Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tim Caro
Summary: Bright and toxic colours are effective in deterring predators, but the evolution of such colours without endangering conspicuous organisms has been a controversial topic. Analyzing amphibians provides an answer to this puzzle.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Elizabeth C. Lowe, Rochelle Steven, Rebecca L. Morris, Kirsten M. Parris, Axton C. Aguiar, Cameron E. Webb, Ana B. Bugnot, Katherine A. Dafforn, Rod M. Connolly, Mariana Mayer Pinto
Summary: This study highlights the synergies and trade-offs among ecosystem services provided by terrestrial, freshwater, and marine realms in urban environments. It offers a framework for collaborative research and management to improve current practices and achieve strategic allocation of resources, protection of urban natural resources, and improved environmental regulation with broad public support.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Andie Nugent, Steven D. Allison
Summary: This synthesis reviews research on the urban soil microbiome and develops a framework to integrate soil microbial communities with urban ecosystem function. The study identifies disturbance, altered resources, and heterogeneity as key drivers through which human activities affect urban soils and their resident microorganisms. Integration across disturbance ecology, urban ecology, and microbial ecology is crucial for managing ecosystem benefits in cities and understanding the consequences for environmental and human health.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Deeksha, Anoop Kumar Shukla
Summary: This study conducted a systematic review of articles related to ecosystem services and remote sensing, finding that regional-level research on ecosystem services is a current hotspot, aiding in understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Mycology
M. S. Calabon, K. D. Hyde, E. B. G. Jones, D. F. Bao, C. S. Bhunjun, C. Phukhamsakda, H. W. Shen, E. Gentekaki, A. H. Al Sharie, J. Barros, S. K. U. Chandrasiri, D. M. Hu, V Hurdeal, W. Rossi, L. G. Valle, H. Zhang, M. Figueroa, H. A. Raja, S. Seena, H. Y. Song, W. Dong, T. El-Elimat, W. Leonardi, Y. Li, Y. J. Li, Z. L. Luo, C. D. Ritter, D. B. Strongman, M. J. Wei, A. Balasuriya
Summary: Research on freshwater fungi has yielded a wealth of information in recent decades, including reviews, books, and monographs. With advances in research methodologies and the involvement of many mycologists, our understanding of freshwater fungi has advanced, including new discoveries and insights into their ecology. Given the significant progress made, it is timely to compile an updated account of freshwater fungi to provide a comprehensive overview of their biology. This volume covers topics such as classification, biology, diversity, distribution, and ecological importance, as well as the biotechnological potential and high throughput sequencing methods for freshwater fungal research.
Article
Environmental Sciences
N. Perujo, P. J. Van den Brink, H. Segner, C. Mantyka-Pringle, S. Sabater, S. Birk, A. Bruder, F. Romero, V. Acuna
Summary: Environmental policies are not effectively protecting freshwater ecosystems from human pressures and their associated stressors. This study aims to improve decision-making frameworks in the context of stressors by delving into stressor-impact relationships and developing a guideline to guide potential impacts. Incorporating these guidelines may lead to substantial advancements in the efficacy of diagnosis and predictive approaches of impacts.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
L. Schiesari, V. Saito, J. Ferreira, L. S. Freitas, A. J. Goebbels, J. P. C. B. Leite, J. C. Oliveira, R. M. Pelinson, B. B. Querido, J. Carmo, E. L. G. Espindola, N. C. Guedes-Munin, C. Montagner, R. Rossetto, R. Taniwaki, L. A. Martinelli
Summary: Sustainable intensification requires the combination of precision farming and ecological principles in crop fields. Small wetlands, with their high rates of element cycling and species richness, can contribute to this goal by penetrating crop fields. However, if land management intensification promotes ecosystem destabilization, wetlands may not be able to provide effective ecosystem services.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Business
Daniel Sunghwan Cho, Paul Ryan, Giulio Buciuni
Summary: The recent interest in policy towards entrepreneurial ecosystems has been accompanied by an increase in academic research output. Current research mainly focuses on place, actors, governance, and evolution, with the least attention being paid to evolutionary processes. To address this imbalance, a future research agenda on the evolutionary processes of entrepreneurial ecosystems is proposed, emphasizing the competing lens for these processes, the evolving geographic scope and boundaries of the ecosystem, and the evolving modes of governance. Methodologically, there is a call for greater use of longitudinal studies of these evolutionary processes.
SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMICS
(2022)
Review
Ecology
Olivia F. Morris, Charlie J. G. Loewen, Guy Woodward, Ralf B. Schaefer, Jeremy J. Piggott, Rolf D. Vinebrooke, Michelle C. Jackson
Summary: The study found that the impacts of climate warming on freshwater ecosystems are usually determined by the stronger stressor, especially when this stressor is associated with human land use. Predicting the effects of multiple stressors depends on the identity of the stressors and the asymmetry of their effects.
Article
Ecology
Ian R. McFadden, Agnieszka Sendek, Morgane Brosse, Peter M. Bach, Marco Baity-Jesi, Janine Bolliger, Kurt Bollmann, Eckehard G. Brockerhoff, Giulia Donati, Friederike Gebert, Shyamolina Ghosh, Hsi-Cheng Ho, Imran Khaliq, J. Jelle Lever, Ivana Logar, Helen Moor, Daniel Odermatt, Loiec Pellissier, Luiz Jardim de Queiroz, Christian Rixen, Nele Schuwirth, J. Ryan Shipley, Cornelia W. Twining, Yann Vitasse, Christoph Vorburger, Mark K. L. Wong, Niklaus E. Zimmermann, Ole Seehausen, Martin M. Gossner, Blake Matthews, Catherine H. Graham, Florian Altermatt, Anita Narwani
Summary: Human impacts such as habitat loss, climate change, and biological invasions are drastically changing biodiversity. We propose an integrative approach to explain the differences in impacts between terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems by linking them to four fundamental processes that structure communities. Through this approach, we aim to provide insights into why human impacts and responses to them may differ across ecosystem types, using a mechanistic, eco-evolutionary framework.
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
C. G. Conacher, N. A. Luyt, R. K. Naidoo-Blassoples, D. Rossouw, M. E. Setati, F. F. Bauer
Summary: The general interest in microbial ecology has surged in the past decade, driven by technological advances and the recognition of the fundamental services provided by these ecosystems. In biotechnology, ecosystems offer more functionalities than single species, but their complexity and interactions limit their applications. Research shows that next generation sequencing can accurately map microbiomes, but functional microbiomics is needed to bridge the gap between mapping and understanding.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Simona Ceschin, Amii Bellini, Massimiliano Scalici
Summary: This paper reviews the current state-of-the-art, limitations, critical issues, and new directions in freshwater plant ecotoxicology. The main issues identified include narrow range of species and endpoints considered, lack of environmental relevance, excessively short exposure times, and potential reactions between toxicants and culture media.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Caili Du, Guowen Li, Rui Xia, Caole Li, Qiuheng Zhu, Xiaoguang Li, Jiaxi Li, Chen Zhao, Zhenjun Tian, Lieyu Zhang
Summary: Cyanobacterial blooms are important environmental problems in aquatic ecosystems. In-depth research on the mechanism of cyanobacterial blooms is urgently needed. The study reveals the interactions between environmental conditions, microbial communities, and cyanobacteria, with cyanobacteria having competitive advantages and antagonistic effects on other microorganisms when resources are abundant.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Amy Ockenden, Louis A. Tremblay, Nadia Dikareva, Kevin S. Simon
Summary: Current research on microplastics mainly focuses on single species and lacks investigation on different functional groups of organisms, multi-species interactions, and ecosystem processes. Studies need to better match experimental designs with the ecology of test species to understand the ecological effects of microplastics.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Alexander T. Strauss, Daniel C. Suh, Kate Galbraith, Sarah M. Coker, Katie Schroeder, Christopher Brandon, Elizabeth M. Warburton, Michael J. Yabsley, Christopher A. Cleveland
Summary: Parasites play important roles in ecosystems by infecting common hosts, such as Daphnia, which are critical for freshwater ecosystems. This study found two previously unreported parasite species infecting three Daphnia species in shallow ponds in Georgia, USA. The prevalence and impact of these parasites varied among ponds and host species, suggesting their potential significance in these freshwater ecosystems.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
J. Ryan Shipley, Cornelia W. Twining, Margaux Mathieu-Resuge, Tarn Preet Parmar, Martin Kainz, Dominik Martin-Creuzburg, Christine Weber, David W. Winkler, Catherine H. Graham, Blake Matthews
Summary: Climate change can lead to mismatches between resource supply and consumer demand, which can have negative effects on fitness. This study found that aquatic insects reach peak biomass earlier in the season than terrestrial insects, and the availability of omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFAs) to consumers depends largely on the phenology of aquatic insect emergence. This results in nutritional phenological mismatches for consumers, as highly nutritious aquatic insects cannot be simply replaced by terrestrial insects.
