Single introductions of soil biota and plants generate long-term legacies in soil and plant community assembly

Recent demonstrations of the role of plant-soil biota interactions have challenged the conventional view that vegetation changes are mainly driven by changing abiotic conditions. However, while this concept has been validated under natural conditions, our understanding of the long-term consequences of plant- soil interactions for above-belowground community assembly is restricted to mathematical and conceptual model projections. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that one-time additions of soil biota and plant seeds alter soil-borne nematode and plant community composition in semi-natural grassland for 20 years. Over time, aboveground and belowground community composition became increasingly correlated, suggesting an increasing connectedness of soil biota and plants. We conclude that the initial composition of not only plant communities, but also soil communities has a long-lasting impact on the trajectory of community assembly

Nematode-based indices in soil ecology: Application, utility, and future directions

14 Pág.The health and functioning of soil ecosystems are the foundation of sustainable food production and land management. Of key importance in achieving sustainability, is the frequent measurement of soil health, and indices based on the community structure of nematodes are amongst the most widely used toolsets by soil ecologists. Thirty years after the development of the Maturity Index, we aimed to evaluate the application, utility, and future directions of nematode-based indices (NBIs). This review focused on NBIs that are calculated using the coloniser-persister classification of nematodes. Data from 672 empirical studies in terrestrial environments revealed that the NBIs presented a dissimilar usage trend. The Channel Index and Metabolic Footprints showed the strongest increase in application rates over time, thus indicating a greater interest in studying decomposition pathways and ecosystem functioning, respectively. Furthermore, nematode-based indices were mostly applied in agricultural systems associated with herbaceous crops and in studies investigating, for example, soil nutrient enrichment following manure and/or inorganic fertilizer application. We further provide a framework for selecting a focus-orientated subset of NBIs for testing hypotheses based on the underlying ecological mechanisms. Also, we highlight important considerations, including the unexpected behaviour of some nematode taxa, in the interpretation of NBIs. The improvement of NBIs relies on advancing our understanding of the autecology of nematodes. Finally, we deliver insight into the further development of NBIs considering recent methodological advancements. We highlight that NBIs have been and might become increasingly important in providing valuable information on soil ecosystem health and functioning, especially considering the urgent need for more sustainable land use.The contribution of JHS was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) — :— Project no. 420414676: “The self-regulatory potential of agro-ecosystems: Using nematodes as indicators for legume disease suppressive soils”.Peer reviewe

Is complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) cost-effective? a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Out-of-pocket expenditures of over $34 billion per year in the US are an apparent testament to a widely held belief that complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies have benefits that outweigh their costs. However, regardless of public opinion, there is often little more than anecdotal evidence on the health and economic implications of CAM therapies. The objectives of this study are to present an overview of economic evaluation and to expand upon a previous review to examine the current scope and quality of CAM economic evaluations. METHODS: The data sources used were Medline, AMED, Alt-HealthWatch, and the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Citation Index; January 1999 to October 2004. Papers that reported original data on specific CAM therapies from any form of standard economic analysis were included. Full economic evaluations were subjected to two types of quality review. The first was a 35-item checklist for reporting quality, and the second was a set of four criteria for study quality (randomization, prospective collection of economic data, comparison to usual care, and no blinding). RESULTS: A total of 56 economic evaluations (39 full evaluations) of CAM were found covering a range of therapies applied to a variety of conditions. The reporting quality of the full evaluations was poor for certain items, but was comparable to the quality found by systematic reviews of economic evaluations in conventional medicine. Regarding study quality, 14 (36%) studies were found to meet all four criteria. These exemplary studies indicate CAM therapies that may be considered cost-effective compared to usual care for various conditions: acupuncture for migraine, manual therapy for neck pain, spa therapy for Parkinson's, self-administered stress management for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, pre- and post-operative oral nutritional supplementation for lower gastrointestinal tract surgery, biofeedback for patients with "functional" disorders (eg, irritable bowel syndrome), and guided imagery, relaxation therapy, and potassium-rich diet for cardiac patients. CONCLUSION: Whereas the number and quality of economic evaluations of CAM have increased in recent years and more CAM therapies have been shown to be of good value, the majority of CAM therapies still remain to be evaluated