How expensive is vole damage?

Vole species, especially Arvicola terrestris and Microtus arvalis cause significant economical damage in organic pomiculture by gnawing the root system of trees. The importance of voles as pest organisms is well known. Nevertheless, the estimation of financial loss caused by voles is difficult for German fruit growers. We conducted a survey among organic fruit growers to get data on kind and amount of annual damage. Using the available publications and official statistics we calculated economical values of organic apple trees for different types of orchard processing and tree ages. Furthermore we calculated the number of trees lost due to voles in one year

Wie teuer sind Wühlmausschäden im ökologischen Obstbau?

Durch das Benagen von Baumwurzeln verursachen Schermäuse (Awicola terrestris) und Feldmäuse (Microtus awalis) bedeutende Schäden im Obstbau

Enduring neurobehavioral effects induced by microbiota depletion during the adolescent period

Peer ReviewedThe gut microbiota is an essential regulator of many aspects of host physiology. Disruption of gut microbial communities affects gut-brain communication which ultimately can manifest as changes in brain function and behaviour. Transient changes in gut microbial composition can be induced by various intrinsic and extrinsic factors, however, it is possible that enduring shifts in the microbiota composition can be achieved by perturbation at a timepoint when the gut microbiota has not fully matured or is generally unstable, such as during early life or ageing. In this study, we investigated the effects of 3-week microbiota depletion with antibiotic treatment during the adolescent period and in adulthood. Following a washout period to restore the gut microbiota, behavioural and molecular hallmarks of gut-brain communication were investigated. Our data revealed that transient microbiota depletion had long-lasting effects on microbiota composition and increased anxiety-like behaviour in mice exposed to antibiotic treatment during adolescence but not in adulthood. Similarly, gene expression in the amygdala was more severely affected in mice treated during adolescence. Taken together these data highlight the vulnerability of the gut microbiota during the critical adolescent period and the long-lasting impact manipulations of the microbiota can have on gene expression and behaviour in adulthood.Science Foundation Irelan

Palaeosols and their cover sediments of a glacial landscape in northern central Europe: Spatial distribution, pedostratigraphy and evidence on landscape evolution

Knowledge of the distribution, types and properties of buried soils, i.e. palaeosols, is essential in understanding how lowlands in northern central Europe have changed over past millennia. This is an indispensable requirement for evaluating long-term human impact including soil erosion and land-cover dynamics. In the Serrahn area (62 km2), a young glacial landscape representative for northeastern Germany and part of the Müritz National Park, 26 pedosedimentary sections were documented and analysed. To this end, a multiproxy-approach was applied using pedology, micromorphology, geochronology, and palaeoecology. Statistical and spatial analyses of c. 5200 soil profiles, of which 10% contain palaeosols, show that buried soils cover an area of 5.7 km2, i.e. 9% of the area studied. Most palaeosols are Cambisols, Arenosols and Gleysols. Palaeosols are mainly covered by aeolian and colluvial sands, as well as by lacustrine sands and peat. Radiocarbon and luminescence dating together with palynological and anthracological data reveal that former land surfaces were dominantly buried through erosion triggered by human activity in the late Holocene. In addition, but to a clearly smaller extent, Lateglacial/early Holocene palaeosols and cover sediments occur. Following Medieval clear-cutting and intensive land use, the study area is today again widely forested. The high share of buried land surfaces detected here is expected to be representative for the hilly glacial landscapes even in the wider region, i.e. in northern central Europe, and should be considered in soil mapping, soil carbon budgeting and assessments of past human impact

Distinct phases of eustatic and tectonic forcing for late Quaternary landscape evolution in southwest Crete, Greece

Summarization: The extent to which climate, eustasy and tectonics interact to shape the late Quaternary landscape is poorly known. Alluvial fans often provide useful indexes that allow the decoding of information recorded on complex coastal landscapes, such as those of the eastern Mediterranean. In this paper we analyse and date (using infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating) a double alluvial fan system on southwest Crete, an island straddling the forearc of the Hellenic subduction margin, in order to constrain the timing and magnitude of its vertical deformation and discuss the factors contributing to its landscape evolution. The studied alluvial system is exceptional because each of its two juxtaposed fans records individual phases of alluvial and marine incision, thus providing unprecedented resolution in the formation and evolution of its landscape. Specifically, our analysis shows that the fan sequence at Domata developed during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 due to five distinct stages of marine transgressions and regressions and associated river incision, in response to sea-level fluctuations and tectonic uplift at averaged rates of ∼2.2mmyr-1. Interestingly, comparison of our results with published tectonic uplift rates from western Crete shows that uplift during 20-50 kyr BP was minimal (or even negative). Thus, most of the uplift recorded at Domata must have occurred in the last 20 kyr. This implies that eustasy and tectonism impacted the landscape at Domata over mainly distinct time intervals (e.g. sequentially and not synchronously), with eustasy forming and tectonism preserving the coastal landforms.Presented on: Earth Surface Dynamic