Article
Ecology
Heloise Gibb, Colin J. Silvey, Chloe Robinson, Felicity A. L'Hotellier, David J. Eldridge
Summary: Research indicates that the reintroduction of digging mammals may have direct and indirect effects on predatory invertebrates, leading to reductions in bare ground in the ecosystem and changes in predator abundance and composition.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Abuzer celekli, Omer Lekesiz, Tolga cetin
Summary: The study aimed to assess the diatom-stressor relationship in relatively least disturbed streams in the Konya closed river basin and evaluate streams using different ecoregional diatom indices. Cocconeis euglypta, Cymbella excisa, Cocconeis placentula, and Achnanthidium minutissimum were found to be the most contributing species to the dissimilarity between seasons and altitude groups. Canonical correspondence analysis showed a significant relationship between diatom species and stressors. Diatom indices indicated different ecological statuses of stations, with European diatom indices performing well in the eco-assessment of streams.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Swades Pal, Pankaj Singha
Summary: This study focuses on the impact of dam-induced flow modification on the hydrology and ecology of the Lower Tangon river basin in India and Bangladesh. The results show that after damming, there was a 41% alteration in river flow, leading to the degradation of wetland hydrology and habitat conditions. The study also found adverse ecological responses, such as increased eco-deficit areas and a transformation of wetland trophic state. Overall, the ecological strength was greatly reduced in the post-dam period.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Entomology
Shimin Gu, Myron P. Zalucki, Fang Ouyang, Feng Ge
Summary: The spatial distribution of ecological subsidies can affect local and neighborhood factors, shaping large-scale ecosystem functions. This study found that the importance of neighborhood factors exceeded local factors in explaining variations in predator-to-aphid abundance ratio, wheat yield, and parasitism rate. Integrating both local and neighborhood factors into models increased the explanatory power for wheat yield and parasitism rate.
ENTOMOLOGIA GENERALIS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Peter J. Mumby, Milani Chaloupka, Yves-Marie Bozec, Robert S. Steneck, Ignasi Montero-Serra
Summary: Complex ecological interactions are difficult to detect in delivering conservation benefits, leading to debates over efficacy. By using a Bayesian Region of Practical Equivalence (ROPE) approach, many conservation practice tests can be interpreted correctly as undecided rather than negative. The challenge of interpreting conservation benefits may be addressed by considering a wider diversity of evidence.
CONSERVATION LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Katrina D. Malakhoff, Robert J. Miller
Summary: The study found that the impact of marine reserves on sea urchin populations did not align with expectations, with the biomass of red urchins significantly increasing inside reserves while purple urchins were unaffected; there was no evidence to suggest that an increase in urchin biomass benefits giant kelp growth.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Eoin J. O'Gorman
Summary: The study examined the combined effects of temperature and apex fish predators on food web structure in Icelandic geothermal streams. The presence of apex predators released algae from grazing pressure by suppressing the biomass of invertebrates, but this only occurred at higher temperatures, indicating a temperature-dependent trophic cascade.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Amelia A. Desbiens, George Roff, William D. Robbins, Brett M. Taylor, Carolina Castro-Sanguino, Alexandra Dempsey, Peter J. Mumby
Summary: In the relatively unfished northern Great Barrier Reef, changes in reef shark density did not have a significant impact on the density or biomass of teleost mesopredators or prey, suggesting a lack of trophic cascading. Instead, many functional groups, including sharks, responded positively to environmental drivers.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Tz-Chian Chen, Pei-Chi Ho, Gwo-Ching Gong, An-Yi Tsai, Chih-hao Hsieh
Summary: The study investigated the impact of copepod-induced trophic cascades on phytoplankton in the East China Sea. Results showed that the intensity of trophic cascades weakly correlated with the slope of phytoplankton biomass size spectrum, but had a stronger correlation with temperature, while no clear relationship was found with the C:N ratio of particulate organic matter.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hongwei Dong, Zhiming Feng, Yanzhao Yang, Peng Li, Zhen You
Summary: This study used an improved ecological footprint model to analyze the ecological sustainability of Tibet and its cities, finding steady growth of ecological footprint in Tibet with uneven distribution among cities, and Lhasa being in an unsafe state. The growth of ecological footprint is mainly driven by per unit of GDP, population size and footprint structure.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yang Wang, Yintao Jia, Zhengfei Li, Juan Tao, Liqun Lin, Kang Chen, Zhenyuan Liu, Xiang Tan, Quanfa Zhang
Summary: The study investigated the impact of land use on aquatic communities in two streams in subtropical China. Results showed significant variations in the trophic structure of aquatic communities among different land uses, with urban sites having narrower niche widths and higher trophic redundancy, while agricultural sites had higher trophic levels and lower niche widths.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
M. Aboal, M. D. Belando, N. Ubero, D. Gonzalez-Silvera, J. A. Lopez-Jimenez
Summary: This study examined the trophic relations between photoautotrophs and macroinvertebrates in Mediterranean streams, with a focus on the role of Cyanobacteria. The results showed that Cyanobacteria are an important food resource for macroinvertebrates in winter in semiarid streams.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Dominique Caron, Luigi Maiorano, Wilfried Thuiller, Laura J. Pollock
Summary: Despite limited knowledge, predicting species interactions based on functional traits is a promising approach. A new traits-based model of trophic interactions for European vertebrates was built, and even with minimal input data, the full European vertebrate food web could be reasonably estimated. However, predators were easier to predict than prey, and local food web connectivity was often overestimated.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Xiang Yu, Wei Huang, Youji Wang, Yuntao Wang, Liang Cao, Zhi Yang, Shuozeng Dou
Summary: This study assessed the sources, pollution, trophic transfer, and ecological risk of microplastics (MPs) in Xiangshan Bay, an area of intensive mariculture in the East China Sea. The results showed that MPs were mainly derived from aquaculture activities in the inner bay, and the ingestion of MPs by marine organisms was related to their biological features and feeding habits. Additionally, the morphology and characteristics of MPs differed between sediment and organisms, indicating diverse environmental redistribution routes. These findings provide important information for understanding MP pollution, source tracing, trophic transfer, and ecological risk assessment in coastal ecosystems.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Hugo Alejandro Alvarez, Raquel Jimenez-Munoz, Marina Morente, Mercedes Campos, Francisca Ruano
Summary: The olive moth, Prays oleae, is a common pest in the Mediterranean region, and ground cover in organic olive orchards can positively impact the predation of its eggs by natural enemies. Mowed orchards were found to be more effective for controlling P. oleae through egg predation compared to tilled orchards. The abundance of certain families of natural enemies was significantly higher in mowed orchards, indicating the importance of ground cover in promoting biological control in olive orchards.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2021)