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Population fluctuations and synchrony influence population persistence; species with larger fluctuations and more synchronised population fluctuations face higher extinction risks. Here, we analyse the effect of diet specialisation, mobility, length of the flight period, and distance to the northern edge of the species' distribution in relation to between-year population fluctuations and synchrony
Our aim was to examine the effect of water stress on plant growth and development of two native plant species (Tetraclinis articulata and Crithmum maritimum) and on microbial community composition and activity in the rhizosphere soil, following the addition of an organic amendment, namely sugar beet residue (SBR), and/or the inoculation with an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, namely Glomus mos
The main aim of this paper is to study land-atmosphere exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2) for semi-arid savanna ecosystems of the Sahel region and its response to climatic and environmental change. A subsidiary aim is to study and quantify the seasonal dynamics in light use efficiency (epsilon) being a key variable in scaling carbon fluxes from ground observations using earth observation data. The n
We explored impacts of climate change on the geographic distribution of European beech by applying state of the art statistical and process-based models, and assessed possible climate change impacts on both adaptive capacity in the centre of its distribution and adaptive responses of functional traits at the leading and trailing edge of the current distribution. The species area models agree that
Relative to vascular plants, little is known about what factors control bryophyte communities or how they respond to successional and environmental changes. Bryophytes are abundant in boreal forests, thus changes in moss community composition and functional traits (for example, moisture and nutrient content; rates of photosynthesis and respiration) may have important consequences for ecosystem pro
Global patterns in soil, plant, and fungal stable isotopes of N (delta N-15) show promise as integrated metrics of N cycling, particularly the activity of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi. At small spatial scales, however, it remains difficult to differentiate the underlying causes of plant delta N-15 variability and this limits the application of such measurements to better understand N cycling. We co
Changes in sulphur and nitrogen pollution in Swedish forests have been assessed in relation to European emission reductions, based on measurements in the Swedish Throughfall Monitoring Network. Measurements were analysed over 20 years with a focus on the 12-year period 1996 to 2008. Air concentrations of SO2 and NO2, have decreased. The SO4-deposition has decreased in parallel with the European em
The aim of this research is evaluation of land suitability for urban land-use planning. Four factors and fourteen criteria were selected for suitability analysis and land-use planning. Factors and criteria were defined based on literature survey, experts' opinions, local contexts and availability of data. GIS-based Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used as a Multi-criteria Decision Making mod
Cyanobacteria-plant symbioses play an important role in many ecosystems due to the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen (N) by the cyanobacterial symbiont. The ubiquitous feather moss Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt. is colonized by cyanobacteria in boreal systems with low N deposition. Here, cyanobacteria fix substantial amounts of N-2 and represent a potential N source. The feather moss appears to
Background: Laboratory evolution is an important tool for developing robust yeast strains for bioethanol production since the biological basis behind combined tolerance requires complex alterations whose proper regulation is difficult to achieve by rational metabolic engineering. Previously, we reported on the evolved industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain ISO12 that had acquired improved tole
Co-selection for antibiotic tolerance in Cu polluted soils was studied in a laboratory experiment. Pollution Induced Community Tolerance (PICT) of the bacterial community was estimated using leucine incorporation. PICT was found in Cu polluted soils to tetracycline (>= 8 mmol Cu kg(-1)), tylosin (>= 16 mmol Cu kg(-1)) and vancomycin (>= 16 mmol Cu kg(-1)). PICT to the antibiotics was found at high
Increasing nitrogen(N) deposition due to anthropogenic activities has become a significant global change threat to N-poor terrestrial ecosystems. We compared bacterial growth and nutrients limiting bacterial growth in one of the longest running experiments on increasing N-deposition to a temperate forest, the Chronic Nitrogen Amendment Study at Harvard Forest, USA. Soil samples were collected in f
Net primary production (NPP) is the difference in gross photosynthetic assimilation of carbon and carbon loss due to autotrophic respiration, and is an important ecosystem variable that facilitates understanding of climate change impacts on terrestrial ecosystem productivity and ecosystem services. The aim of this study is to rapidly estimate the NPP of European potential natural vegetation for cu
Under chronically elevated N deposition, N retention mainly occur at high soil C-to-N ratio. This may be mediated through soil microbes, such as ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi, saprotrophic fungi and bacteria, and the aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between soil microbes and forest floor C-to-N ratios. Soil samples from 33 Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst) forests in Denmark
Ecosystem productivity is influenced by the start and end of the growing season, and ecosystem models that simulate productivity need reliable representations of the phenology. For the seasonal development, autumn events are less understood than spring events, with comparatively fewer modelling attempts have been made for leaf senescence than for budburst. The few existing models for autumn phenol
The influence of soil pH on the phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) composition of the microbial community was investigated along the Hoosfield acid strip, Rothamsted Research, UK - a uniform pH gradient between pH 8.3 and 4.5. The influence of soil pH on the total concentration of PLFAs was not significant, while biomass estimated using substrate induced respiration decreased by about 25%. However, th
Recent studies have shown that the complexities of the surface features in mountainous terrain require a re-assessment of climate impacts at the local level. We explored the importance of surface-air-temperature based on a recently published 50-m-gridded dataset, versus soil variables for explaining vegetation distribution in Swedish Lapland using generalised linear models (GLMs). The results demo
The effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization (0-150 kg N ha(-1) year(-1) since 1865) and pH (3.3-7.4) on fungal and bacterial growth, biomass and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) composition were investigated in grassland soils from the 'Park Grass Experiment', Rothamsted Research, UK. Bacterial growth decreased and fungal growth increased with lower pH, resulting in a 50-fold increase in the relative
Receding glaciers are among the most obvious changes caused by global warming, and glacial meltwater entering lakes generally forms plumes of particles. By taking vertical samples along a horizontal gradient from such a particle source, we found that photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and ultraviolet radiation (UVR) attenuated 20-25% faster close to the inflow of suspended particles compare
Foliose lichens with cyanobacterial bionts (bipartite and tripartite) form a distinct assemblage of epiphytes strongly associated with humid microclimatic conditions in inland British Columbia. Previous research showed that these cyano- and cephalolichen communities are disproportionately abundant and species-rich on conifer saplings beneath Populus compared to beneath other tree species. More rev
