Article
Plant Sciences
Julien Vigneaud, Annegret Kohler, Mamadou Dia Sow, Alain Delaunay, Laure Fauchery, Frederic Guinet, Christian Daviaud, Kerrie W. Barry, Keykhosrow Keymanesh, Jenifer Johnson, Vasanth Singan, Igor Grigoriev, Regis Fichot, Daniel Conde, Mariano Perales, Joerg Tost, Francis M. Martin, Isabel Allona, Steven H. Strauss, Claire Veneault-Fourrey, Stephane Maury
Summary: By manipulating the expression level of DNA methylation regulators in poplar trees, this study reveals the involvement of DNA methylation in regulating tree-fungus mutualistic interactions. Lower DNA methylation levels in poplar trees lead to reduced mycorrhizal formation and alterations in both plant and fungal genomes. These findings highlight the central role of DNA methylation in various pathways essential for ectomycorrhizal formation.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Leandro G. Cosmo, Ana Paula A. Assis, Marcus A. M. de Aguiar, Mathias M. Pires, Alfredo Valido, Pedro Jordano, John N. Thompson, Jordi Bascompte, Paulo R. Guimaraes Jr
Summary: Ecological interactions are vital for maintaining biodiversity on Earth. This study investigates the impact of direct and indirect effects in mutualistic networks, showing that indirect effects play a major role in determining species fitness. Indirect effects prevent coevolving species from adapting to their mutualistic partners and other environmental pressures, resulting in decreased fitness. The topological effect of peripheral species experiencing more indirect effects and greater reduction in fitness compared to central species is evident. The study also highlights how honeybees as a central species in pollination networks increase indirect effects, thus reducing the fitness of other species.
Article
Ecology
Blanca Arroyo-Correa, Pedro Jordano, Ignasi Bartomeus
Summary: Patterns of resource use at the species level are influenced by individual differences in exploiting available resources, such as pollinator use by plants. Our study used detailed data on plant-pollinator interactions to examine how variation in pollinator use among individual plants impacts community structure and dynamics. We found that all co-occurring plant species consisted of specialists interacting with subsets of pollinators that visited generalists, and the differences in interaction patterns were driven by variation in traits among individuals. Furthermore, communities with higher levels of variation in plant traits and pollinator use showed a nested structure and were more feasible. Our research highlights the importance of preserving intraspecific variation in traits and resource use within populations.
Article
Agronomy
L. Norgrove
Summary: In central Cameroon, there are distinct boundaries between savanna and forest. While the presence of Imperata cylindrica may indicate poor soil fertility, the main limitation to crop establishment is actually seedling damage from birds, rodents, and termites. Glyphosate herbicide use can reduce losses caused by birds but increase damage from termites.
Article
Biology
Agustin Vitali, Sofia Ruiz-Suarez, Diego P. Vazquez, Matthias Schleuning, Mariano A. Rodriguez-Cabal, Yamila Sasal, Shai Pilosof
Summary: The effects of invasive species on multitrophic networks were investigated in an ongoing invasion scenario in Patagonia, Argentina. Non-native ungulates disrupted a keystone interaction between hummingbirds, mistletoe, and marsupials, altering community composition. The connectivity between pollination and seed dispersal was reduced, and the network structure fragmented by the invasive species, leading to increased disturbance propagation and reduced network stability.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
A. Mondiere, J. Tzilivakis, D. J. Warner, H. M. G. van der Werf, A. Farruggia, O. Glinec, M. S. Corson
Summary: This study aimed to develop a method that assesses the impacts of permanent grasslands and their management on the supply of ecosystem services. The method was tested on two farms, demonstrating how different management practices influence ecological processes and ecosystem service scores. This approach can help farmers identify win-win situations and trade-offs to decrease overall impacts on ecosystem services.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Borja Jimenez-Alfaro, Sylvain Abdulhak, Fabio Attorre, Ariel Bergamini, Maria Laura Carranza, Alessandro Chiarucci, Renata Custerevska, Stefan Dullinger, Rosario G. Gavilan, Gianpietro Giusso del Galdo, Nevena Kuzmanovic, Paola Laiolo, Javier Loidi, George P. Malanson, Corrado Marceno, Dordije Milanovic, Elizabeth R. Pansing, Jose V. Roces-Diaz, Eszter Ruprecht, Jozef Sibik, Angela Stanisci, Riccardo Testolin, Jean-Paul Theurillat, Kiril Vassilev, Wolfgang Willner, Manuela Winkler
Summary: The study investigated major determinants of regional species pools in alpine grasslands in European mountains below 50 degrees N between 1928 and 2019, finding that the number of alpine species is influenced by area, bedrock type, topographic heterogeneity, and regional isolation, while non-alpines are more affected by connectivity and climate.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Duan Dongli, Wu Chengxing, Si Shubin
Summary: The study explores the survivability of alien species in local ecosystems through a mathematical framework, finding that the success of invasion depends on ecosystem structure and changes in species interactions caused by the alien species. The invasion process can be classified into four patterns based on the difficulty level of invasive local ecosystems by alien species.
