Article
Ecology
Dawei Wu, Zhenqi Wang, Wei Hu, Changhu Lu, Pan Chen
Summary: This study found that native birds in coastal China started avoiding smooth cordgrass habitats after it invaded. However, after many years, some passerine birds began using the smooth cordgrass, but only those with a nonspecialised habitat. The presence of a native reed-specific bird in the smooth cordgrass habitat suggests that native birds may be forced to adapt to exotic habitats, which could have unknown consequences.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biology
Sami Aymen Gahmous, Ghoulem Tiar, Manel Tiar-Saadi, Zihad Bouslama, Pavel Siroky
Summary: The Mediterranean stripe-necked turtle, Mauremys leprosa, is able to adapt and thrive in highly polluted habitats, showing better reproductive traits compared to undisturbed habitats. The females in the polluted habitat have larger body sizes and can carry more and larger eggs. In contrast, the reproductive performance in the undisturbed habitat is within normal range, with smaller female body sizes and smaller clutch size.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Likai Zhu, Yuanyuan Guo
Summary: Climate change is rapidly transforming winter environmental conditions, affecting ecological processes and biodiversity patterns of mammals and birds. Winter habitat indices provide unique and complementary information, improving the explanation of species richness for all mammal and bird groups.
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Amira M. M. Nowier, Sherif I. I. Ramadan, Ayman G. G. EL Nagar
Summary: This study genetically and environmentally characterized prolificacy and milk production traits in Egyptian Zaraibi goats. The fourth parity showed the highest values for litter size and weight at birth, litter size and weight at weaning, and monthly milk yield. Milk composition traits had an inverse tendency. The heritability estimates showed potential for genetic improvement through direct selection, particularly for milk yield.
ANIMAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jingjing Zhang, Jennifer L. Pannell, Bradley S. Case, Graham Hinchliffe, Margaret C. Stanley, Hannah L. Buckley
Summary: Enhancing functional connectivity in an agricultural landscape is crucial for sustainable agroecosystems. Our study compared the landscape connectivity between two native bird species with different dispersal abilities, highlighting the importance of ecological traits and habitat patches in shaping connectivity networks. Through network analysis, we found that conservation strategies should consider species' life-histories and movement traits for creating connected ecological networks in a functional agricultural landscape.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Carmen D. Soria, Michela Pacifici, Moreno Di Marco, Sarah M. Stephen, Carlo Rondinini
Summary: The use of species' traits in macroecological analyses has become increasingly popular in the past decade, with mammals being among the most studied taxa due to the availability of abundant trait information. The creation of COMBINE, a database containing 54 traits for over 6,000 mammal species, aims to maximize trait coverage while maintaining data quality, providing valuable resources for ecological and conservation analyses.
Article
Ecology
Shan Huang, Marlee A. Tucker, Anne G. Hertel, Alison Eyres, Joerg Albrecht
Summary: Our study shows that range sizes of terrestrial non-volant mammals at the individual and species level have contrasting relationships with diet and habitat breadth. While individual home range size is mainly shaped by diet niche breadth and body mass, species geographical range size is primarily related to habitat niche breadth. Individual home range size is influenced by energetic requirements, movement capacity and trophic specialisation, while species geographical range size is determined by the ability to persist under various environmental conditions.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Pallieter De Smedt, Johan Van Keer
Summary: Spiders are ideal candidates for biological invasions due to their mobility and ease of transportation through human activity. Mermessus trilobatus is one of Europe's most invasive spider species and one of the few that successfully invade natural ecosystems. The study found that its activity-density is related to soil pH and temperature, and its low habitat specificity could be crucial for population establishment, fast spread, and invasion success.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
A. Bouquet, V. Deru, B. Blanchet, P. Ganier, L. Flatres-Grall, B. Ligonesche, C. Carillier-Jacquin, E. Labussiere, H. Gilbert
Summary: This study found genetic relationships between digestive efficiency and sow reproductive traits, suggesting important implications for research and breeding purposes.
