Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
A. Elizabeth Arnold
Summary: An intriguing new study uses newly generated metagenomes to study the evolution of fungi, specifically focusing on lichens, which are one of the most species-rich and fascinating manifestations of symbiosis.
Article
Mycology
Hong-Li Si, Yue-Min Su, Xiao-Xiao Zheng, Meng-Yao Ding, Tanay Bose, Run-Lei Chang
Summary: This study revealed three previously-unknown species of Coniochaeta in China, enriching our understanding of the diversity and habitat preferences of Coniochaeta globally. Through molecular and morphological analyses, two known species and three new species were identified from samples collected in Yunnan Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region between 2017 and 2020.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
F. A. Abade dos Santos, M. D. Duarte, C. L. Carvalho, M. Monteiro, P. Carvalho, P. Mendonca, P. C. L. G. Valente, H. Sheikhnejad, H. Waap, J. Gomes
Summary: A new species of filarial worms has been discovered in the blood vessels of Iberian hares in Portugal, which may pose a potential threat to the hare population. Further research is needed to investigate the morphology, prevalence, and clinical impact of this new parasite.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Gintaras Kantvilas, Ave Suija, Jurga Motiejunaite
Summary: Caloplaca tephromelae is a lichenicolous species found on saxicolous thalli of Tephromela species in Tasmania. It is distinguished by specific characteristics of its apothecia and ascospores, as compared to other Caloplaca species. Molecular data confirm the uniqueness of this new species without suggesting any close relatives.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sven Gippner, Scott L. Travers, Mark D. Scherz, Timothy J. Colston, Mariana L. Lyra, Ashwini Mohan, Malte Multzsch, Stuart Nielsen, Lois Rancilhac, Frank Glaw, Aaron M. Bauer, Miguel Vences
Summary: The dwarf geckos of the genus Lygodactylus are found in continental Africa, Madagascar, and South America. This study confirmed the monophyly of 14 Lygodactylus species groups and estimated the crown diversification of Lygodactylus to have started at 46 mya. Further research on related genera and phylogenomic approaches may help provide better biogeographic insights into the evolutionary history of these geckos.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Eugeny Boltenkov, Elena Artyukova, Anna Trias-Blasi
Summary: This study revised the taxonomy of Iris subser. Chrysographes through molecular and morphological studies, confirming its monophyletic nature and identifying four distinct lineages within the group. Additionally, it provided a revised taxonomic treatment and an identification key for the species in this group.
Article
Entomology
Fang-Yu Zhao, Lan Yang, Quan-Xuan Zou, Abid Ali, Shu-Qiang Li, Zhi-Yuan Yao
Summary: Pholcus spiders were found for the first time in the Luliang Mountains of North China, and DNA analyses identified them as nine separate species, eight of which are new to science.
Article
Microbiology
Yu-Zhuo Zhang, Wen-Fei Lin, Bart Buyck, Zhi-Qun Liang, Ming-Sheng Su, Zuo-Hong Chen, Ping Zhang, Shuai Jiang, Dong-Yu An, Nian-Kai Zeng
Summary: Species of Cantharellus subgenus Cantharellus in China have important mycorrhizal properties, medicinal values, and edibility. Four new species were described in this study, contributing to the knowledge of species diversity in China.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jamal M. Khaled, Naiyf S. Alharbi, Ramzi A. Mothana, Shine Kadaikunnan, Ahmed S. Alobaidi
Summary: This study reports for the first time the presence of valuable mushroom species in several regions of Saudi Arabia, highlighting their nutritional and medicinal properties.
JOURNAL OF KING SAUD UNIVERSITY SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Hongli Si, Yichen Wang, Yanyu Liu, Shiguo Li, Tanay Bose, Runlei Chang
Summary: Through five surveys conducted in Yunnan Province of China, we discovered the first known endolichenic fungi belonging to the Teratosphaeriaceae family. These fungi belong to a new genus called Intumescentia and consist of four new species. They exhibit a wide range of lifestyles and ecological roles.
