N:P ratios, but RUE was maintained even under extreme phosphorous limitation. This suggests that imbalanced N:P ratios may not necessarily decrease ecosystem function.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
William D. Hintz, Shelley E. Arnott, Celia C. Symons, Danielle A. Greco, Alexandra McClymont, Jennifer A. Brentrup, Miguel Canedo-Arguelles, Alison M. Derry, Amy L. Downing, Derek K. Gray, Stephanie J. Melles, Rick A. Relyea, James A. Rusak, Catherine L. Searle, Louis Astorg, Henry K. Baker, Beatrix E. Beisner, Kathryn L. Cottingham, Zeynep Ersoy, Carmen Espinosa, Jaclyn Franceschini, Angelina T. Giorgio, Norman Gobeler, Emily Hassal, Marie-Pier Hebert, Mercedes Huynh, Samuel Hylander, Kacie L. Jonasen, Andrea E. Kirkwood, Silke Langenheder, Ola Langvall, Hjalmar Laudon, Lovisa Lind, Maria Lundgren, Lorenzo Proia, Matthew S. Schuler, Jonathan B. Shurin, Christopher F. Steiner, Maren Striebel, Simon Thibodeau, Pablo Urrutia-Cordero, Lidia Vendrell-Puigmitja, Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer
Summary: Human-induced salinization poses a major threat to freshwater ecosystems. Current water quality guidelines are insufficient to protect lake food webs. New guidelines are urgently needed to safeguard lake ecosystems.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Review
Ecology
David Cunillera-Montcusi, Meryem Beklioglu, Miguel Canedo-Arguelles, Erik Jeppesen, Robert Ptacnik, Cihelio A. Amorim, Shelley E. Arnott, Stella A. Berger, Sandra Brucet, Hilary A. Dugan, Miriam Gerhard, Zsofia Horvath, Silke Langenheder, Jens C. Nejstgaard, Marko Reinikainen, Maren Striebel, Pablo Urrutia-Cordero, Csaba F. Vad, Egor Zadereev, Miguel Matias
Summary: The salinisation of freshwater ecosystems is a significant threat, affecting biodiversity and human societies. Understanding its ecological and evolutionary consequences is still a challenge, with various research gaps identified. Focusing on global- and landscape-scale processes, functional approaches, genetic and molecular levels, and ecoevolutionary dynamics can help predict the impacts of freshwater salinisation.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Charlotte Kunze, Miriam Gerhard, Marrit Jacob, Niklas Alexander Franke, Matthias Schroeder, Maren Striebel
Summary: This study investigated the effect of temperature fluctuation frequency on a natural phytoplankton community. The results showed that phytoplankton biomass tended to increase with faster fluctuations, but was lowest in the diurnal frequency treatment. The performance of phytoplankton communities was lower or comparable in diurnal or slower fluctuation frequencies compared to constant temperature conditions, while faster fluctuations showed higher performance. Minor differences in community structure were observed, but species diversity remained stable over time. Resource use efficiency and stoichiometry did not change with fluctuation frequency treatments.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Limnology
Marie-Pier Hebert, Celia C. Symons, Miguel Canedo-Arguelles, Shelley E. Arnott, Alison M. Derry, Vincent Fugere, William D. Hintz, Stephanie J. Melles, Louis Astorg, Henry K. Baker, Jennifer A. Brentrup, Amy L. Downing, Zeynep Ersoy, Carmen Espinosa, Jaclyn M. Franceschini, Angelina T. Giorgio, Norman Gobeler, Derek K. Gray, Danielle Greco, Emily Hassal, Mercedes Huynh, Samuel Hylander, Kacie L. Jonasen, Andrea Kirkwood, Silke Langenheder, Ola Langvall, Hjalmar Laudon, Lovisa Lind, Maria Lundgren, Alexandra McClymont, Lorenzo Proia, Rick A. Relyea, James A. Rusak, Matthew S. Schuler, Catherine L. Searle, Jonathan B. Shurin, Christopher F. Steiner, Maren Striebel, Simon Thibodeau, Pablo Urrutia Cordero, Lidia Vendrell-Puigmitja, Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer, Beatrix E. Beisner
Summary: This study conducted a large-scale mesocosm experiment across multiple sites in North America and Europe to investigate the response of lake zooplankton communities to varying chloride concentrations. The findings suggest that crustaceans are more sensitive to elevated chloride levels than rotifers, and that there is a consistent decrease in abundance and taxon richness with increasing salinity across different taxonomic groups. However, functional diversity shows a weaker loss compared to taxonomic diversity.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY LETTERS
(2023)
Review
Ecology
Nils Hendrik Hintz, Brian Schulze, Alexander Wacker, Maren Striebel
Summary: Underwater light has spatial and temporal variability and directly affects phytoplankton growth and competition. Previous studies have mainly focused on the effects of light intensity, while recent research has highlighted the importance of light spectrum on species competition. The complexity of competition is influenced by the variability and fluctuations in light, which has been sparsely investigated at the community level. Predictions regarding future climate change scenarios include changes in stratification and mixing, darkening of lakes and coastal oceans, UV radiation, ice melting, and light pollution, all of which affect the underwater light-climate. Generalizing the consequences is challenging due to high variability, interactions between consequences, and a lack of sustained timeseries and holistic approaches. Nevertheless, our systematic literature review provides a comprehensive overview and guides future research.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sebastian Neun, Nils Hendrik Hintz, Matthias Schroeder, Maren Striebel
Summary: This study analyzed the growth and competition of marine species in different light colors. The results showed that light color had significant effects on growth rates and carrying capacities of the species, but the frequency of light color fluctuations had minimal effects on species competition.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mara Sutorius, Corinna Mori, Janek Greskowiak, Lea Boettcher, Carina Bunse, Thorsten Dittmar, Leon Dlugosch, Nils Hendrik Hintz, Meinhard Simon, Maren Striebel, Katharina Pahnke
Summary: Rare earth elements in the marine environment are influenced by bio-associated processes, including adsorption, desorption, and organic complexation. These processes have a significant impact on the concentration patterns of rare earth elements in highly productive marine environments.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Patrick K. Thomas, Charlotte Kunze, Dedmer B. Van de Waal, Helmut Hillebrand, Maren Striebel
Summary: Primary consumers in aquatic ecosystems are limited by the quality of their food, with significant negative effects on zooplankton performance. Nutrient co-limitation is strong in zooplankton, and the effects of essential fatty acid limitation depend on phosphorus availability. Indirect effects induced by phosphorus limitation exceed direct effects of mineral phosphorus limitation. The effects of nutrient amendments using laboratory phytoplankton isolates exceed those using natural field communities.
