Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Klaus Birkhofer, El Aziz Djoudi, Benjamin Schnerch, Radek Michalko
Summary: This meta-analysis examines the impact of global change on the relative importance of different prey groups in spider diets. It finds that climatic conditions, land-use types, and functional traits of spider species all play a role in determining the importance of Hemiptera, Araneae, and Collembola prey. Future increases in temperature seasonality and conversion of non-agricultural to agricultural land are predicted to increase the importance of Collembola prey in spider diets.
Article
Environmental Sciences
L. E. Paz, M. Rodriguez, B. Gullo, A. Rodrigues Capitulo
Summary: This study investigated the responses of macroinvertebrate biological traits to urban and industrial pollution and found that urban and industrial sites had significantly lower functional richness and Rao index than other sites, indicating reduced functional diversity in response to extreme pollution.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Gonzalo Sotomayor, Henrietta Hampel, Raill F. Vazquez, Marie Anne Eurie Forio, Peter L. M. Goethals
Summary: This study investigated the functional diversity of macroinvertebrate families for river water quality assessment in the Paute River Basin, Ecuador. The best performing functional density index based on physical, chemical, microbiological and hydro-geomorphological variables was identified. The Random Forest algorithm and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to determine the best predictors, resulting in the identification of 12 variables. This approach successfully assessed the stream water quality and can be applied to other tropical basins.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yu Ma, Zongling Yu, Shiqi Jia, Naicheng Wu, Kun Yin, Yeyao Wang, John P. Giesy, Xiaowei Jin
Summary: Biodiversity loss caused by human activities poses a threat to human well-being, but the combined effects of multiple stressors on community diversity, both alpha and beta, are not well understood. A long-term experiment on the Songhua River in China from 2012 to 2019 revealed a decline in alpha and beta diversity indices, particularly in impacted river sections. Despite improved water quality, human-caused stressors have led to biotic homogenization of macroinvertebrate communities, with land use being a significant factor. Different facets of diversity have distinct response mechanisms to stressors, providing complementary information in assessing ecological changes. This study highlights the importance of long-term monitoring and the need for timely control of nutrient input and land use expansion to protect river ecosystems.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Bea Maas, Manuela Brandl, Raja Imran Hussain, Thomas Frank, Klaus Peter Zulka, Dominik Rabl, Ronnie Walcher, Dietmar Moser
Summary: The study found that newly established grassland strips supported larger sized and actively foraging/hunting species in the agricultural landscape. Adjacent crops likely benefit from such measures through enhanced functional diversity and related ecosystem services.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Shorok B. Mombrikotb, Maaike Van Agtmaal, Emma Johnstone, Michael J. Crawley, Hyun S. Gweon, Robert I. Griffiths, Thomas Bell
Summary: This study reveals the impacts of agricultural practices on soil microbial communities and the interactions between different factors through long-term, large-scale field experiments. The results show that soil pH is the most influential factor to underground communities and it also mediates the impacts of other management factors. In addition, there is a significant interaction between liming and pesticide application, and nutrient amendments alter bacterial community structure in acidic soils. The research also suggests that chemical amendments may not penetrate deeply into physically unperturbed soils with effects concentrated between 0 and 30 cm.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tamsyn B. W. Kiss, Xiaohui Chen, Jessica Ponting, Tom Sizmur, Mark E. Hodson
Summary: The study found that earthworm abundance in crop soils was significantly lower in frequently flooded areas compared to rarely flooded areas. In margin soils, earthworm abundance was significantly greater in frequently flooded areas. This suggests that arable earthworm populations are more susceptible to flooding compared to populations in pasture fields.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Food Science & Technology
A. Lourme-Ruiz, S. Dury, Y. Martin-Prevel
Summary: The study assessed the relationships between women's dietary diversity and agricultural biodiversity in a cotton-growing region in rural western Burkina Faso. Results showed that women's dietary diversity is influenced by the production of nutritionally diverse crops and agroforestry trees on farms. The study found a positive association between women's dietary diversity score and production diversity score as well as the number of agroforestry tree species.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yang Liu, Min Zhang, Wenqi Peng, Xiaodong Qu, Yuhang Zhang, Longfei Du, Naicheng Wu
Summary: This study compared the seasonal variations of different types of diversity between Chishui River and Heishui River, revealing that phylogenetic diversity (PD) and functional diversity (FD) are more sensitive than species diversity (SD) in indicating the effects of disturbances on biodiversity. Structural equation models showed that PD and FD had more significant effects on secondary productivity and P/B ratios than SD, suggesting that PD and FD may be better indicators of macroinvertebrate community stability in these natural river ecosystems.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Javiera Diaz-Forestier, Sebastian Abades, Nelida Pohl, Olga Barbosa, Karina Godoy, Gabriella L. Svensson, Maria Undurraga, Camila Bravo, Camila Garcia, Meredith Root-Bernstein, Juan J. Armesto, Juan L. Celis-Diez
Summary: The Mediterranean central Chile boasts high terrestrial biodiversity but has also experienced significant habitat loss. Despite this, natural areas within the rural landscape still exist, especially on less productive slopes and vegetation strips. A study on vineyards in central Chile found that vegetation corridors within agricultural areas play a crucial role in supporting biodiversity conservation and enhancing habitat quality.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yunfeng Yang
Summary: Functional traits are measurable characteristics that affect an organism's fitness under certain environmental conditions. They offer great potential for improving our ability to develop biogeochemical models and predict ecosystem responses to global changes in microbial ecology. These traits can be decoupled from taxonomic relatedness and are influenced by environmental changes, highlighting the need for further research and understanding in utilizing functional traits in microbial ecology.