Article
Ecology
Cameron M. Hudson, S. Nemiah Ladd, Miguel C. Leal, Carsten J. Schubert, Ole Seehausen, Blake Matthews
Summary: The study compared the differences in fatty acid composition between different stickleback lineages and ecotypes. Wild fish and lab-reared fish exhibited different levels of fatty acids, while females had lower omega-6:omega-3 ratio than males.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Manu Tamminen, Jenny Spaak, Ahmed Tlili, Rik Eggen, Christian Stamm, Katja Raesaenen
Summary: The study found that microbial communities in stream biofilms respond differently to wastewater treatment plant effluents, with specific microbial members associated with micropollutants in the wastewater, further advancing our understanding of the ecological impact of wastewater treatment practices.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Rebecca Oester, Ryan Greenway, Marvin Moosmann, Ruben Sommaruga, Barbara Tartarotti, Jakob Brodersen, Blake Matthews
Summary: This study investigated the effect of Arctic charr and threespine stickleback on the photoprotective phenotype of the copepod Leptodiaptomus minutus in lake ecosystems in southern Greenland. The results showed that lakes with stickleback had the lowest average content of astaxanthin and mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), and these compounds were not affected by the presence of charr. Furthermore, there was a higher variance in astaxanthin among copepods in the presence of stickleback, and the content of astaxanthin was negatively correlated with increasing stickleback density.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biology
Luiz Jardim de Queiroz, Carmela J. Doenz, Florian Altermatt, Roman Alther, Spela Borko, Jakob Brodersen, Martin M. Gossner, Catherine Graham, Blake Matthews, Ian R. McFadden, Loic Pellissier, Thomas Schmitt, Oliver M. Selz, Soraya Villalba, Lukas Rueber, Niklaus E. Zimmermann, Ole Seehausen
Summary: Research has shown that Quaternary climate fluctuations can impact the assembly of regional biodiversity in the European Alps. Endemic fish species may have evolved through adaptive radiation, while endemic amphipods may have originated from ancient populations with limited range expansion and local Pleistocene survival. Terrestrial endemics mainly formed in the Pleistocene, influenced by the glacial species pump.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Joseph S. S. Phillips, Arni Einarsson, Kasha Strickland, Anthony R. R. Ives, Bjarni K. K. Kristjansson, Katja Rasanen
Summary: In this study, a stage-structured metapopulation model was used to analyze the threespine stickleback population in Lake MATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH ACUTEvatn, Iceland. The results showed that the two basins of the lake were connected through movement, with the North Basin subsidizing the South Basin and driving the lake-wide dynamics. The findings suggest that cyclic fluctuations in population can be explained by the synchronized demographic rates and spatial coupling.
