212 research outputs found
Specialist nectar-yeasts decline with urbanization in Berlin
Nectar yeasts are common inhabitants of insect-pollinated flowers but factors
determining their distribution are not well understood. We studied the
influence of host identity, environmental factors related to
pollution/urbanization, and the distance to a target beehive on local
distribution of nectar yeasts within Robinia pseudoacacia L. and Tilia
tomentosa Moench in Berlin, Germany. Nectar samples of six individuals per
species were collected at seven sites in a 2âkm radius from each target
beehive and plated on YM-Agar to visualise the different morphotypes, which
were then identified by sequencing a section of the 26S rDNA gene.
Multivariate linear models were used to analyze the effects of all
investigated factors on yeast occurrence per tree. Yeast distribution was
mainly driven by host identity. The influence of the environmental factors
(NO2, height of construction, soil sealing) strongly depended on the radius
around the tree, similar to the distance of the sampled beehive. Incidence of
specialist nectar-borne yeast species decreased with increasing
pollution/urbanization index. Given that specialist yeast species gave way to
generalist yeasts that have a reduced dependency on pollinators for between-
flower dispersal, our results indicate that increased urbanization may
restrict the movement of nectar-specialized yeasts, via limitations of
pollinator foraging behavior
The significance of mycorrhizal fungi for crop productivity and ecosystem sustainability in organic farming systems
Mycorrhizal fungi are widespread in agricultural systems and are especially relevant for organic agriculture because they can act as natural fertilisers, enhancing plant yield. Here we explore the various roles that mycorrhizal fungi play in sustainable farming systems with special emphasis on their contribution to crop productivity and ecosystem functioning. We review the literature and provide a number of mechanisms and processes by which mycorrhizal fungi can contribute to crop productivity and ecosystem sustainability. We then present novel results, showing that mycorrhizal fungi can be used to suppress several problematic agricultural weeds. Our results highlight the significance of mycorrhizal fungi for sustainable farming systems and point to the need to develop farming systems in which the positive effect of these beneficial soil fungi is optimally being utilized
Effects of past and current drought on the composition and diversity of soil microbial communities
Drought is well known to have strong effects on the composition and activity of soil microbial communities, and may be determined by drought history and drought duration, but the characterisation and prediction of these effects remains challenging. This is because soil microbial communities that have previously been exposed to drought may change less in response to subsequent drought events, due to the selection of drought-resistant taxa. We set up a 10-level drought experiment to test the effect of water stress on the composition and diversity of soil bacterial and fungal communities. We also investigated the effect of a previous long-term drought on communities in soils with different historical precipitation regimes. Saplings of the holm oak, Quercus ilex L., were included to assess the impact of plant presence on the effects of the drought treatment. The composition and diversity of the soil microbial communities were analysed using DNA amplicon sequencing of bacterial and fungal markers and the measurement of phospholipid fatty acids. The experimental drought affected the bacterial community much more than the fungal community, decreasing alpha diversity and proportion of total biomass, whereas fungal diversity tended to increase. The experimental drought altered the relative abundances of specific taxa of both bacteria and fungi, and in many cases these effects were modified by the presence of the plant and soil origin. Soils with a history of drought had higher overall bacterial alpha diversity at the end of the experimental drought, presumably because of adaptation of the bacterial community to drought conditions. However, some bacterial taxa (e.g. Chloroflexi) and fungal functional groups (plant pathogens and saprotrophic yeasts) decreased in abundance more in the pre-droughted soils. Our results suggest that soil communities will not necessarily be able to maintain the same functions during more extreme or more frequent future droughts, when functions are influenced by community composition. Drought is likely to continue to affect community composition, even in soils that are acclimated to it, tending to increase the proportion of fungi and reduce the proportion and diversity of bacteria
Bioackerbau fördert BodenbiodiversitĂ€t: Artenvielfalt von nĂŒtzlichen Mykorrhizapilzen in landwirtschaftlichen Böden
The effects of organic and conventional arable farming on the species richness of beneficial soil fungi (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) was assessed in 26 arable fields on sandy soil in the Netherlands and in 2 arable fields on a loamy soil in Switzerland. Organically managed fields contained on average 42% more mycorrhizal fungal species than their conventional counterparts. This study shows that organic arable farming has a positive impact on the species richness of these beneficial soil fung
