Snow cover-related camouflage mismatch increases detection by predators.

Camouflage expressed by animals is an adaptation to local environments that certain animals express to maximize survival and fitness. Animals at higher latitudes change their coat color according to a seasonally changing environment, expressing a white coat in winter and a darker coat in summer. The timing of molting is tightly linked to the appearance and disappearance of snow and is mainly regulated by photoperiod.

Functional trait trade-offs define plant population stability across different biomes.

Ecological theory posits that temporal stability patterns in plant populations are associated with differences in species' ecological strategies. However, empirical evidence is lacking about which traits, or trade-offs, underlie species stability, especially across different biomes. We compiled a worldwide collection of long-term permanent vegetation records (greater than 7000 plots from 78 datasets) from a large range of habitats which we combined with existing trait databases.

Dispersal syndromes of : Dismantling introduction hypotheses and the role of man as a conceptual support for an archaeophyte in South America.

has a disjunct distribution at the southern cone of South America, occupying two major ranges: west of Andes (Central Chile) and east of them (mainly the South American Gran Chaco). For decades, the species has been subject to various ecological and natural history studies across its distribution, but questions concerning its origin in the western range remain unresolved. Thus far, it is unclear whether was always a natural component of the Chilean forests, and "how" and "when" the species arrived in the country.

Climatic niche convergence through space and time for a potential archaeophyte (Acacia caven) in South America.

Based on the niche conservatism hypothesis, i.e. the idea that niches remain unchanged over space and time, climatic niche modelling (CNM) is a useful tool for predicting the spread of introduced taxa.

Large herbivores facilitate a dominant grassland forb via multiple indirect effects.

While large herbivores are critically important components of terrestrial ecosystems and can have pronounced top-down effects on plants, our understanding of the underlying mechanisms driving these effects remains incomplete. Large herbivores can alter plant growth, reproduction, and abundance through direct effects (predominantly consumption) and through indirect effects via altered interactions with abiotic factors and other species. We know considerably less about these indirect effects than the direct effects.

Small herbivores and abiotic heterogeneity promote trait variation of a saltmarsh plant in local communities.

Intraspecific trait variation (ITV) enables plants to respond to global changes. However, causes for ITV, especially from biotic components such as herbivory, are not well understood. We explored whether small vertebrate herbivores (hares and geese) impact ITV of a dominant clonal plant () in local communities.

Linking Bacterial Communities Associated with the Environment and the Ecosystem Engineer Orchestia gammarellus at Contrasting Salt Marsh Elevations.

The digestive tract of animals harbors microbiota important for the host's fitness and performance. The interaction between digestive tract bacteria and soil animal hosts is still poorly explored despite the importance of soil fauna for ecosystem processes. In this study, we investigated the interactions between the bacterial communities from the digestive tract of the litter-feeding, semi-terrestrial crustacean Orchestia gammarellus and those obtained from the environment; these organisms thrive in, i.

Salt Marsh Elevation Drives Root Microbial Composition of the Native Invasive Grass .

is a native invasive plant species whose expansion on salt marshes is attributed to genotypic and phenotypic adaptations to non-ideal environmental conditions, forming two ecotypes. It is unknown how -microbiome interactions are contributing to its adaptation. Here we investigated the effect of sea-water flooding frequency and associated soil (a)biotic conditions on plant traits and root-associated microbial community composition and potential functions of two ecotypes.

Synchrony matters more than species richness in plant community stability at a global scale.

The stability of ecological communities is critical for the stable provisioning of ecosystem services, such as food and forage production, carbon sequestration, and soil fertility. Greater biodiversity is expected to enhance stability across years by decreasing synchrony among species, but the drivers of stability in nature remain poorly resolved. Our analysis of time series from 79 datasets across the world showed that stability was associated more strongly with the degree of synchrony among dominant species than with species richness.

Rewilding with large herbivores: Positive direct and delayed effects of carrion on plant and arthropod communities.

Carrion of large animals is an extremely nutrient rich, ephemeral resource that is essential for many species, but is scarce in the anthropogenic Western-European landscape due to legislative restrictions. Rewilding, a novel conservation strategy that aims at restoring natural processes with minimal human intervention, is increasing in popularity and could lead to increased carrion availability in the landscape. It is therefore important to understand the effects of carrion on biodiversity.

Behavioral response of naïve and non-naïve deer to wolf urine.

Large carnivores are recolonizing many regions in Europe, where their ungulate prey have lived without them for >150 years. Whether the returning large carnivores will modify ungulate behavior and indirectly affect lower trophic levels, depends on the ability of ungulates to recognize risk based on past encounters and cues indicating carnivore presence. In two case studies, we tested, by means of camera trapping, the behavioral response of deer to wolf urine.

Change in dominance determines herbivore effects on plant biodiversity.

Herbivores alter plant biodiversity (species richness) in many of the world's ecosystems, but the magnitude and the direction of herbivore effects on biodiversity vary widely within and among ecosystems. One current theory predicts that herbivores enhance plant biodiversity at high productivity but have the opposite effect at low productivity. Yet, empirical support for the importance of site productivity as a mediator of these herbivore impacts is equivocal.

Reciprocal facilitation between large herbivores and ants in a semi-arid grassland.

While positive interactions have been well documented in plant and sessile benthic marine communities, their role in structuring mobile animal communities and underlying mechanisms has been less explored. Using field removal experiments, we demonstrated that a large vertebrate herbivore (cattle; ) and a much smaller invertebrate (ants; spp.), the two dominant animal taxa in a semi-arid grassland in Northeast China, facilitate each other.