PHYSICA A-STATISTICAL MECHANICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Luca Giovannini, Cristiana Sbrana, Manuela Giovannetti, Luciano Avio, Alessandra Lanubile, Adriano Marocco, Alessandra Turrini
Summary: This study investigated the influence of plant and fungal variables on phosphorus acquisition in maize inbred lines. It found that different maize lines exhibited differences in the expression of phosphate transporter genes, mycelial extent and structure, and plant performance. The low-P tolerant maize line showed increased expression of PT genes and larger mycelial densities and interconnectedness. The study suggests that both structural and functional traits play a role in regulating phosphorus foraging capacity in mycorrhizal networks.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Taofeek O. Muraina, Chong Xu, Qiang Yu, Yadong Yang, Minghui Jing, Xiaotong Jia, Md. Shahariar Jaman, Quockhanh Dam, Alan K. Knapp, Scott L. Collins, Yiqi Luo, Wentao Luo, Xiaoan Zuo, Xiaoping Xin, Xingguo Han, Melinda D. Smith
Summary: The study found that extreme drought decreased ANPP stability, species richness, species asynchrony, and species stability across the six grasslands. However, it was revealed that species asynchrony, not species richness or species stability, was the most important mechanism promoting stability of ANPP regardless of drought across the grasslands.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jiaqi Lin, Hui Sun, JiaJia Dong
Summary: This study explores a mutualistic cross-feeding model of two species and discovers different colony morphologies and the factors influencing these morphologies through simulation.
Article
Agronomy
Simon Ineichen, Andrea B. B. Seiler, Ueli Wyss, Carsten S. S. Malisch, Beat Reidy
Summary: Ensiling forage from species-rich mountain grasslands is challenging due to low concentrations of fermentable carbohydrates and the coarse morphological structure of the forage. However, forage from these grasslands may contain tanniferous plant species which could influence silage fermentation. A study was conducted to investigate the silage quality of forage from species-rich grasslands and the role of condensed tannins (CT) in silage fermentation.
GRASS AND FORAGE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Angelica Ochoa-Beltran, Johanna Andrea Martinez-Villa, Peter G. Kennedy, Beatriz Salgado-Negret, Alvaro Duque
Summary: The study in the Andean forests of Colombia investigated the variation of six plant functional traits along an elevational gradient, finding that factors such as climate, soil fertility, and symbiotic root associations play key roles in species assembly. It emphasizes the importance of regional and local factors in determining plant trait assembly.
Article
Agronomy
Zhang Wei, Thomas M. R. Maxwell, Brett Robinson, Nicholas Dickinson
Summary: This study investigates whether species coexistence can improve nutrient uptake in mid-altitude grasslands, and the results suggest that species combinations can facilitate mutual nutrient acquisition.
Article
Ecology
Eric W. Seabloom, Evan Batzer, Jonathan M. Chase, W. Stanley Harpole, Peter B. Adler, Sumanta Bagchi, Jonathan D. Bakker, Isabel C. Barrio, Lori Biederman, Elizabeth H. Boughton, Miguel N. Bugalho, Maria C. Caldeira, Jane A. Catford, Pedro Daleo, Nico Eisenhauer, Anu Eskelinen, Sylvia Haider, Lauren M. Hallett, Ingibjorg Svala Jonsdottir, Kaitlin Kimmel, Marirose Kuhlman, Andrew MacDougall, Cecilia D. Molina, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, Ranjan Muthukrishnan, Timothy Ohlert, Anita C. Risch, Christiane Roscher, Martin Schuetz, Gregory Sonnier, Pedro M. Tognetti, Risto Virtanen, Peter A. Wilfahrt, Elizabeth T. Borer
Summary: The effects of experimental manipulations of nutrient supply and herbivore density on species richness vary with spatial scale. Nutrient addition reduces the number of co-occurring species locally, but does not affect the proportional species loss due to nutrient enrichment across sampling scales. Total species loss increases over threefold across different sampling scales.