Article
Mycology
Malka Saba, Abdul Nasir Khalid, Samina Sarwar
Summary: This study investigated six species of Mallocybe from Pakistan using morphological and phylogenetic methods. Two new species, M. pakistanica and M. pinicola, were discovered and described. The study also included morphological comparisons with closely-related taxa and provided a key for identifying Mallocybe species in Pakistan.
Article
Microbiology
Jing Yang, Ling-Ling Liu, E. B. Gareth Jones, Wen-Li Li, Kevin D. Hyde, Zuo-Yi Liu
Summary: Distoseptispora is a sporidesmium-like taxon with significant variation in asexual morphology and delineation of species. Through morphological and molecular DNA data, six new species have been proposed with the first sexual morphology confirmed within the genus. Additionally, a new geographical record for D. lignicola in China has been reported.
Article
Plant Sciences
Maria Beatrice Castellani, Elis Abetta Bianchi, Andrea Coppi, Juri Nascimbene, Renato Benesperi
Summary: Recent molecular studies on Parmelia have identified new semi-cryptic and cryptic species, indicating significant genetic diversity within this genus that may not be evident phenotypically. Molecular data are essential for identifying the species within this group accurately.
Review
Entomology
Zhen-Bang Xu, Ji-Bai He, Nan Yang, Ian J. Kitching, Shao-Ji Hu
Summary: A new subspecies of Neogurelca montana was discovered in Beijing, China, with differences in body color and wing morphology compared to other populations. Molecular data and morphological analysis confirmed the validity of this new subspecies, and its larval characteristics and life history were described and compared with another closely related species, N. himachala.
Article
Microbiology
Xu Zhang, Wei-Qiang Qin, Zhi-Qun Liang, Run Tian, Nian-Kai Zeng
Summary: This article describes a new species of Rubroboletus from subtropical China using morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses. The species is characterized by its red to fiery-red basidioma, dry pileus, white context in the pileus but bright yellow in the stipe, densely covered stipe with spots, blue color change of tissues, and a trichoderm-type pileipellis. Detailed descriptions, color photographs, and line drawings of microscopic features are provided, along with a key to known Chinese taxa of Rubroboletus.
ARCHIVES OF MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Cecilia Alonso, Emiliano Pereira, Florencia Bertoglio, Miguel De Caceres, Rudolf Amann
Summary: Increasing awareness of environmental impacts caused by anthropogenic activities emphasizes the importance of determining environmental status indicators that can be assessed on a large scale. This study analyzed bacterioplankton communities in four estuaries worldwide and identified indicators based on physicochemical variables. These bacterial indicators showed high prediction capability and outperformed other biological assemblages commonly used for environmental monitoring. The study suggests that this approach could complement existing strategies for monitoring and conserving aquatic systems globally.
AQUATIC MICROBIAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Anthony Sturbois, Julien Cucherousset, Miquel De Caceres, Nicolas Desroy, Pascal Riera, Alexandre Carpentier, Nolwenn Quillien, Jacques Grall, Boris Espinasse, Yves Cherel, Gauthier Schaal
Summary: Ecologists working with stable isotopes face challenges in analyzing and representing complex datasets with temporal and spatial replication. A lack of commonly accepted conceptual framework in stable isotope ecology has hindered quantitative detection of functional patterns. The community trajectory analysis (CTA) framework provides more explicit perspectives for ecological trajectories. Building on CTA, the Stable Isotope Trajectory Analysis (SITA) framework allows quantitative analysis of stable isotope spatial and temporal dynamics and offers new graphical representation solutions.
ECOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Antoni Trasobares, Blas Mola-Yudego, Nuria Aquilue, Jose Ramon Gonzalez-Olabarria, Jordi Garcia-Gonzalo, Raul Garcia-Valdes, Miquel De Caceres
Summary: This paper presents environmentally driven models for forest stand dynamics calibrated based on data from the Spanish National Forest Inventory, developing 182 models for 27 species and species groups. These models can be integrated into a full forest projection system for simulations under alternative climatic and management scenarios, providing a solid basis for climate-sensitive forest scenarios at national or regional levels.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Albert Morera, Juan Martinez de Aragon, Miquel De Caceres, Jose Antonio Bonet, Sergio de-Miguel
Summary: Fungi play a crucial role in natural ecosystems, affecting processes such as nutrient availability and carbon sequestration. This study predicts the impact of climate change on fungal productivity in Mediterranean forest areas using machine learning algorithms. The results suggest that mycorrhizal fungi will decrease in productivity in subalpine and montane pine forests, while saprotrophic fungi may benefit from climate changes in mid-range elevations. The study highlights the importance of anticipating and managing the effects of global change on fungal productivity for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Rowena Hill, Richard J. A. Buggs, Dang Toan Vu, Ester Gaya
Summary: In this study, the genome assemblies of five endophytic Fusarium strains were produced, and phylogenomic reconstruction revealed diverse lifestyle transitions in Fusarium fungi. The results depict fusarioid fungi as prolific generalists and highlight the difficulty in predicting pathogenic potential in the group.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Lena Vila-Vilardell, Miquel De Caceres, Miriam Pique, Pere Casals
Summary: Vegetation structure affects the vulnerability of a forest to drought events and wildfires. Management decisions, such as thinning intensity and type of understory treatment, influence competition for water resources and amount of fuel available. Our study highlights the importance of managing the understory to further increase forest resistance to both disturbances.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Julien Ruffault, Jean-Marc Limousin, Francois Pimont, Jean-Luc Dupuy, Miquel De Caceres, Herve Cochard, Florent Mouillot, Chris J. Blackman, Jose M. Torres-Ruiz, Russell A. Parsons, Myriam Moreno, Sylvain Delzon, Steven Jansen, Albert Olioso, Brendan Choat, Nicolas Martin-StPaul
Summary: Fuel moisture content is a crucial factor for forest fires worldwide, however, its dynamics and determinants in forest canopies remain poorly understood. This study integrated a FMC module into the SurEau-Ecos model to predict leaf live fuel moisture content and canopy fuel moisture content based on leaf water potential. The results showed that drought-induced foliage mortality is expected to increase as the climate gets drier.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Chirine Toumi, Miquel De Caceres, Jacques Grall, Aurelien Boye, Eric Thiebaut, Marion Maguer, Vincent Le Garrec, Caroline Broudin, Celine Houbin, Olivier Gauthier
Summary: Long-term monitoring programs are crucial for understanding changes in ecosystem health and ecological processes. In a 14-year study of benthic coastal invertebrates in the North-East Atlantic, community compositions varied between sites and habitats, but showed non-directional dynamics at the regional scale. The study confirmed the usefulness of community trajectory analysis (CTA) in linking observed patterns to ecological processes.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Thomas A. K. Prescott, Rowena Hill, Eduard Mas-Claret, Ester Gaya, Edie Burns
Summary: Fungal-derived drugs have had significant impacts in treating chronic diseases and saving lives. However, the discovery process has become more challenging after the easy discoveries have been made. The entry of new players with genomic tools may change the landscape and facilitate future discoveries.
Article
Ecology
Martina Sanchez-Pinillos, Sonia Kefi, Miquel De Caceres, Vasilis Dakos
Summary: Understanding ecological dynamics has always been a central topic in ecology, but identifying dynamic regimes remains a research frontier in modern ecology. In the context of global change, identifying and characterizing ecological dynamic regimes are crucial for evaluating ecological resilience. However, implementing dynamic regimes in empirical science is still challenging due to the high dimensionality and stochasticity of ecological data. The advent of big data and advances in quantitative ecology and data science provide an opportunity to study dynamic regimes from a new perspective. This paper presents a methodological framework to describe ecological dynamic regimes based on ecological trajectories in a multidimensional state space, and provides analytical tools to identify, characterize, and compare these regimes. The framework fills the gap between theoretical and empirical ecology by offering robust analytical tools to assess ecological resilience and study ecosystem dynamics.
ECOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Miquel De Caceres, Roberto Molowny-Horas, Antoine Cabon, Jordi Martinez-Vilalta, Maurizio Mencuccini, Raul Garcia-Valdes, Daniel Nadal-Sala, Santiago Sabate, Nicolas Martin-StPaul, Xavier Morin, Francesco D'Adamo, Enric Batllori, Aitor Ameztegui
Summary: Regional-level applications of dynamic vegetation models face challenges in representing plant functional diversity. Different approaches, such as trait-based modeling and taxonomic adaptation, have been used to address this challenge. This study presents the advantages and limitations of adapting taxonomic resolution and using plant trait databases for parameter estimation in a regional forest dynamics model.
GEOSCIENTIFIC MODEL DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Pere Casals, Eva Gabriel, Miquel De Caceres, Ana I. Rios, Xavier Castro
Summary: This study presents a relational database containing compositional and structural characteristics of 575 permanent 100 m(2) shrubland plots in the NE of Iberian peninsula. The dataset provides valuable information for improving fire danger prediction, studying vegetation dynamics in relation to drought and fire, and testing aerial-based methodologies with ground-based information. Access to the dataset is available through the provided link.
ANNALS OF FOREST SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Jose M. Torres-Ruiz, Herve Cochard, Sylvain Delzon, Thomas Boivin, Regis Burlett, Maxime Cailleret, Deborah Corso, Chloe E. L. Delmas, Miquel De Caceres, Antonio Diaz-Espejo, Pilar Fernandez-Conradi, Joannes Guillemot, Laurent J. Lamarque, Jean-Marc Limousin, Marylou Mantova, Maurizio Mencuccini, Xavier Morin, Francois Pimont, Victor Resco De Dios, Julien Ruffault, Santiago Trueba, Nicolas K. Martin-StPaul
Summary: Plant hydraulics is crucial for understanding water extraction and transport in plants, as well as their water relations and susceptibility to pathogen attacks. Variations in hydraulic properties can significantly impact plant growth, survival, production, and the risk of biotic attacks and forest fires. Integrating hydraulic traits into different disciplines can improve our understanding of these processes and help assess the effects of climate change on forests and agriculture.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Beatriz Arroyo, Alba Estrada, Fabian Casas, Laura Cardador, Miquel De Caceres, Gerard Bota, David Giralt, Lluis Brotons, Francois Mougeot
Summary: This study investigates the influence of functional habitat suitability and urban encroachment on the abundance of Little Bustard. The results show that both factors significantly affect the spatial and temporal variations in Little Bustard abundance, with the significance varying with spatial scale. The research highlights the importance of resource-based models in understanding the relationship between animal abundance and habitat suitability, while considering the impact of urban areas.
AVIAN CONSERVATION AND ECOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Nate G. McDowell, Gerard Sapes, Alexandria Pivovaroff, Henry D. Adams, Craig D. Allen, William R. L. Anderegg, Matthias Arend, David D. Breshears, Tim Brodribb, Brendan Choat, Herve Cochard, Miquel De Caceres, Martin G. De Kauwe, Charlotte Grossiord, William M. Hammond, Henrik Hartmann, Gunter Hoch, Ansgar Kahmen, Tamir Klein, D. Scott Mackay, Marylou Mantova, Jordi Martinez-Vilalta, Belinda E. Medlyn, Maurizio Mencuccini, Andrea Nardini, Rafael S. Oliveira, Anna Sala, David T. Tissue, Jose M. Torres-Ruiz, Amy M. Trowbridge, Anna T. Trugman, Erin Wiley, Chonggang Xu
Summary: Drought-associated woody-plant mortality is increasing globally, impacting climate, biodiversity, and resources. This review synthesizes knowledge of the mechanisms underlying drought-related tree death, including water and carbon depletion, and the influence of soil-to-root conductance and carbon supply rates.
NATURE REVIEWS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)