Bioinoculants and organic soil amendments affect nematode diversity in apple orchards

Open Access ArticleNematodes with their versatile lifestyles provide a suitable lens to decipher the conditions of agroecosystems, but less is known about how they are affected by bioinoculants and organic soil amendments. To test if treatments modify the nematode community, we studied nematode communities in two different apple orchards under organic and integrated farming. Soil was treated with products containing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, bioeffectors, and organic amendments. The comparison between baseline and control samples indicated an overall higher nematode richness in organic than the integrated orchard. Sampling time more than treatment had a significant effect, and higher community richness was observed during spring as compared to autumn. The variation in nematode community composition was mainly explained by sampling time followed by treatment, and orchard type. Although all treatments reduced nematode richness, their effect generally varied across treatments. In both orchards, season-dependent effects of treatment on nematode families and trophic guilds were observed, with a higher percentage of bacterivorous and lower percentage of herbivorous nematodes during spring. The effect was driven by a few families, i.e. Rhabditidae and Tylenchidae. Our study provides insights about the effect of soil treatment on nematodes with implications for the development and modification of bioinoculants

A new research agenda for managing socio-cultural integration

Post-acquisition socio-cultural integration has received increasing attention from both scholars and practitioners since the early 1990s. During the past decade, research has increasingly focused on emotions and identity in mergers and acquisitions. This chapter introduces the reader to the vibrant research field and its relevance. This section sets the scene for the book, which provides a deeper understanding of how emotions—both positive and negative—as well as values and identity enable a deeper socio-cultural integration after a merger or acquisition, and how leadership plays a crucial role in making it all happen. This chapter also highlights how the Nordic approach to post-acquisition socio-cultural integration refers to a large community of Nordic academics focusing on the softer social and human side of acquisition, often relying on a huge variety of qualitative methods, and to Nordic companies that are not afraid of adopting a more collaborative approach to post-acquisition integration

Microbiome Management by Biological and Chemical Treatments in Maize Is Linked to Plant Health

The targeted application of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) provides the key for a future sustainable agriculture with reduced pesticide application. PGPR interaction with the indigenous microbiota is poorly understood, but essential to develop reliable applications. Therefore, Stenotrophomonas rhizophila SPA-P69 was applied as a seed coating and in combination with a fungicide based on the active ingredients fludioxonil, metalaxyl-M, captan and ziram. The plant performances and rhizosphere compositions of treated and non-treated maize plants of two field trials were analyzed. Plant health was significantly increased by treatment; however, overall corn yield was not changed. By applying high-throughput amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA and the ITS genes, the bacterial and fungal changes in the rhizosphere due to different treatments were determined. Despite the fact that treatments had a significant impact on the rhizosphere microbiota (9–12%), the field site was identified as the main driver (27–37%). The soil microbiota composition from each site was significantly different, which explains the site-specific effects. In this study we were able to show the first indications how PGPR treatments increase plant health via microbiome shifts in a site-specific manner. This way, first steps towards a detailed understanding of PGPRs and developments of consistently efficient applications in diverse environments are made