Stronger diversity effects with increased environmental stress: A study of multitrophic interactions between oak, powdery mildew and ladybirds.

Recent research has suggested that increasing neighbourhood tree species diversity may mitigate the impact of pests or pathogens by supporting the activities of their natural enemies and/or reducing the density of available hosts. In this study, we attempted to assess these mechanisms in a multitrophic study system of young oak (Quercus), oak powdery mildew (PM, caused by Erysiphe spp.) and a mycophagous ladybird (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata).

A review and meta-analysis of the enemy release hypothesis in plant-herbivorous insect systems.

A suggested mechanism for the success of introduced non-native species is the enemy release hypothesis (ERH). Many studies have tested the predictions of the ERH using the community approach (native and non-native species studied in the same habitat) or the biogeographical approach (species studied in their native and non-native range), but results are highly variable, possibly due to large variety of study systems incorporated. We therefore focused on one specific system: plants and their herbivorous insects.

Fitness benefits of the fruit fly Rhagoletis alternata on a non-native rose host.

Many species have been introduced worldwide into areas outside their natural range. Often these non-native species are introduced without their natural enemies, which sometimes leads to uncontrolled population growth. It is rarely reported that an introduced species provides a new resource for a native species.

Phytophagous insects on native and non-native host plants: combining the community approach and the biogeographical approach.

During the past centuries, humans have introduced many plant species in areas where they do not naturally occur. Some of these species establish populations and in some cases become invasive, causing economic and ecological damage. Which factors determine the success of non-native plants is still incompletely understood, but the absence of natural enemies in the invaded area (Enemy Release Hypothesis; ERH) is one of the most popular explanations.

Cyclical succession in grazed ecosystems: the importance of interactions between different-sized herbivores and different-sized predators.

Body size of vertebrate herbivores is strongly linked to other life history traits, most notably (1) tolerance of low quality forage and (2) vulnerability to predation, which both impact the composition and dynamics of natural communities. However, no study has thus far explored how the combination of these two body-size related traits affects the long-term composition and dynamics of the herbivore and plant communities. We made a simple model of ordinary differential equations and simulated a grassland system with three herbivore species (small, medium, large) and two predator species (small, large) to investigate how the combination of low-quality tolerance and predation-vulnerability structure the herbivore and plant community.

Moving forward on facilitation research: response to changing environments and effects on the diversity, functioning and evolution of plant communities.

Once seen as anomalous, facilitative interactions among plants and their importance for community structure and functioning are now widely recognized. The growing body of modelling, descriptive and experimental studies on facilitation covers a wide variety of terrestrial and aquatic systems throughout the globe. However, the lack of a general body of theory linking facilitation among different types of organisms and biomes and their responses to environmental changes prevents further advances in our knowledge regarding the evolutionary and ecological implications of facilitation in plant communities.

Turning a riboflavin-binding protein into a self-sufficient monooxygenase by cofactor redesign.

By cofactor redesign, self-sufficient monooxygenases could be prepared. Tight binding of N-alkylated flavins to riboflavin-binding protein results in the creation of artificial flavoenzymes capable of H(2)O(2)-driven enantioselective sulfoxidations. By altering the flavin structure, opposite enantioselectivities could be achieved, in accordance with the binding mode predicted by in silico flavin-protein docking of the unnatural flavin cofactors.

The unexpected role of pyridine-2-carboxylic acid in manganese based oxidation catalysis with pyridin-2-yl based ligands.

A number of manganese-based catalysts employing ligands whose structures incorporate pyridyl groups have been reported previously to achieve both high turnover numbers and selectivity in the oxidation of alkenes and alcohols, using H(2)O(2) as terminal oxidant. Here we report our recent finding that these ligands decompose in situ to pyridine-2-carboxylic acid and its derivatives, in the presence of a manganese source, H(2)O(2) and a base. Importantly, the decomposition occurs prior to the onset of catalysed oxidation of organic substrates.

Manganese catalyzed cis-dihydroxylation of electron deficient alkenes with H(2)O(2).

A practical method for the multigram scale selective cis-dihydroxylation of electron deficient alkenes such as diethyl fumarate and N-alkyl and N-aryl-maleimides using H(2)O(2) is described. High turnovers (>1000) can be achieved with this efficient manganese based catalyst system, prepared in situ from a manganese salt, pyridine-2-carboxylic acid, a ketone and a base, under ambient conditions. Under optimized conditions, for diethyl fumarate at least 1000 turnovers could be achieved with only 1.

Reduction of carbon-carbon double bonds using organocatalytically generated diimide.

An efficient method has been developed for the reduction of carbon-carbon double bonds with diimide, catalytically generated in situ from hydrazine hydrate. The employed catalyst is prepared in one step from riboflavin (vitamin B(2)). Reactions are carried out in air and are a valuable alternative when metal-catalyzed hydrogenations are problematic.

Nurse plants, tree saplings and grazing pressure: changes in facilitation along a biotic environmental gradient.

Current conceptual models predict that an increase in stress shifts interactions between plants from competitive to facilitative; hence, facilitation is expected to gain in ecological importance with increasing stress. Little is known about how facilitative interactions between plants change with increasing biotic stress, such as that incurred by consumer pressure or herbivory (i.e.