22 research outputs found

    Ambient and substrate energy influence decomposer diversity differentially across trophic levels.

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    The species-energy hypothesis predicts increasing biodiversity with increasing energy in ecosystems. Proxies for energy availability are often grouped into ambient energy (i.e., solar radiation) and substrate energy (i.e., non-structural carbohydrates or nutritional content). The relative importance of substrate energy is thought to decrease with increasing trophic level from primary consumers to predators, with reciprocal effects of ambient energy. Yet, empirical tests are lacking. We compiled data on 332,557 deadwood-inhabiting beetles of 901 species reared from wood of 49 tree species across Europe. Using host-phylogeny-controlled models, we show that the relative importance of substrate energy versus ambient energy decreases with increasing trophic levels: the diversity of zoophagous and mycetophagous beetles was determined by ambient energy, while non-structural carbohydrate content in woody tissues determined that of xylophagous beetles. Our study thus overall supports the species-energy hypothesis and specifies that the relative importance of ambient temperature increases with increasing trophic level with opposite effects for substrate energy

    A new species of Stenus from Syria and additional records of the genus from the Middle East (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Steninae)

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    Feldmann, Benedikt (2020): A new species of Stenus from Syria and additional records of the genus from the Middle East (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Steninae). Linzer biologische BeitrÀge 52 (1): 245-251, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.527748

    On the Domene species of China, with descriptions of four new species (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae)

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    Material of the paederine genus Domene Fauvel, 1873 from China is examined. Nine species were identified, four of them described previously, one unnamed (represented exclusively by females), and four are newly described: D. cultrata sp. n. (Gansu, Hubei, Shaanxi); D. cuspidata sp. n. (Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan); D. chenae sp. n. (Guangxi); D. reducta sp. n. (Sichuan). A lectotype is designated for Domene reitteri Koch, 1939; a neotype is designated for Domene chenpengi Li, 1990. Domene dersuuzalai Gusarov, 1992 is placed in synonymy with D. chenpengi. Previous records of two Japanese species from China are most likely based on misidentifications and considered erroneous. Thus, the Domene fauna of China is currently composed of twelve described species. A key to the Domene species of China is provided. The distributions of eleven species are mapped

    Checkliste der KurzflĂŒgelkĂ€fer der Schweiz (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae ohne Pselaphinae)

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    Within the context of the project «Pilot Study for a Red List of Staphylinids of Switzerland (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae)» of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU), the checklist of rove beetles (excluding the subfamily Pselaphinae) in Switzerland is compiled. It accounts for all species that 1) have a record in the database of the Centre Suisse de Cartographie de la Faune, 2) are listed in the unpublished species list compiled by C. Besuchet, and 3) are listed for Switzerland in the catalogue by Löbl & Smetana (2004). In all, 1421 staphylinid taxa (1414 species and 7 additional subspecies) (excl. Pselaphinae) have been recorded from Switzerland, among them 1297 monotypical species, 110 polytypical species represented by only one subspecies in Switzerland, and 7 polytypical species represented by two subspecies each

    Coppicing and topsoil removal promote diversity of dung‐inhabiting beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Geotrupidae, Staphylinidae) in forests

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    Central European forests experience a substantial loss of open-forest organisms due to forest management and increasing nitrogen deposition. However, management strategies, removing different levels of nitrogen, have been rarely evaluated simultaneously. We tested the additive effects of coppicing and topsoil removal on communities of dung-inhabiting beetles compared to closed forests. We sampled 57 021 beetles, using baited pitfall traps exposed on 27 plots. Experimental treatments resulted in significantly different communities by promoting open-habitat species. While alpha diversity did not differ among treatments, gamma diversity of Geotrupidae and Scarabaeidae and beta diversity of Staphylinidae were higher in coppice than in forest. Functional diversity of rove beetles was higher in both, coppice and topsoil-removed plots, compared to control plots. This was likely driven by higher habitat heterogeneity in established forest openings. Five dung beetle species and four rove beetle species benefitted from coppicing, one red-listed dung beetle and two rove beetle species benefitted from topsoil removal. Our results demonstrate that dung-inhabiting beetles related to open forest patches can be promoted by both, coppicing and additional topsoil removal. A mosaic of coppice and bare-soil-rich patches can hence promote landscape-level gamma diversity of dung and rove beetles within forests

    Tackling frontal lobe-related functions in PKU through functional brain imaging: a Stroop task in adult patients.

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    BACKGROUND: Profound mental retardation in phenylketonuria (PKU) can be prevented by a low phenylalanine (Phe) diet. However, even patients treated early have inconsistently shown deficits in several frontal lobe-related neuropsychological tasks such as the widely accepted Stroop task. The goal of this study was to investigate whether adult patients exhibit altered brain activation in Stroop-related locations in comparison to healthy controls and if an acute increase in blood Phe levels in patients has an effect on activation patterns. METHODS: Seventeen male, early-treated patients with classic PKU (mean ± SD age: 31.0 ± 5.2 years) and 15 male healthy controls (32.1 ± 6.4 years) were compared using a color-word matching Stroop task in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study at 3T. Participants were scanned twice, and an oral Phe load (100 mg/kg body weight) was administered to patients prior to one of the fMRI sessions (placebo-controlled). Activity in brain regions that are known to be involved in Stroop tasks was assessed. RESULTS: PKU patients exhibited poorer accuracy in incongruent trials. Reaction times were not significantly different. There were no consistent differences in BOLD activations in Stroop-associated brain regions. The oral Phe administration had no significant effect on brain activity. CONCLUSIONS: Neither a generally slower task performance nor distinctively altered functioning of brain networks involved in a task representing a subset of dopamine-dependent executive functions could be proven. Decreased accuracy and inconsistent findings in posterior areas necessitate further study of frontal-lobe functioning in PKU patients in larger study samples
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