The Community Ecology of Herbivore Regulation in an Agroecosystem: Lessons from Complex Systems

AbstractWhether an ecological community is controlled from above or below remains a popular framework that continues generating interesting research questions and takes on especially important meaning in agroecosystems. We describe the regulation from above of three coffee herbivores, a leaf herbivore (the green coffee scale, Coccus viridis), a seed predator (the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei), and a plant pathogen (the coffee rust disease, caused by Hemelia vastatrix) by various natural enemies, emphasizing the remarkable complexity involved. We emphasize the intersection of this classical question of ecology with the burgeoning field of complex systems, including references to chaos, critical transitions, hysteresis, basin or boundary collision, and spatial self-organization, all aimed at the applied question of pest control in the coffee agroecosystem

Combining X-ray CT and 3D printing technology to produce microcosms with replicable, complex pore geometries

Measurements in soils have been traditionally used to demonstrate that soil architecture is one of the key drivers of soil processes. Major advances in the use of X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) afford significant insight into the pore geometry of soils, but until recently no experimental techniques were available to reproduce this complexity in microcosms. This article describes a 3D additive manufacturing technology that can print physical structures with pore geometries reflecting those of soils. The process enables printing of replicated structures, and the printing materials are suitable to study fungal growth. This technology is argued to open up a wealth of opportunities for soil biological studies

Dual Induction of New Microbial Secondary Metabolites by Fungal Bacterial Co-cultivation

We thank the College of Physical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, for provision of infrastructure and facilities in the Marine Biodiscovery Centre. We acknowledge the receipt of funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration under Grant Agreement No. 312184 (PharmaSea). MR thanks School of Science and Sport, University of the West of Scotland for providing the open-access fees required for the publication.Peer reviewedPublisher PD