Article
Plant Sciences
Hui Wu, Junjie Yang, Wei Fu, Matthias C. Rillig, Zhenjiao Cao, Aihua Zhao, Zhipeng Hao, Xin Zhang, Baodong Chen, Xingguo Han
Summary: Nitrogen enrichment has negative effects on biodiversity and ecosystem stability, while arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi play important roles in ecosystem stability and functioning. This study investigated the ecological impacts of N enrichment on AM fungal communities in a grassland ecosystem. The results showed that AM fungal biomass decreased continuously with increasing N addition levels, while AM fungal diversity remained stable until a threshold of 20 g N m(-2) yr(-1) was reached. Above this threshold, AM fungal diversity dramatically decreased, indicating a potentially unstable state of the AM fungal community.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Bo Tang, Katherine S. Rocci, Anika Lehmann, Matthias C. Rillig
Summary: Nitrogen availability is critical for soil organic carbon (SOC) cycling and storage, but the effects of N enrichment on the SOC pool are highly variable. This study conducted a global meta-analysis to assess the impact of N addition on SOC components and their ratios. The results showed that N addition significantly increased the particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) pools, while decreasing the ratios of MAOC to SOC and MAOC to POC. The study provides insights into the functionality of the SOC pool under N enrichment at a global scale.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Tessa Camenzind, Kyle Mason-Jones, India Mansour, Matthias C. Rillig, Johannes Lehmann
Summary: Microbial death pathways in soil affect the composition and fate of microbial necromass, which is important for soil organic carbon storage. The composition of microbial necromass is different from microbial biomass, as it undergoes distinct chemical transformations. Different environmental conditions and microbial death pathways influence the changes in necromass composition.
Article
Soil Science
Qiong Wang, Taotao Jin, Yao Fu, Baodong Chen, Felicity Crotty, Philip J. Murray, Suqin Yu, Can Xu, Wei Liu
Summary: Rapid urbanization leads to significant changes in land use and soil quality. Glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP), secreted by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), serves as a sensitive indicator of soil quality. Soil microorganisms and enzymatic activities also play a crucial role in improving soil quality and regulating soil nutrient circulation. However, there is limited data on the interactions between GRSP, microorganisms, and enzymatic activities during urbanization. This study in Nanchang, China, found that urbanization indirectly reduces GRSP content by affecting land-use configurations and soil enzymatic activities.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Matthias C. Rillig, Marcel G. A. van der Heijden, Miguel Berdugo, Yu-Rong Liu, Judith Riedo, Carlos Sanz-Lazaro, Eduardo Moreno-Jimenez, Ferran Romero, Leho Tedersoo, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
Summary: The authors investigate the relationship between soil stressors exceeding critical thresholds and ecosystem services. They find that multiple stressors crossing a high-level threshold reduce soil functioning and can predict ecosystem functioning. Increasing environmental stressors may decrease ecosystem functioning in soils. However, this relationship has not been globally assessed. Using global field surveys and natural and human factors, the authors test the relationship between stressors exceeding different critical thresholds and ecosystem services maintenance. Their analysis shows that multiple stressors, especially those crossing a high-level threshold, significantly reduce soil biodiversity and functioning globally. The number of stressors exceeding the >75% threshold consistently predicts multiple ecosystem services, enhancing the prediction of ecosystem functioning.
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2023)
Review
Microbiology
Laurent Philippot, Claire Chenu, Andreas Kappler, Matthias C. Rillig, Noah Fierer
Summary: Considerable progress has been made in recent years in determining the soil properties that influence the structure of the soil microbiome. However, the effects of microorganisms on their soil habitat have received less attention. Microorganisms not only contribute to nutrient cycling and organic matter transformations, but also alter the soil habitat through various mechanisms. Understanding the interactions between microorganisms and soil properties can have significant ecological implications.
NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
Songlin Wu, Wei Fu, Matthias C. Rillig, Baodong D. Chen, Yong-Guan Zhu, Longbin Huang
Summary: AM fungi play a crucial role in the formation and stabilization of soil organic matter (SOM). Previous studies have focused on the organic compounds produced by AM fungi as binding agents for aggregate formation and SOM storage. However, this overlooks the various biogeochemical processes mediated by AM fungal activities, which drive SOM dynamics. We propose an updated conceptual framework to enhance the understanding of AM fungal role in SOM dynamics.
Article
Plant Sciences
Eduardo Moreno Jimenez, Nuria Ferrol, Nicolas Corradi, Jesus M. Penalosa, Matthias C. Rillig
Summary: Studying the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on crop nutrition and their interactions with other soil microbes is crucial for optimizing agroecosystems and crops' uptake of micronutrients while reducing contamination from metal(loid)s.
Article
Plant Sciences
Matthias C. Rillig, Anika Lehmann, James A. Orr, Rebecca Rongstock
Summary: This article classifies and refines the targets of global change factors at different ecological hierarchy levels, and discusses how these effects propagate along the levels. It aims to inform future plant-focused global change experiments.
Article
Ecology
Ernest D. Osburn, Ga owen Yang, Matthias C. Rillig, Michael S. Strickland
Summary: Ecosystem functions and services are threatened by anthropogenic global change, and microorganisms play a crucial role in driving these functions. However, the specific characteristics of microbial communities that contribute to ecosystem stability under stress are unknown. This study found that while bacterial diversity can be an indicator of soil ecosystem function and stability, other characteristics of bacterial communities, such as total microbial biomass and specific taxa abundances, are stronger predictors of ecosystem function. These findings provide important insights into the role of microorganisms in supporting ecosystem function and stability.
ISME COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Donghui Zhao, Congcong Shen, Zhi-Ming Zhang, Jichen Wang, Li-Mei Zhang, Baodong Chen, Guo-Xin Sun, Yuan Ge
Summary: By studying soil samples from different slope directions along an elevational gradient in a mountain ecosystem, we found that soil bacterial diversity and microbial functions exhibit distinct elevational patterns, which are consistent across slope directions. The bacterial diversity shows a hump-shaped pattern, while microbial functions exhibit a linear increasing trend. Additionally, the beta diversity pattern of soil bacteria is significantly influenced by elevational distance decay relationships. Soil bacterial diversity patterns are determined by transitions in community assembly processes, whereas microbial functions are mainly influenced by bacterial community composition.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Hanwen Chen, Xin Zhang, Haixi Wang, Shuping Xing, Rongbin Yin, Wei Fu, Matthias C. Rillig, Baodong Chen, Yongguan Zhu
Summary: This study demonstrates the significant role of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in reducing the transport of microplastics from roots to shoots in crops. However, AM symbiosis does not substantially decrease the uptake of microplastics by crops from soil. Nevertheless, mycorrhizal fungi can enhance the resistance of crops to microplastics by transforming their chemical properties, reducing complex formation with crop components, and promoting crop phosphorus nutrition.