Review
Biology
Robert Poulin
Summary: Functional biogeography studies trait-based distributional patterns to complement our understanding of spatial patterns in biodiversity, particularly focusing on variations in species traits at different latitudes. While some rules predict that species in the tropics have smaller body sizes, narrower niches, and smaller geographic ranges, empirical evidence for latitudinal gradients in parasite traits is weak and inconsistent, with host-related ecological traits likely playing a primary role.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Raciel Cruz-Elizalde, Aurelio Ramirez-Bautista, Abraham Lozano, Ricardo Luria-Manzano, Xochitl Hernandez-Ibarra, Omar Ramos-Flores, Aaron Garcia-Rosales, Christian Berriozabal-Islas
Summary: This study explores the reproductive patterns and characteristics of a lizard community in the arid Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico. The results show variations in size and weight among different species. There are also differences in clutch/litter size and egg/embryo mass and volume, with the latter positively correlated with female size. Oviparous species tend to be larger in size, but other characteristics are similar to viviparous species. Additionally, some species have longer reproductive periods.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Pedro Henrique Medeiros Rajao, Matty P. Berg, Johannes H. C. Cornelissen, Andre Tavares Correa Dias
Summary: We revealed the direct and indirect effects of species leaf size and hydraulic traits on litter rainfall interception, runoff and soil loss. We propose a new litter-soil ecohydrological model, by using structural equation models, which can be used as a tool to predict ecosystem functioning, and guide management and restoration actions with water and soil conservation targets.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Leonardo Lopes Costa, Igor David da Costa, Ariane da Silva Oliveira, Ilana Rosental Zalmon
Summary: Sandy beaches are ideal models for comparative studies on MP ingestion because they are both sources and sinks of plastics, while accommodating multiple species with different traits. The concentration and richness of suspected microplastics (SMP) in beach macroinvertebrates and fishes vary according to urbanization, feeding modes, and habitat. Our results suggest that deposit-feeder macroinvertebrates from the supralittoral can be used as indicators of microplastic pollution in sandy beaches.
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Lucas A. Wauters, Maria Vittoria Mazzamuto, Francesca Santicchia, Adriano Martinoli, Damiano G. Preatoni, Peter W. W. Lurz, Sandro Bertolino, Claudia Romeo
Summary: The study found that there is a correlation between individual space use behavior and personality traits in the same species, which may be influenced by factors such as gender and food availability. Male and female individuals show different spatial utilization strategies, with bolder individuals tending to use larger territories to access more food or partners.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lasse Frost Eriksen, Thor Harald Ringsby, Hans Chr. Pedersen, Erlend B. Nilsen
Summary: The study on willow ptarmigan in central Norway shows that climatic variation and individual state variables can affect the number and timing of offspring. The optimal clutch size of willow ptarmigan is largely independent of individual states, while warmer springs are associated with increased number of offspring. Individual quality guides the trade-offs in reproductive effort. This study demonstrates how climate and individual heterogeneity influence life history traits in a keystone species.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Olivier Broennimann, Blaise Petitpierre, Mathieu Chevalier, Manuela Gonzalez-Suarez, Jonathan M. Jeschke, Jonathan Rolland, Sarah M. Gray, Sven Bacher, Antoine Guisan
Summary: The study introduces a new Niche Margin Index (NMI) to measure the climatic niche matching of alien mammal species, finding that a higher matching degree to the native climatic niche leads to easier establishment in invaded areas. NMI is a more powerful predictor of population establishment success compared to other factors such as life history attributes and historical factors.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Lara Reinbacher, Sven Bacher, Fionna Knecht, Christian Schweizer, Tanja Sostizzo, Giselher Grabenweger
