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The properties of iron (Fe) complexes and compounds in the environment influence several central processes, e.g., iron uptake, adsorption/desorption of contaminants and nutrients, and redox transformations, as well as the fate of of natural organic matter (NOM). It is thus important to characterize Fe species in environmental samples. Synchrotron-based extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXA
There is growing interest in the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) for ecological restoration. Numerous commercial AMF products are now available and are often used in preference to collecting indigenous AMF in treating restoration plants. Commercial AMF products are typically based on AMF strains exotic to the plant species and locations where they are used. We treated rooted cuttings of
Pollination contributes to an estimated one third of global food production, through both the improvement of the yield and the quality of crops. Volatile compounds emitted by crop flowers mediate plant-pollinator interactions, but differences between crop varieties are still little explored. We investigated whether the visitation of crop flowers is determined by variety-specific flower volatiles u
This paper investigates the interactive relationships among China energy price shocks, stock market, and themacroeconomy using multivariate vector autoregression.The results indicate that there is a long cointegration among them. A 1% rise in the energy price index can depress the stock market index by 0.54% and the industrial value-adding growth by 0.037%. Energy price shocks also cause inflation
This study investigates the role of below-cloud evaporation and evapotranspiration for the short-term variability of stable isotopes in near-surface water vapor and precipitation associated with central European cold fronts. To this end, a combination of observations with high temporal resolution and numerical sensitivity experiments with the isotope-enabled regional weather prediction model COSMO
The widespread use of artificial nestboxes has led to significant advances in our knowledge of the ecology, behaviour and physiology of cavity nesting birds, especially small passerines Nestboxes have made it easier to perform routine monitoring and experimental manipulation of eggs or nestlings, and also repeatedly to capture, identify and manipulate the parents However, when comparing results ac
The critical levels for ozone effects on vegetation have been reviewed and revised by the LRTAP Convention. Eight new or revised critical levels based on the accumulated stomatal flux of ozone (POD gamma, the Phytotoxic Ozone Dose above a threshold flux of Y nmol m(-2) PLA s(-1), where PLA is the projected leaf area) have been agreed. For each receptor, data were combined from experiments conducte
Increases in the size of agricultural fields, the loss of permanent green field edges and other semi-natural habitats have accompanied the intensification of agriculture, and are still ongoing. From a farm economic perspective, an increase in field size increases efficiency mainly due to cost savings. However, recent evidence suggests that increases in field size might lead to the loss of ecosyste
Accurately quantifying soil base cation pool sizes is essential to interpreting the sustainability of forest harvests from element mass-balance studies. The soil-exchangeable pool is classically viewed as the bank of "available" base cations in the soil, withdrawn upon by plant uptake and leaching and refilled by litter decomposition, atmospheric deposition and mineral weathering. The operational
Land-use change is a major driver of biodiversity loss worldwide. Although biodiversity often shows a delayed response to land-use change, previous studies have typically focused on a narrow range of current landscape factors and have largely ignored the role of land-use history in shaping plant and animal communities and their functional characteristics. Here, we used a unique database of 220,000
The alarming loss of pollinator diversity world-wide can reduce the productivity of pollinator-dependent crops, which could have economic impacts. However, it is unclear to what extent the loss of a key native pollinator species affects crop production and farmer's profits. By experimentally manipulating the presence of colonies of a native bumblebee species Bombus pauloensis in eight apple orchar
The mutualistic symbiosis between forest trees and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) is among the most ubiquitous and successful interactions in terrestrial ecosystems. Specific species of EMF are known to colonize specific tree species, benefitting from their carbon source, and in turn, improving their access to soil water and nutrients. EMF also form extensive mycelial networks that can link multiple
Increasing landscape heterogeneity by restoring semi-natural elements to reverse farmland biodiversity declines is not always economically feasible or acceptable to farmers due to competition for land. We hypothesized that increasing the heterogeneity of the crop mosaic itself, hereafter referred to as crop heterogeneity, can have beneficial effects on within-field plant diversity. Using a unique
The ecological impact of artificial light at night (ALAN) on phenological events such as reproductive timing is increasingly recognized. In birds, previous experiments under controlled conditions showed that ALAN strongly advances gonadal growth, but effects on egg-laying date are less clear. In particular, effects of ALAN on timing of egg laying are found to be year-dependent, suggesting an inter
Deoxygenation affects many continental shelf seas across the world today and results in increasing areas of hypoxia (dissolved oxygen concentration ([O2]) <1.4 ml/L). The Baltic Sea is increasingly affected by deoxygenation. Deoxygenation correlates with other environmental variables such as changing water temperature and salinity and is directly linked to ongoing global climate change. To place t
Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are nonmaterial benefits that people obtain from ecosystems. The CES subcategories cover a wide range of domains (e.g. recreation, conservation of cultural heritage, human-nature relations). The CES concept has been proposed to acknowledge the nonmaterial values linking people and nature in social-ecological systems. Agricultural landscapes are outstanding example
Using a mixed input–output model, this study examines potential changes in sector output and water requirements in Macedonia arising from climate change. By defining three climate change scenarios and exogenously specifying the warming shocks for five key agricultural sub-sectors, the effects on the economy were quantified. The results indicated that except for cereals and grapes, agricultural pro
