Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change.Peer reviewe

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Development of Flood Risk and Hazard Maps for the Lower Course of the Siret River, Romania

The Siret River is one of the most important tributaries of the Danube River in the Romanian territory. With a total length of 596 km in this territory, the confluence section of the Siret River with the Danube represents an area where major floods have occurred over time. In the last 50 years, over 20 floods have been recorded in the lower area of the Siret River; and the most recent important flood, which happened in 2010, had a negative impact on the local population, the environment, and the economy. Although it is a buffer zone, the Danube River has a significant impact on the discharge rate of the Siret River. Since few studies have been conducted on the prediction of flooding in the lower area of the Siret River, the present study aims at presenting the most important steps to be taken for designing risk and hazard maps for floods, which could be further applied to other rivers. The confluence of the Siret River with the Danube, a distance of 35 km upstream, was chosen as a study area. Techniques of topographic and bathymetric measurements were combined in order to design the risk and hazard maps for floods in this area and to improve the digital terrain model of the minor riverbed for the studied river area. The 1D hydrodynamic model of the HEC-RAS software was used in this research for developing the flood risk and flood hazard maps. The hazard and risk maps were generated based on 10%, 5%, and 1% flood scenarios, which are in accordance with Floods Directive 2007/60/EC; no historical data were available for the 0.1% scenarios. Thus, in a flood scenario that can occur every 100 years, about 9500 inhabitants are vulnerable at a medium flood risk. In this scenario, over 19.5 km of road infrastructure, about 16.5 km of railways, eight cultural heritage indicators, and three environmental indicators may be affected

Nanofiltration Composite Membranes Based on KIT-6 and Functionalized KIT-6 Nanoparticles in a Polymeric Matrix with Enhanced Performances

The nanofiltration composite membranes were obtained by incorporation of KIT-6 ordered mesoporous silica, before and after its functionalization with amine groups, into polyphenylene-ether-ether-sulfone (PPEES) matrix. The incorporation of silica nanoparticles into PPEES polymer matrix was evidenced by FTIR and UV–VIS spectroscopy. SEM images of the membranes cross-section and their surface topology, evidenced by AFM, showed a low effect of KIT-6 silica nanoparticles loading and functionalization. The performances of the obtained membranes were appraised in permeation of Chaenomeles japonica fruit extracts and the selective separation of phenolic acids and flavonoids. The obtained results proved that the PPEES with functionalized KIT-6 nanofiltration membrane, we have prepared, is suitable for the polyphenolic compound’s concentration from the natural extracts

Valmet Chiral Schiff‐Base Ligands And Their Copper(II) Complexes as Organo, Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysts for Henry, Cyanosilylation and Aldol Coupling Reactions

International audienceCyanosilylation, aldol coupling and asymmetric Henry reactions were carried out with L- and D-valmet ligands in different configurations: i) coordinated to sodium ions, as organocatalysts, with week base properties, ii) complexes with copper(II), as homogeneous catalysts, and iii) immobilized copper(II) complexes onto graphene oxide (GO) as heterogeneous catalysts. For the reaction of benzaldehyde and nitromethane in water these afforded an asymmetric Henry reaction, with a spectacular increase of the conversion and ee (92.5 and 95.8 %, respectively) after the deposition on GO. Ligand complexed copper was also effective for cyanosilylation and Aldol coupling reaction

Global distribution of earthworm diversity

Soil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass. We found that local species richness and abundance typically peaked at higher latitudes, displaying patterns opposite to those observed in aboveground organisms. However, high species dissimilarity across tropical locations may cause diversity across the entirety of the tropics to be higher than elsewhere. Climate variables were found to be more important in shaping earthworm communities than soil properties or habitat cover. These findings suggest that climate change may have serious implications for earthworm communities and for the functions they provide

Global distribution of earthworm diversity

International audienceSoil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, distribution, and the threats affecting them. Here, we compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries to predict patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass. We identified that local species richness and abundance typically peaked at higher latitudes, patterns opposite to those observed in aboveground organisms. However, diversity across the entirety of the tropics may be higher than elsewhere, due to high species dissimilarity across locations. Climate variables were more important in shaping earthworm communities than soil properties or habitat cover. These findings suggest that climate change may have serious implications for earthworm communities and therefore the functions they provide