Summary: This study integrated the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium into agricultural crop rotation before potato cultivation with the aim of improving its effectiveness in the field. Results showed increased spore concentration in treated plots, higher wireworm mortality in laboratory tests, but statistically significant reduction of potato damage was only achieved in a few field trials. This application strategy has potential for enhancing the fungus and provides new avenues for biological wireworm control.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Katharina Lapin, Sven Bacher, Thomas Cech, Rok Damjanic, Franz Essl, Freya-Isabel Georges, Gernot Hoch, Andreja Kavcic, Andras Koltay, Sasa Kostic, Ivan Lukic, Aleksander Marinsek, Laszlo Nagy, Sanja Novak Agbaba, Janine Oettel, Sasa Orlovic, Leopold Poljakovic-Pajnik, Markus Sallmannshofer, Martin Steinkellner, Srdjan Stojnic, Marjana Westergren, Milica Zlatkovic, Anita Zolles, Maarten de Groot
Summary: In this study, the Environmental Impact Classification of Alien Taxa (EICAT) was used to classify alien species from different taxonomic groups to prioritize management actions for riparian forests in a protected area in Southeast Europe. The study found that fungi had the highest impact on native species, and competition and parasitism were the most important impact mechanisms of alien species. This research highlights the importance of standardized impact protocols to identify and prioritize management of alien species in protected areas.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Ross T. Shackleton, Giovanni Vimercati, Anna F. Probert, Sven Bacher, Christian A. Kull, Ana Novoa
Summary: Approaches, values, and perceptions in invasion science can diverge among different people, leading to debates on values, management, impacts, and terminology. A survey of 698 scientists and practitioners globally found that while there was generally high consensus, there were also polarized views on certain topics. These polarized views were particularly evident between different invasive taxa, disciplines, academics and practitioners, and world regions. Better integration between different groups could help build broader understanding and consensus.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Bertrand Fournier, Magdalena Steiner, Xavier Brochet, Florine Degrune, Jibril Mammeri, Diogo Leite Carvalho, Sara Leal Siliceo, Sven Bacher, Andres Pena-Reyes, Thierry J. Heger
Summary: This study proposes the use of soil protists as bioindicators for managing agricultural soil quality. By combining metabarcoding data and machine learning algorithms, potential stressors of soil protist community composition and diversity can be identified. The results show that soil protists exhibit strong responses to soil copper concentration, moisture, pH, and basal respiration.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Laura Forgione, Sven Bacher, Giovanni Vimercati
Summary: This study compared the impact magnitudes of bark beetle species from their native, neonative, and alien ranges and found that bark beetles caused the most harmful impacts in their native ranges, followed by the neonative ranges, while impacts in their alien ranges were the lowest. The results suggest that the more dissimilar the environment is from that in the native range, the lower the probability of high-impact magnitudes.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Giovanni Vimercati, Anna F. Probert, Lara Volery, Ruben Bernardo-Madrid, Sandro Bertolino, Vanessa Cespedes, Franz Essl, Thomas Evans, Belinda Gallardo, Laure Gallien, Pablo Gonzalez-Moreno, Marie Charlotte Grange, Cang Hui, Jonathan M. Jeschke, Stelios Katsanevakis, Ingolf Kuehn, Sabrina Kumschick, Jan Pergl, Petr Pysek, Loren Rieseberg, Tamara B. Robinson, Wolf-Christian Saul, Cascade J. B. Sorte, Montserrat Vila, John R. U. Wilson, Sven Bacher
Summary: This article introduces the IUCN Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) and proposes EICAT+ system to assess both negative and positive impacts of alien species on native biodiversity. EICAT+ fills the gap in classifying positive impacts and provides information for understanding the consequences of biological invasions and conservation decisions.