Article
Limnology
Miriam Gerhard, Apostolos-Manuel Koussoroplis, Michael Raatz, Christian Pansch, Samuel B. Fey, Jahangir Vajedsamiei, Maria Caldero-Pascual, David Cunillera-Montcusi, Noel P. D. Juvigny-Khenafou, Francesco Polazzo, Patrick K. Thomas, Celia C. Symons, Meryem Beklioglu, Stella A. Berger, Rosa M. Chefaoui, Kemal Ali Ger, Silke Langenheder, Jens C. Nejstgaard, Robert Ptacnik, Maren Striebel
Summary: The relevance of considering environmental variability for understanding and predicting biological responses has led to a surge in variability-focused ecological research. However, integrating findings across studies and identifying knowledge gaps in aquatic ecosystems remain critical.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Limnology
Shelley E. Arnott, Vincent Fugere, Celia C. Symons, Stephanie J. Melles, Beatrix E. Beisner, Miguel Canedo-Arguelles, Marie-Pier Hebert, Jennifer A. Brentrup, Amy L. Downing, Derek K. Gray, Danielle Greco, William D. Hintz, Alexandra McClymont, Rick A. Relyea, James A. Rusak, Catherine L. Searle, Louis Astorg, Henry K. Baker, Zeynep Ersoy, Carmen Espinosa, Jaclyn M. Franceschini, Angelina T. Giorgio, Norman Gobeler, Emily Hassal, Mercedes Huynh, Samuel Hylander, Kacie L. Jonasen, Andrea Kirkwood, Silke Langenheder, Ola Langvall, Hjalmar Laudon, Lovisa Lind, Maria Lundgren, Emma R. Moffett, Lorenzo Proia, Matthew S. Schuler, Jonathan B. Shurin, Christopher F. Steiner, Maren Striebel, Simon Thibodeau, Pablo Urrutia Cordero, Lidia Vendrell-Puigmitja, Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer, Alison M. Derry
Summary: The salinization of freshwaters poses a global threat to aquatic biodiversity. The study quantified the variation in chloride (Cl-) tolerance among 19 freshwater zooplankton species in four countries. The results showed high variation in Cl- tolerance among populations, with zooplankton community composition being the only factor that explained this variation. The large intraspecific variation in Cl- tolerance suggests that water quality guidelines should consider multiple populations and communities.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Maren Striebel, Liisa Kallajoki, Charlotte Kunze, Jochen Wollschlaeger, Anne Deininger, Helmut Hillebrand
Summary: The availability of underwater light is influenced by various factors, and reducing light intensity has a significant impact on the performance of marine autotrophs. Experimental observations show that reducing light leads to a decrease in biomass-related performance, while physiological performance remains relatively unchanged. However, organisms can acclimate to reduced light conditions over time.
Article
Microbiology
Leon Dlugosch, Carina Bunse, Boyke Bunk, Lea Boettcher, Den Quoc Tran, Thorsten Dittmar, Maike Hartmann, Mara Heinrichs, Nils H. Hintz, Felix Milke, Corinna Mori, Jutta Niggemann, Cathrin Sproeer, Maren Striebel, Meinhard Simon
Summary: A study investigated a naturally-induced biphasic spring bloom of diatoms and Phaeocystis and examined the temporal dynamics of heterotrophic prokaryotes, virus-like particles, and dissolved amino acids and carbohydrates. The study induced a phytoplankton spring bloom in mesocosms and observed rapid changes in bacterial abundance, viral infection, and dissolved organic carbon. The results demonstrate the complexities of organic matter dynamics and community composition in natural coastal ecosystems.
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY
(2023)