AMERICAN NATURALIST
(2023)
Article
Developmental Biology
Martin A. Mecchia, Moritz Rovekamp, Alejandro Giraldo-Fonseca, Dario Meier, Philippe Gadient, Hannes Vogler, Daria Limacher, John L. Bowman, Ueli Grossniklaus
Summary: Plant cells are surrounded by a cell wall that is crucial for cell shape, communication, and interaction with the environment. The CrRLK1L gene family plays diverse roles in plant physiology and development, including cell expansion and integrity maintenance.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kasha Strickland, Katja Rasanen, Bjarni Kristofer Kristjansson, Joseph S. S. Phillips, Arni Einarsson, Ragna G. G. Snorradottir, Mireia Bartrons, Zophonias Oddur Jonsson
Summary: Adaptive genetic divergence occurs in the threespine stickleback in MATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH ACUTEvatn, where multiple traits show differentiation along ecological gradients, despite negligible genome wide divergence. SNP based heritability of all measured traits is high, indicating adaptive potential. Environment-association analyses identify thousands of loci putatively involved in selection, related to genes linked to neuron development and protein phosphorylation. Divergence in pelvic spine length occurs in the face of gene flow, concurrent with loci linked to water depth. Integrative studies combining genomic assays and landscape genomics are valuable in understanding adaptive divergence.
Article
Ecology
Francis J. Burdon, Marta Reyes, Urs Schoenenberger, Katja Raesaenen, Scott D. Tiegs, Rik I. L. Eggen, Christian Stamm
Summary: Global change assessments often overlook the impact of synthetic chemical pollution. This study conducted field assays in Swiss streams to investigate the effects of micropollutants and nutrients from wastewater treatment plants on microbial and detritivore communities. The results showed that wastewater impacts were asymmetric across trophic levels, with detritivores being more negatively affected. The study highlights the pervasive ecosystem-level impacts of chemical pollutants and the insufficiency of functional redundancies to compensate for biodiversity losses.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Elvira Lafuente, Louis Carles, Jean-Claude Walser, Marco Giulio, Simon Wullschleger, Christian Stamm, Katja Rasanen
Summary: This study tested the impact of treated wastewater on a keystone host (the freshwater isopod Asellus aquaticus) and its gut microbiome. The results showed that nonfiltered wastewater increased host growth and decreased host feeding rate, and also influenced the bacterial composition in the hindgut. On the other hand, ultrafiltered wastewater affected both community composition and bacterial diversity in the hindgut, with different effects on males and females.
EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Gregoire Saboret, Dominique Stalder, Blake Matthews, Jakob Brodersen, Carsten Johnny Schubert
Summary: Based on a study of seven perialpine lakes, it was found that the main source of organic carbon in lake food webs is from algae, rather than terrestrial plants. However, a significant portion of organic carbon in fish comes from bacteria. The sources of nitrogen vary among lakes, but the sources of organic carbon are relatively consistent and not strongly influenced by trophic status. This study provides new methods for estimating the source of organic carbon in lake ecosystems.
FRESHWATER BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Adne M. Nafstad, Bernt Ronning, Kenneth Aase, Thor Harald Ringsby, Ingerid J. Hagen, Peter S. Ranke, Thomas Kvalnes, Clare Stawski, Katja Raesaenen, Bernt-Erik Saether, Stefanie Muff, Henrik Jensen
Summary: The study explores the evolutionary potential of basal metabolic rate (BMR) in two populations of house sparrows. The results indicate that BMR is genetically correlated with body mass and has the potential to evolve independently of it. The spatial population structure also affects the evolutionary potential of BMR.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2023)
Correction
Ecology
Jelena Mausbach, Anssi Laurila, Katja Rasanen
BMC ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Mausbach Jelena, Laurila Anssi, Rasanen Katja
Summary: Moor frog populations show adaptive divergence in tadpole life-histories and morphology along an acidification gradient. The study found clear differences in corticosterone levels among populations, and corticosterone levels were associated with tadpole life-history and morphological traits.
BMC ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)