Community-level consequences of mycorrhizae depend on phosphorus availability

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.esa.org/esa.In grasslands, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) mediate plant diversity; whether AMF increase or decrease diversity depends on the relative mycotrophy in dominant vs. subordinate plants. In this study we investigated whether soil nutrient levels also influence the ability of AMF to mediate plant species coexistence. First, we developed a conceptual model that predicts the influence of AMF on diversity along a soil nutrient gradient for plant communities dominated by mycotrophic and non-mycotrophic species. To test these predictions, we manipulated phosphorus to create a soil nutrient gradient for mesocosm communities composed of native prairie grasses and then compared community properties for mesocosms with and without AMF. We found that, where P was limiting, AMF increased plant diversity and productivity, and also altered community structure; however, at high P, AMF had little influence on aboveground communities. Compositional differences among treatments were due largely to a trade-off in the relative abundance of C3 vs. C4 species. Our study emphasizes how environmental constraints on mutualisms may govern community- and ecosystem-level properties

Intra-seasonal rainfall variability and herbivory affect the interaction outcome of two dryland plant species

Increases in drought frequency in combination with overgrazing may result in degradation of (semi-) arid ecosystems. Facilitative interactions between plants are a key mechanism in preventing degradation, but it is poorly understood how they respond to increased stress by combined drought and herbivory. In this study, we used an ecohydrological model, to simulate the plant growth of two plant species interacting with each other under different rainfall and herbivory pressure scenarios. The functional traits of the two modeled plants were based on a prior field experiment in southeastern Spain, in which an unpalatable “nurse” species protected a palatable protégé’ species from herbivory. Moreover, the nurse species was more drought-resistant; that is, it had a lower wilting point, whereas the protégé species had a higher optimal growth rate. Firstly, we investigated the coexistence of the two plant species growing under a single limiting resource, focusing on the effect of intra-seasonal rainfall variability. We found that longer periods without rainfall within the wet season resulted in stable coexistence, whereas nearly constant rainfall led to competitive exclusion of the protégé by the nurse species. Secondly, we investigated how plant interactions varied along our studied gradients. Using the neighbor effect intensity and importance indices, we found that competitive effects increased with more constant rainfall. Moreover, higher herbivory rates resulted in increased facilitative effects of the nurse on the protégé species, but facilitative effects could only prevail over competitive effects under currently observed or higher intra-seasonal rainfall variability. This study highlights the relevance of intra-seasonal rainfall variability in explaining coexistence of species in dryland ecosystems and shows that increasing intra-seasonal rainfall variability or herbivory pressure can result in more facilitative effects from a nurse species. This information is crucial to obtain a better insight into the long-term coexistence of species, and the resulting stability of dryland ecosystems in response to future climate change

KKF-Model Platform Coupling : summary report KKF01b

Nederland bereidt zich voor op een sneller stijgende zeespiegel en een veranderend klimaat. Hiervoor is het Deltaprogramma gestart. Dit deltaprogramma voorziet een serie beslissingen die grote gevolgen zullen hebben voor het beheer van het water in Nederland. Om deze beslissingen zorgvuldig te nemen is informatie nodig over hoe het klimaat en de stijgende zeespiegel dit waterbeheer zullen beïnvloeden. De modellen die de gevolgen van klimaatverandering berekenen zullen daarom met dezelfde klimaat forcering en gekoppeld aan elkaar moeten worden gebruikt. In dit onderzoek is gekeken naar het linken van hydrologische en hydrodynamische modellen – en daaraan gekoppelde modellen die de ontwikkelingen in natuur en landgebruik modelleren -- die het gebied van de Alpen tot en met de Noordzee inclusief Nederland beschrijven

A putative mechanism for bog patterning

The surface of bogs commonly shows various spatial vegetation patterning. Typical are ¿string patterns¿ consisting of regular densely vegetated bands oriented perpendicular to the slope. Here, we report on regular ¿maze patterns¿ on flat ground, consisting of bands densely vegetated by vascular plants in a more sparsely vegetated matrix of nonvascular plant communities. We present a model reproducing these maze and string patterns, describing how nutrient-limited vascular plants are controlled by, and in turn control, both hydrology and solute transport. We propose that the patterns are self-organized and originate from a nutrient accumulation mechanism. In the model, this is caused by the convective transport of nutrients in the groundwater toward areas with higher vascular plant biomass, driven by differences in transpiration rate. In a numerical bifurcation analysis we show how the maze patterns originate from the spatially homogeneous equilibrium and how this is affected by changes in rainfall, nutrient input, and plant properties. Our results confirm earlier model results, showing that redistribution of a limiting resource may lead to fine-scale facilitative and coarse-scale competitive plant interactions in different ecosystems. Self-organization in ecosystems may be a more general phenomenon than previously thought, which can be mechanistically linked to scale-dependent facilitation and competition

