Aspects of Alpha-niche differentiation in an herbaceous community

Alpha-niche differentiation arises when plant species use resources differently enough to co-exist and persist within a community (Wilson 2011). If alpha-niche differentiation is occurring at a fine scale, a community including non-random groupings of species with divergent functional traits is expected (de Bello et al. 2009). The Botany Lawn community offers a unique opportunity to investigate alpha-niche differentiation as non-random groupings of the most abundant species; the “intrinsic guilds” have already been identified by Wilson and Roxburgh (1994). In this thesis, investigations focussed on functional traits which potentially allow alpha-niche differentiation at a fine scale with regard to the light and nutrient (resource) niches. Functional traits of fourteen of the intrinsic guild species were examined and agreement sought between species’ traits and their intrinsic guild membership, i.e. divergent traits between non-random groupings of species indicating the occurrence of alpha-niche differentiation. This thesis compliments and extends previous research seeking to identify mechanisms of alpha-niche differentiation within the Botany Lawn community. Mason and Wilson (2006) suggested differences in nutrient strategy were the basis for a mechanism driving community structure while Brownstein (2011) found agreement between intrinsic guild membership and growth responses under altered light conditions. The potential partitioning of the light niche was explored in two separate experiments. In the first, species were characterised by their relative growth rates and biomass allocation under ambient (high-) versus shaded (low-) light conditions. In the second experiment, antioxidant metabolism responses to light-mediated stress were assessed using reciprocal transfers between high and low light conditions. Aspects of the nutrient niche as a means for alpha-niche differentiation were addressed in three further experiments. The first of these compared nutrient contents, relative growth rates and biomass allocation when nitrate and phosphate were omitted or supplied. Uptake of various forms of nitrogen or phosphorus, differing in their biological availabilities, were the focus of the remaining experiments. Evidence for alpha-niche differentiation was mixed. Species differed in their functional traits throughout the experiments which, in theory at least, reflect differences in resource use. Agreement between species’ functional traits and their intrinsic guild membership was limited and appeared to be driven more by inherent differences than in response to the conditions. The clear exception was the greater antioxidant metabolism responses of intrinsic guild A compared to intrinsic guild B. The relationship between the measured species’ traits and intrinsic guilds and the benefits of employing such an approach are examined. Based on these results, it was unclear whether alpha-niche differentiation of the light or nutrient niches is driving the observed intrinsic guild structure of the Botany Lawn. While this thesis focussed on one resource niche at a time, trait responses dictating the competitive ability of a species are not expected to operate in isolation. Antioxidant metabolism responds to a range of abiotic- and biotic-derived oxidative stress and appears to be involved in longer term hormonal and growth responses. The use of antioxidant metabolism traits represents a novel avenue for exploration of alpha-niche differentiation in plant community ecology and warrants further attention

The New Zealand Rural Hospital Medicine training program at 10 years: locality and career choice of the first graduate cohort.

NAPeer Reviewe

New Zealand’s vocational Rural Hospital Medicine training program: the first ten years

Aims: The Rural Hospital Medicine Training Programme (RHMTP) was established in 2008 to develop NZ’s rural hospital medical workforce. This study evaluates the RHMTP’s first ten- year outcomes. Methods: A mixed-methods descriptive study. Database interrogation of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners records; University of Otago’s e-Vision; Medical Council of NZ register of doctors. A survey of trainees who had graduated or withdrawn. Survey questions included: current scope and place of employment; undergraduate rural experience; and trainee experiences. Results From 2009-2018, 98 doctors entered the RHMTP: 29 graduated, 20 withdrew and 49 are active registrars. Of the graduates, more than half (17/29) also completed GP training. Overall survey response rate: 80% (39/49), graduate response rate 97% (28/29). Of currently practicing graduates 92% (24/26) are working in rural NZ, most (22/24) in rural hospitals. Trainees value the RHMTP’s flexibility and breadth of clinical exposure. Main challenges relate to a lack of alignment of training requirements and funding. Conclusions. In its first decade the RHMTP has been successful in generating a rural hospital workforce and the programme is steadily growing. Attention to existing barriers is needed to ensure the RHMTP can reach its potential to benefit all of NZs rural communities.Peer Reviewe

New Zealand’s vocational Rural Hospital Medicine training program: the first ten years

Aims: The Rural Hospital Medicine Training Programme (RHMTP) was established in 2008 to develop NZ’s rural hospital medical workforce. This study evaluates the RHMTP’s first ten- year outcomes. Methods: A mixed-methods descriptive study. Database interrogation of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners records; University of Otago’s e-Vision; Medical Council of NZ register of doctors. A survey of trainees who had graduated or withdrawn. Survey questions included: current scope and place of employment; undergraduate rural experience; and trainee experiences. Results From 2009-2018, 98 doctors entered the RHMTP: 29 graduated, 20 withdrew and 49 are active registrars. Of the graduates, more than half (17/29) also completed GP training. Overall survey response rate: 80% (39/49), graduate response rate 97% (28/29). Of currently practicing graduates 92% (24/26) are working in rural NZ, most (22/24) in rural hospitals. Trainees value the RHMTP’s flexibility and breadth of clinical exposure. Main challenges relate to a lack of alignment of training requirements and funding. Conclusions. In its first decade the RHMTP has been successful in generating a rural hospital workforce and the programme is steadily growing. Attention to existing barriers is needed to ensure the RHMTP can reach its potential to benefit all of NZs rural communities.Peer Reviewe