TRENDS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Nicola Tommasi, Emiliano Pioltelli, Paolo Biella, Massimo Labra, Maurizio Casiraghi, Andrea Galimberti
Summary: This study examines the impact of urbanization on the functional traits of workers in two bumblebee species. The research found that urban temperatures were associated with smaller wing sizes in one species and with more pronounced fluctuating asymmetry of wing size in the other species. Flower abundance correlated with larger wings in one species and with less asymmetric wing size in the other species.
Article
Humanities, Multidisciplinary
Melissa Anne Beryl Vogt
Summary: This article discusses how the concept of Ecological Sensitivity within Human Realities (ESHR) can improve consistent and more thorough increases in functional biodiversity outcomes from human natural environment interactions. By comparing existing concepts, it highlights the innovation and integrated advantages of ESHR, emphasizing the impact of human conditions and societal group variations on functional biodiversity.
HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anne-Christine Monnet, Kevin Cilleros, Frederic Medail, Marwan Cheikh Albassatneh, Juan Arroyo, Gianluigi Bacchetta, Francesca Bagnoli, Zoltan Barina, Manuel Cartereau, Nicolas Casajus, Panayotis Dimopoulos, Gianniantonio Domina, Aggeliki Doxa, Marcial Escudero, Bruno Fady, Arndt Hampe, Vlado Matevski, Stephen Misfud, Toni Nikolic, Daniel Pavon, Anne Roig, Estefania Santos Barea, Ilaria Spanu, Arne Strid, Giovanni Giuseppe Vendramin, Agathe Leriche
Summary: Trees are crucial in ecosystems worldwide, but the biodiversity of Mediterranean trees is not well understood. The WOODIV database provides reliable data on occurrences, functional traits, and genetic information for 210 Euro-Mediterranean tree species, benefiting research in conservation, biogeography, and community ecology.
Article
Plant Sciences
Jiyou Zhu, Jingliang Xu, Yujuan Cao, Jing Fu, Benling Li, Guangpeng Sun, Xinna Zhang, Chengyang Xu
Summary: The study found significant effects of urban environments on plant leaf dust deposition, reflectance, and functional traits. The developed prediction model showed high accuracy in evaluating changes in urban dust deposition, indicating the effectiveness of leaf reflectance spectroscopy and functional traits in this assessment.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
A. Liess, O. Rowe, S. N. Francoeur, J. Guo, K. Lange, A. Schroeder, B. Reichstein, R. Lefebure, A. Deininger, P. Mathisen, C. L. Faithfull
Article
Ecology
Katharina Lange, Colin Richard Townsend, Christoph David Matthaei
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2016)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Heidi Hofmann, Isabel Blasco-Costa, Rune Knudsen, Christoph D. Matthaei, Amanda Valois, Katharina Lange
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2016)
Article
Environmental Sciences
A. Deininger, C. L. Faithfull, K. Lange, T. Bayer, F. Vidussi, A. Liess
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2016)
Article
Ecology
Cynthia Winkworth-Lawrence, Katharina Lange
Review
Ecology
Katharina Lange, Philipp Meier, Clemens Trautwein, Martin Schmid, Christopher T. Robinson, Christine Weber, Jakob Brodersen
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2018)
Article
Fisheries
Katharina Lange, Andreas Bruder, Christoph D. Matthaei, Jakob Brodersen, Rachel A. Paterson
FISH AND FISHERIES
(2018)
Article
Ecology
Katharina Lange, Colin R. Townsend, Rasmus Gabrielsson, Pierre C. M. Chanut, Christoph D. Matthaei
FRESHWATER BIOLOGY
(2014)
Article
Ecology
Annika Wagenhoff, Katharina Lange, Colin R. Townsend, Christoph D. Matthaei
FRESHWATER BIOLOGY
(2013)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Francis S. Magbanua, Colin R. Townsend, Kimberly J. Hageman, Katharina Lange, Gavin Lear, Gillian D. Lewis, Christoph D. Matthaei
Letter
Ecology
Katharina Lange, Bernhard Wehrli, Ulrika Aberg, Nico Baetz, Jakob Brodersen, Manuel Fischer, Virgilio Hermoso, Cathy Reidy Liermann, Martin Schmid, Lisa Wilmsmeier, Christine Weber
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2019)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Katharina Lange, Colin R. Townsend, Christoph D. Matthaei
Review
Parasitology
Cristina Llopis-Belenguer, Juan Antonio Balbuena, Katharina Lange, Francesco de Bello, Isabel Blasco-Costa
TRENDS IN PARASITOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Ecology
Fabiana Schneck, Katharina Lange, Adriano S. Melo, Colin R. Townsend, Christoph D. Matthaei