Identity of the Qingdao algal bloom
In early July 2008, news agencies worldwide reported on a vast algal bloom that was threatening the upcoming Olympic sailing events in Qingdao, China. The identity of the culpable alga, however, remained undiscussed. We have identified the alga that caused the bloom by means of morphological and molecular data, including sequence data of the plastid encoded large subunit ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase gene (rbcL) and the nuclear encoded rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. The bloom-forming alga falls within the morphological limits of the green seaweed Ulva prolifera O.F. Muller ('Enteromorpha prolifera (O.F. Muller) J. Agardh') but our phylogenetic analyses show that it forms a clade with representatives of the Ulva linza-procera-prolifera (LPP) complex. The Chinese rbcL sequences are identical to those of specimens collected from Japan, New Zealand, Finland and Portugal, suggesting that the taxon is widely distributed. rDNA ITS sequences showed a close affinity with Japanese isolates of the species complex. The Qingdao bloom is a typical illustration of a green tide, which occurs increasingly along several coasts worldwide
Negative erosion and negative emissions : Combining multiple land-based carbon dioxide removal techniques to rebuild fertile topsoils and enhance food production
Funding Information: This research was supported by the Research FoundationâFlanders (FWO) and by the European Commissions (H2020 FET-open project Super Bio-Accelerated Mineral weathering: A new climate risk hedging reactor technologyââBAMâ). JS was supported by Spanish Government Project PID2020115770RB-I. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Janssens, Roobroeck, Sardans, Obersteiner, Peñuelas, Richter, Smith, Verbruggen and Vicca.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Soil microbes and community coalescence
Community coalescence is a recently introduced term describing the interaction of entire communities and their environments. We here explicitly place the concept of community coalescence in a soil microbial context, exploring intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of such coalescence events. Examples of intrinsic events include the action of earthworms and the dynamics of soil aggregates, while extrinsic events are exemplified by tillage, flooding, litterfall, outplanting, and the addition of materials containing microbial communities. Aspects of global change may alter the frequency or severity of coalescence events. We highlight functional consequences of community coalescence in soil, and suggest ways to experimentally tackle this phenomenon. Soil ecology as a whole stands to benefit from conceptualizing soil biodiversity in terms of dynamic coalescent microbial assemblages
High soil phosphorus levels overrule the potential benefits of organic farming on arbuscular mycorrhizal diversity in northern vineyards
Organic farming is a key approach to reconcile food production, biodiversity conservation and environmental sustainability. Due to reduced inputs of agrochemicals, the success of organic farming is heavily dependent on the ecosystem services provided by the soil microbial community, and in particular by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Numerous studies have already shown that also grapevines (Vitis vinifera) depend on AMF for normal growth and development. To what extent organic agriculture benefits the AMF communities on vines at regional scales, however, is still poorly understood. Here, we first quantified the relative importance of organic management, soil chemical characteristics, and geography on vineyard AMF diversity and community composition. Second, we tested whether soil nutrients fundamentally change the host-AMF community dynamics through changing universality of dissimilarity overlap curves. To identify AMF communities, we used high-throughput pyrosequencing on 170 root samples from grapevines originating from 18 conventionally and 16 organically managed Belgian and Dutch vineyards. We found no differences in AMF diversity between conventionally and organically managed vineyards. Soil phosphorus content and soil acidity, however, was strongly negatively associated with AMF diversity. Together with management type (organic vs. conventional), these two soil variables did also explain most of the variation in AMF community composition. The observed accumulation of soil copper, used to control fungal diseases, especially in organically managed vineyards, did not affect AMF communities. We observed, however, that copper concentration in the soil increased with vineyard age, indicating copper accumulation in the soil over time. AMF communities showed a regularity in interactions among taxa and their host. Under high soil P availability, however, interactions became more irregular. The potential benefits of organic vineyard management in terms of a high diversity of AMF are highly compromised by elevated soil phosphorus levels which may jeopardize the role of these symbionts in improving plant health and soil fertility. Decreasing nutrient inputs, even organic, is a key step in developing diverse AMF communities in vineyards
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