Response to Comment on Worldwide evidence of a unimodal relationship between productivity and plant species richness

Tredennick et al. criticize one of our statistical analyses and emphasize the low explanatory power of models relating productivity to diversity. These criticisms do not detract from our key findings, including evidence consistent with the unimodal constraint relationship predicted by the humped-back model and evidence of scale sensitivities in the form and strength of the relationship.Fil: Pither, Jason. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Fraser, Lauchlan H.. Thompson Rivers University; CanadáFil: Jentsch, Anke. University of Bayreuth; AlemaniaFil: Sternberg, Marcelo. Tel Aviv University; IsraelFil: Zobel, Martín. University of Tartu; EstoniaFil: Cahill, James. University of Alberta; CanadáFil: Cabido, Marcelo Ruben. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Díaz, Sandra Myrna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Enrico, Lucas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Carlyle, Cameron N.. University of Alberta; CanadáFil: Chelli, Stefano. University of Camerino; ItaliaFil: Cserg, Anna Maria. The University of Dublin; IrlandaFil: Ensing, David. Queen’s University; CanadáFil: Fidelis, Alessandra. Universidade Estadual Paulista; BrasilFil: Garris, Heath W.. Thompson Rivers University; CanadáFil: Henry, Hugh A. L.. University of Western Ontario; CanadáFil: Höhn, Maria. Corvinus University of Budapest; HungríaFil: Klironomos, John. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Koorem, Kadri. University of Tartu; EstoniaFil: Lawrence Lodge, Rachel. University of Otago; Nueva ZelandaFil: Manning, Peter. Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung; AlemaniaFil: Mitchell, Randall J.. University of Akron; Estados UnidosFil: Moora, Mary. University of Tartu; EstoniaFil: Pillar, Valerio D.. Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Stotz, Gisela C.. University of Alberta; CanadáFil: Sugiyama, Shu-ichi. Hirosaki University; JapónFil: Szentes, Szilárd. Szent István University; HungríaFil: Tungalag, Radnaakhand. National University of Mongolia; MongoliaFil: Undrakhbold, Sainbileg. Free University of Bozen-Bolzano; ItaliaFil: Wellstein, Camila. Free University of Bozen-Bolzano; ItaliaFil: Zupo, Talita. Universidade Estadual Paulista; Brasi

Consistent predictors of microbial community composition across spatial scales in grasslands reveal low context-dependency

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The data and the R script describing the steps of the analyses are deposited in the Dryad repository doi:10.5061/dryad.0k6djhb4z. Raw bacterial and fungal sequences are deposited in NCBI SRA database with the following accession numbers PRJNA966933 and PRJNA970213, respectively.Environmental circumstances shaping soil microbial communities have been studied extensively. However, due to disparate study designs, it has been difficult to resolve whether a globally consistent set of predictors exists, or context-dependency prevails. Here, we used a network of 18 grassland sites (11 of those containing regional plant productivity gradients) to examine (i) if similar abiotic or biotic factors predict both large-scale (across sites) and regional-scale (within sites) patterns in bacterial and fungal community composition, and (ii) if microbial community composition differs consistently at two levels of regional plant productivity (low vs. high). Our results revealed that bacteria were associated with particular soil properties (such as base saturation) and both bacteria and fungi were associated with plant community composition across sites and within the majority of sites. Moreover, a discernible microbial community signal emerged, clearly distinguishing high and low-productivity soils across different grasslands independent of their location in the world. Hence, regional productivity differences may be typified by characteristic soil microbial communities across the grassland biome. These results could encourage future research aiming to predict the general effects of global changes on soil microbial community composition in grasslands and to discriminate fertile from infertile systems using generally applicable microbial indicators.European Research Council grant; GINOP- 2.3.2- 15-2016-00019 project; Methusalem funding of the Research Council UA; Research Foundation—Flanders (FWO).http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/mec2024-10-24hj2024Plant Production and Soil ScienceNon

Worldwide evidence of a unimodal relationship between productivity and plant species richness

The search for predictions of species diversity across environmental gradients has challenged ecologists for decades. The humped-back model (HBM) suggests that plant diversity peaks at intermediate productivity; at low productivity few species can tolerate the environmental stresses, and at high productivity a few highly competitive species dominate. Over time the HBM has become increasingly controversial, and recent studies claim to have refuted it. Here, by using data from coordinated surveys conducted throughout grasslands worldwide and comprising a wide range of site productivities, we provide evidence in support of the HBM pattern at both global and regional extents. The relationships described here provide a foundation for further research into the local, landscape, and historical factors that maintain biodiversity