Влияние облучения и отжига на термическую стабильность радиационных дефектов в кремнии

Описан отжиг А-центров, дивакансий, А-центров, модифицированных водородом, в n-Si (P ≈ 10^14 см^-3), в отсутствие и при наличии примеси платины, после облучения протонами с энергией 1,8 МэВ. Показано, что энергия активации отжига радиационных дефектов при взаимодействии с водородно-вакансионными дефектами уменьшается с 1,1 до 0,8 эВ при увеличении концентрации платины в кремнии, так как деформационные поля, создаваемые атомами платины, уменьшают энергию переориентации дефектов. Уточнено энергетическое положение в запрещенной зоне кремния донорного уровня А-центра (ЕV + 0,415 эВ) на основании известных данных о положении А-центра, модифицированного атомом углерода (ЕV + 0,38 эВ) или водорода (ЕV + 0,28 эВ).Описано відпал А-центрів, дивакансій, А-центрів, модифікованих воднем, у n-Si (P ≈ 10^14 см^-3), за відсутності та при наявності домішки платини, після опромінення протонами з енергією 1,8 МеВ. Показано, що енергія активації відпалу радіаційних дефектів при взаємодії з воднево-вакансійними дефектами зменшується від 1,1 до 0,8 еВ зі збільшенням концентрації платини в кремнії, оскільки деформаційні поля, які створюються атомами платини, зменшують енергію переорієнтації дефектів. Уточнено енергетичне положення у забороненій зоні кремнію донорного рівня А-центра (ЕV + 0,415 еВ), виходячи із відомих даних щодо положення А-центра, модифікованого атомом вуглецю (ЕV + 0,38 еВ) або водню (ЕV + 0,28 еВ).The annealing of A-centers, divacancies, A-centers modified by hydrogen was described for n-Si (P ≈ 10^14 cm^-3), with and without platinum dopants, after the irradiation by protons with energy 1.8 MeV. It was shown that the activation energy of annealing for radiation defects under their interaction with hydrogen-vacancy defects is decreased from 1.1 to 0.8 eV with the increasing of platinum concentration in silicon, because the deformation fields, creating by platinum atoms, decrease the energy of the defect re-orientation. In the forbidden zone of silicon the energy state for the donor level of A-center (ЕV + 0.415 eV) was specified based on the data about the position of A-center modified by the carbon atom (ЕV + 0.38 eV) or the hydrogen atom (ЕV + 0.28 eV)

Absence of Myocardial Thyroid Hormone Inactivating Deiodinase Results in Restrictive Cardiomyopathy in Mice

Cardiac injury induces myocardial expression of the thyroid hormone inactivating type 3 deiodinase (D3), which in turn dampens local thyroid hormone signaling. Here, we show that the D3 gene (Dio3) is a tissue-specific imprinted gene in the heart, and thus, heterozygous D3 knockout (HtzD3KO) mice constitute a model of cardiac D3 inactivation in an otherwise systemically euthyroid animal. HtzD3KO newborns have normal hearts but later develop restrictive cardiomyopathy due to cardiac-specific increase in thyroid hormone signaling, including myocardial fibrosis, impaired myocardial contractility, and diastolic dysfunction. In wild-type littermates, treatment with isoproterenol-induced myocardial D3 activity and an increase in the left ventricular volumes, typical of cardiac remodeling and dilatation. Remarkably, isoproterenol-treated HtzD3KO mice experienced a further decrease in left ventricular volumes with worsening of the diastolic dysfunction and the restrictive cardiomyopathy, resulting in congestive heart failure and increased mortality. These findings reveal crucial roles for Dio3 in heart function and remodeling, which may have pathophysiologic implications for human restrictive cardiomyopathy