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Soil warming (0–5.5 °C above controls) effects on ectomycorrhizal growth, carbon sequestration and community composition were examined in a Picea sitchensis forest spanning a geothermal gradient in Iceland. Fungal communities were assayed with sand-filled ingrowth meshbags incubated in the soil for 5 months. Meshbags amended with compost made from maize leaves (a C4 plant enriched in 13C) were inc
Proteins are a substantial nitrogen source in soils provided that they can be hydrolyzed into bioavailable small peptides or amino acids. However, the strong associations between proteins and soil minerals restrict such proteolytic reactions. This study focused on how an extracellular fungal protease (Rhizopus sp.) hydrolyzed iron oxide-associated bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the factors that af
Organic farming can benefit plants and butterflies in terms of species richness and abundance, in particular in homogeneous landscapes. Nevertheless, whether organic farming can benefit functional diversity of these two organism groups is not well understood. Organic farming could benefit functional diversity by counteracting simplification and homogenisation of biotic communities caused by earlie
There is evidence that anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition enhances carbon (C) sequestration in boreal forest soils. However, it is unclear how free-living saprotrophs (bacteria and fungi, SAP) and ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi responses to N addition impact soil C dynamics. Our aim was to investigate how SAP and EM communities are impacted by N enrichment and to estimate whether these changes infl
Nitrogen availability often restricts primary productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are ubiquitous symbionts of terrestrial plants and can improve plant nitrogen acquisition, but have a limited ability to access organic nitrogen. Although other soil biota mineralize organic nitrogen into bioavailable forms, they may simultaneously compete for nitrogen, with unknown c
The structure and function of microbial communities vary along environmental gradients; however, interlinking the two has been challenging. In this study, salinity was used as an environmental filter to study how it could shape trait distributions, community structures, and the resulting functions of soil microbes. The environmental filter was applied by salinizing nonsaline soil (0 to 22 mg NaCl
Over 840 M ha of arable land is affected by salinization, and the area is predicted to increase due to global change. Assessments of the status of the microbial community in saline soils have frequently been based on microbial biomass estimates, which might not accurately reflect microbial process rates in soil. Moreover, assessments of how the relative importance of major decomposer groups bacter
Predatory arthropods contribute to biological control, but to become an integral part of agricultural management, it is essential to identify drivers of their spatio-temporal distribution at the landscape scale. This study focuses on how agricultural land use affects the community composition, emergence and dispersal tendency of predatory arthropods. The arthropods were collected in emergence trap
Air-starved combustion of biomass and fossil fuels releases aerosols, including airborne carbonaceous particles, causing negative climatic and health effects. Radiocarbon analysis of the elemental carbon (EC) fraction can help apportion sources of its emission, which is greatly constrained by the challenges in isolation of EC from organic compounds in atmospheric aerosols. The isolation of EC usin
The need for sustainable agricultural systems, which for example enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) content, has increased the interest for management with reduced tillage. In this study we used a Swedish long-term (20 yrs.) systems experiment, including reduced tillage (harrowing 10 cm) and plowing (moldboard plow 0–20 cm) combined with three levels of nitrogen (N) fertilization. With this setup w
Background and aims: Decomposition and transformation of organic matter (OM) in forest soils are conducted by the concomitant action of saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungi. Here, we examine chemical changes in OM after fungal colonization in nitrogen fertilized and unfertilized soils from a Norway spruce forest. Methods: Sand-filled bags amended with composted maize leaves were placed in the forest
INTRODUCTION: Secondary functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (SFHA) is common among female athletes, especially in weight-sensitive sports. The aim of this study was to investigate the link between SFHA and neuromuscular performance in elite endurance athletes. METHODS: Sixteen eumenorrheic (EUM) and 14 SFHA athletes from national teams and competitive clubs participated. Methods included gynecologi
Simultaneously enhancing ecosystem services provided by biodiversity below and above ground is recommended to reduce dependence on chemical pesticides and mineral fertilisers in agriculture. However, consequences for crop yield have been poorly evaluated. Above ground, increased landscape complexity is assumed to enhance biological pest control, whereas below ground, soil organic carbon is a proxy
Soil organic matter (SOM) constitutes the largest terrestrial C pool. An emerging, untested, view is that oxidation and depolymerization of SOM by microorganisms promote the formation of SOM-mineral associations that is critical for SOM stabilization. To test this hypothesis, we performed laboratory-scale experiments involving one ectomycorrhizal and one saprotrophic fungus that represent the two
Boreal trees rely on their ectomycorrhizal fungal symbionts to acquire growth-limiting nutrients, such as nitrogen (N), which mainly occurs as proteins complexed in soil organic matter (SOM). The mechanisms for liberating this N are unclear as ectomycorrhizal fungi have lost many genes encoding lignocellulose-degrading enzymes present in their saprotrophic ancestors. We hypothesized that hydroxyl
Land-use changes, pollution and climate warming during the 20th century havecaused changes in biodiversity across the world. However, in many cases, the environmental drivers are poorly understood. To identify and rank the drivers currentlycausing broad-scale floristic changes in N Europe, we analysed data from two vascularplant surveys of 200 randomly selected 2.5 9 2.5 km grid-squares in Scania,
Improving our understanding of the relationships between biodiversity and the delivery of ecosystem services is crucial for the development of sustainable agriculture. We introduce a novel framework that is based on the identification of indicator species for single or multiple ecosystem services across taxonomic groups based on indicator species analyses. We utilize multi-species community data (
Salinization is recognized as a threat to soil fertility worldwide. A challenge in understanding the effects of salinity on soil microbial communities is the fact that it can be difficult to disentangle the effects of salinity from those of other variables that may co-vary with salinity. Here we use a trait-based approach to identify direct effects of salinity on soil bacterial communities across
Incorporating both ecosystem services and disservices into land-use decisions is essential for meeting conservation and livelihood goals. We discuss the merits and challenges of this concept, termed net effects, for birds in agroecosystems. Although birds have widely documented impacts on agriculture (e.g., pest control, crop damage), the net effects of such activities are rarely quantified. This
Through geological time, cyanobacterial picoplankton have impacted the global carbon cycle by sequestrating CO 2 and forming authigenic carbonate minerals. Various studies have emphasized the cyanobacterial cell envelopes as nu