Review
Ecology
Brice Giffard, Silvia Winter, Silvia Guidoni, Annegret Nicolai, Maurizio Castaldini, Daniel Cluzeau, Patrice Coll, Jerome Cortet, Edith Le Cadre, Giada d'Errico, Astrid Forneck, Elena Gagnarli, Michaela Griesser, Muriel Guernion, Alessandra Lagomarsino, Silvia Landi, Yves Le Bissonnais, Elena Mania, Stefano Mocali, Cristina Preda, Simone Priori, Annette Reineke, Adrien Rusch, Hans-Josef Schroers, Sauro Simoni, Magdalena Steiner, Elena Temneanu, Sven Bacher, Edoardo A. C. Costantini, Johann Zaller, Ilona Leyer
Summary: Healthy soils are crucial for sustainable viticulture, affecting the quantity and quality of wine. Soil provides water and nutrients to vines and is also a habitat for micro- and macroorganisms that perform various ecological functions and provide ecosystem services. However, common agricultural practices pose threats to soil biodiversity and the associated ecosystem services provided by vineyards.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Michaela Griesser, Magdalena Steiner, Martin Pingel, Deniz Uzman, Cristina Preda, Brice Giffard, Pauline Tolle, Daniyar Memedemin, Astrid Forneck, Annette Reineke, Ilona Leyer, Sven Bacher
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the effects of different inter-row vegetation management strategies on vine growth and grape quality. The results showed that vegetation management significantly influenced leaf chlorophyll content, shoot pruning weight, and yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN) in grape juice. Grapes from inter-rows with bare ground had higher YAN values compared to inter-rows with permanent vegetation cover, while other grape quality parameters were inconsistently affected across countries and soil conditions.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Anna F. Probert, Daniel Wegmann, Lara Volery, Tim Adriaens, Rigers Bakiu, Sandro Bertolino, Franz Essl, Eugenio Gervasini, Quentin Groom, Guillaume Latombe, Dragana Marisavljevic, John Mumford, Jan Pergl, Cristina Preda, Helen E. Roy, Riccardo Scalera, Heliana Teixeira, Elena Tricarico, Sonia Vanderhoeven, Sven Bacher
Summary: Community science (or citizen science) provides an opportunity to address research questions beyond traditional methods while engaging communities. This study focuses on community science projects related to alien species, identifying key research questions and uncertainties that arise during study design, data collection, statistical analysis, and communication stages. The study suggests methods to reduce uncertainties and offers guidance for project implementation.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Ruben Bernardo-Madrid, Pablo Gonzalez-Moreno, Belinda Gallardo, Sven Bacher, Montserrat Vila
Summary: This study quantified and compared the consistency of protocol question scores in impact assessments of 60 terrestrial, freshwater and marine organisms, revealing that the majority of assessments showed high consistency, with some showing low consistency. Consistency was related to impact types and protocols used, suggesting room for improvement in repeatability.
Article
Entomology
Lara Reinbacher, Eva Praprotnik, Jaka Razinger, Sven Bacher, Giselher Grabenweger
Summary: The study found that plant diet affects the growth and development of wireworm larvae, but has little impact on their susceptibility to fungal infection. The choice of cover crop also affects the damage caused by wireworms on cash crops.
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Magdalena Steiner, Martin Pingel, Laurent Falquet, Brice Giffard, Michaela Griesser, Ilona Leyer, Cristina Preda, Deniz Uzman, Sven Bacher, Annette Reineke
Summary: Soil tillage or herbicide applications in agriculture can disturb soil microbial communities and their functions. However, their responses to disturbance have rarely been studied at large geographical scales. We investigated the diversity, composition, and functions of soil microbial communities in vineyards across five European countries under different levels of soil disturbance. Our results showed that soil disturbance had inconsistent effects on microbial alpha-diversity, but it significantly influenced microbial community composition at the European level. Soil disturbance also impaired microbial respiration consistently, but the effects on organic substrate decomposition varied among countries. This suggests that microbial communities and environmental conditions vary greatly over larger geographical scales, making it difficult to generalize results from one locality to others.
Article
Ecology
Lara Volery, Margarida Vaz Fernandez, Daniel Wegmann, Sven Bacher
Summary: Biodiversity is declining rapidly due to human activities, and accurately quantifying and comparing their impacts is crucial. A new framework is presented that introduces fundamental principles of ecological impact quantification, including the quantification of interactions between multiple drivers. The framework addresses key questions in global change science and provides a method to compare impacts and management actions over time.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Anna F. Probert, Giovanni Vimercati, Sabrina Kumschick, Lara Volery, Sven Bacher
Summary: This article highlights the importance of the Socio-Economic Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (SEICAT) framework and provides clarification and guidance for its application to promote standardized and consistent assessments. The authors also recommend adopting alternative terminology to reduce potential misuse of the current descriptors.