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Chuning Ji, Jiu Huang, Jinglong Li, Xuemeng Zhang, Guang Yang, Youran Ma, Zhipeng Hao, Xin Zhang, Baodong Chen
Summary: This study investigated the impacts of chromium pollution on bacterial communities in eight soil types and the potential related genes. The results showed that different soil types exhibited diverse responses to chromium, and soil type has a greater influence on the composition of bacterial communities than chromium concentration. The study also found that the relative abundance of chrA was significantly higher in yellow-brown soil, indicating its potential for chromium adaptation.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hanwen Chen, Xin Zhang, Chuning Ji, Wenxuan Deng, Guang Yang, Zhipeng Hao, Baodong Chen
Summary: This study reveals the adsorption mechanism and influencing factors of microplastics on arsenic in farmland soil. Soil cation exchange capacity is the main factor controlling the adsorption rate, while soil organic matter, total nitrogen, and cation exchange capacity primarily influence the equilibrium adsorption capacity.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
C. Beraud, F. Piola, J. Gervaix, G. Meiffren, C. Creuze des Chatelliers, A. Delort, C. Boisselet, S. Poussineau, E. Lacroix, A. A. M. Cantarel
Summary: This study investigated the soil factors influencing the development of biological denitrification inhibition (BDI) and found that initial soil moisture, ammonium concentration, and the initial abundance of certain microbial genes play significant roles in BDI development. Additionally, the research highlighted the relevance of biotic factors in explaining BDI and proposed the use of procyanidin concentration from plant belowground system as a new proxy for measuring BDI intensity.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2024)
Article
Soil Science
Yizhu Qiao, Tingting Wang, Qiwei Huang, Hanyue Guo, He Zhang, Qicheng Xu, Qirong Shen, Ning Ling
Summary: Soil microbial community coalescence, the mixing and interaction of microbial communities, has been found to enhance the stability and complexity of rhizobacterial networks, leading to improved plant health and biomass. This study investigated the effects of different degrees of bacterial community coalescence on plant disease resistance by mixing soils from healthy and diseased habitats for watermelon planting. The results showed that mixing in more healthy soil reduced the plant disease index and increased biomass by improving the stability and complexity of the rhizobacterial network. Core taxa Nitrospirillum and Singulisphaera were enriched in the rhizosphere from healthy soils and played important roles in disease suppression and regulating the positive cohesion and modularity of the networks. Overall, these findings provide insights into the potential mechanism of microbial community coalescence for improving plant microbial community function and suggest new tools for enhancing plant fitness via soil microbiota mixing.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2024)
Article
Soil Science
Mengqiu He, Shending Chen, Lei Meng, Xiaoqian Dan, Wenjie Wang, Qinying Zhu, Zucong Cai, Jinbo Zhang, Pierfrancesco Nardi, Christoph Mueller
Summary: Maize genotypes directly affect gene expression and nitrogen uptake capacity. The feedback between maize genotypes and soil nitrogen transformations, as well as their regulations on nitrogen uptake capacity, have been studied. The findings suggest that maize genotypes play a central role in regulating these feedbacks, which are important for maize breeding and enhancing maize production.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2024)
Article
Soil Science
Ke Shi, Jiahui Liao, Xiaoming Zou, Han Y. H. Chen, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Zhengming Yan, Tingting Ren, Honghua Ruan
Summary: Through rewilding, microbial extracellular and cellular residues can continuously accumulate in soils and significantly contribute to soil organic carbon sequestration. Extracellular residues are mainly driven by fine root biomass, while cellular residues are mainly driven by soil nitrogen and organic carbon content.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2024)
Article
Soil Science
Sensen Chen, Ying Teng, Yongming Luo, Eiko Kuramae, Wenjie Ren
Summary: This study comprehensively assesses the effects of NMs on the soil microbiome through a global meta-analysis. The results reveal significant negative impacts of NMs on soil microbial diversity, biomass, activity, and function. Metal NMs, especially Ag NMs, have the most pronounced negative effects on various soil microbial community metrics.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2024)
Article
Soil Science
Shareen K. D. Sanders, Gerard Martinez-De Leon, Ludovico Formenti, Madhav P. Thakur
Summary: Collembolans, the diverse group of soil invertebrates, are affected by anthropogenic climate warming, which alters their diversity and density. In addition to abiotic stressors, changes in food availability, specifically the abundance of saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungi, influence Collembola responses to climate warming. Collembolans prefer saprotrophic fungi but rely on mycorrhizal fungi when food sources are scarce. Understanding the mechanisms behind these dietary shifts in warm-dry and warm-wet soil conditions is crucial for predicting the impact of climate change on Collembola-fungal interactions.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2024)
Article
Soil Science
Wimonsiri Pingthaisong, Sergey Blagodatsky, Patma Vityakon, Georg Cadisch
Summary: A study found that mixing high-C/N ratio rice straw with low-C/N ratio groundnut stover can improve the chemical composition of the input, stimulate microbial growth, decrease the loss of residue-derived carbon in the soil, and reduce native soil carbon and nitrogen consumption.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2024)
Article
Soil Science
Jiachen Wang, Jie Zhao, Rong Yang, Xin Liu, Xuyuan Zhang, Wei Zhang, Xiaoyong Chen, Wende Yan, Kelin Wang
Summary: Nitrogen is vital for ecosystem productivity, restoration, and succession processes. This study found that legume intercropping was more effective than chemical nitrogen fertilizers in promoting the complexity and stability of the soil micro-food web, as it increased microbial and nematode communities and enhanced energy flow patterns.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2024)
