Publications by authors named "K Poldmaa"
Article Synopsis
- Natural enemies significantly influence insect populations, especially regarding traits, but the impact of non-viral pathogens, particularly entomopathogenic fungi (EPF), is less understood.
- This paper analyzes data from 79 case studies, finding that EPF infections in insects have a median prevalence of 8.2%, lower than the mortality caused by predators and parasitoids.
- The study highlights that while fungal infections are widespread among insects, they rarely reach epidemic levels, and more research is needed to explore the dynamics of EPF and insect interactions in natural ecosystems.
Article Synopsis
- The study analyzes soil fungal diversity globally by examining over 4,000 topsoil samples from various ecosystems, revealing how different environmental factors influence fungal communities.
- It demonstrates the effects of temperature and precipitation on local species richness (alpha diversity) and how these factors contribute to variations in fungal composition and evolutionary relationships (beta and phylogenetic diversity).
- The research integrates fungal diversity into global biodiversity frameworks, providing maps and insights that can aid in conservation efforts and ecological studies worldwide.
UNITE (https://unite.ut.ee) is a web-based database and sequence management environment for molecular identification of eukaryotes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFungi are highly diverse organisms, which provide multiple ecosystem services. However, compared with charismatic animals and plants, the distribution patterns and conservation needs of fungi have been little explored. Here, we examined endemicity patterns, global change vulnerability and conservation priority areas for functional groups of soil fungi based on six global surveys using a high-resolution, long-read metabarcoding approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmature stages of insects are vulnerable to various antagonists, including pathogens. While the abiotic factors affecting pathogen prevalence in insect populations are reasonably well documented, much less is known about relevant ecological interactions. We studied the probability of the larvae of three lepidopteran species to die from fungal infection as a function of insect species and food plants in central Argentina.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF