Arthropod Food Webs in the Foreland of a Retreating Greenland Glacier: Integrating Molecular Gut Content Analysis With Structural Equation Modelling.

The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the global average since 1979, resulting in rapid glacier retreat and exposing new glacier forelands. These forelands offer unique experimental settings to explore how global warming impacts ecosystems, particularly for highly climate-sensitive arthropods. Understanding these impacts can help anticipate future biodiversity and ecosystem changes under ongoing warming scenarios.

Global fine-resolution data on springtail abundance and community structure.

Springtails (Collembola) inhabit soils from the Arctic to the Antarctic and comprise an estimated ~32% of all terrestrial arthropods on Earth. Here, we present a global, spatially-explicit database on springtail communities that includes 249,912 occurrences from 44,999 samples and 2,990 sites. These data are mainly raw sample-level records at the species level collected predominantly from private archives of the authors that were quality-controlled and taxonomically-standardised.

The effects of pollution by multiple metals derived from long-term smelting activities on soil mite communities in arable soils under different land use types in East China.

Soil pollution represents a threat to soil biodiversity and to soil and human health. However, many ecotoxicological issues, such as the impact of heavy metal pollution on the soil mite community and its spatial distribution in areas with complex environmental factors, are not fully understood. Here, an investigation was conducted in an arable area (about 11 km) enclosed by surrounding mountains.

Analysis of heat and cold tolerance of a freeze-tolerant soil invertebrate distributed from temperate to Arctic regions: evidence of selection for extreme cold tolerance.

Tolerance to thermal extremes is critical for the geographic distributions of ectotherm species, many of which are probably going to be modified by future climatic changes. To predict species distributions it is important to understand the potential of species to adapt to changing thermal conditions. Here, we tested whether the thermal tolerance traits of a common freeze-tolerant potworm were correlated with climatic conditions and if adaptation to extreme cold constrains the evolutionary potential for high temperature tolerance.

Key to Ptychopteridae (Diptera) larvae of Northern Europe, with notes on distribution and biology.

A key to larvae of Ptychopteridae (phantom crane flies) is provided for species inhabiting Northern Europe. The key encompasses seven species, including the previously undescribed larvae of Ptychoptera longicauda (Tonnoir 1919). Larval specimens examined were primarily sampled from sites in Denmark.

The effect of Bt crops on soil invertebrates: a systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis.

The ongoing debate about the ecological effects of Bt-crops calls for thorough reviews about the impact on soil biodiversity and their ecosystem services. Transgenic Bt-crops have been genetically modified by inserting a Bacillus thuriengensis gene so the plant expresses a Cry toxin aimed for insect crop pests. Non-target soil invertebrates are particularly recognized for their contribution to plant nutrient availability and turnover of organic matter and it is therefore relevant to protect these invertebrate taxa.

Insights into the earthworm gut multi-kingdom microbial communities.

Earthworms are widely known to impact soil health, having a key role in nutrient cycling and are often referred to as soil engineers. They are vital for soil microbial assemblages particularly through their feeding and burrowing activity in soil. Earthworms feed on soil organic matter and litter, and the resulting casts alter the soil microbial community.

Status and trends of terrestrial arthropod abundance and diversity in the North Atlantic region of the Arctic.

The Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP) provides an opportunity to improve our knowledge of Arctic arthropod diversity, but initial baseline studies are required to summarise the status and trends of planned target groups of species known as Focal Ecosystem Components (FECs). We begin this process by collating available data for a relatively well-studied region in the Arctic, the North Atlantic region, summarising the diversity of key terrestrial arthropod FECs, and compiling trends for some representative species. We found the FEC classification system to be challenging to implement, but identified some key groups to target in the initial phases of the programme.

Assessment of toxicity of heavy metal-contaminated soils toward Collembola in the paddy fields supported by laboratory tests.

Effects on soil Collembola of Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd pollution from Cu smelters over 40 years were investigated in paddy fields from an area of Eastern China. We compared the field effects to those observed in single-species laboratory tests employing the hemiedaphic collembolan Folsomia candida and the epedaphic Sinella curviseta obtained from laboratory cultures and exposed to field-collected polluted soil. The results indicated that different collembolan species responded differently to the pollution in the fields and could be divided into sensitive, indifferent, and tolerant types accordingly.

Wood ash application increases pH but does not harm the soil mesofauna.

Application of bioash from biofuel combustion to soil supports nutrient recycling, but may have unwanted and detrimental ecotoxicological side-effects, as the ash is a complex mixture of compounds that could affect soil invertebrates directly or through changes in their food or habitat conditions. To examine this, we performed laboratory toxicity studies of the effects of wood-ash added to an agricultural soil and the organic horizon of a coniferous plantation soil with the detrivore soil collembolans Folsomia candida and Onychiurus yodai, the gamasid predaceous mite Hypoaspis aculeifer, and the enchytraeid worm Enchytraeus crypticus. We used ash concentrations spanning 0-75 g kg soil.

Urban and industrial land uses have a higher soil biological quality than expected from physicochemical quality.

Despite their importance both in soil functioning and as soil indicators, the response of microarthropods to various land uses is still unclear. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of land use on microarthropod diversity and determine whether a soil's biological quality follows the same physicochemical quality-based gradient from forest, agriculture-grassland, agriculture-arable land, vineyards, urban vegetable gardens to urban, industrial, traffic, mining and military areas. A database compiling the characteristics of 758 communities has been established.

Interaction webs in arctic ecosystems: Determinants of arctic change?

How species interact modulate their dynamics, their response to environmental change, and ultimately the functioning and stability of entire communities. Work conducted at Zackenberg, Northeast Greenland, has changed our view on how networks of arctic biotic interactions are structured, how they vary in time, and how they are changing with current environmental change: firstly, the high arctic interaction webs are much more complex than previously envisaged, and with a structure mainly dictated by its arthropod component. Secondly, the dynamics of species within these webs reflect changes in environmental conditions.

The effects of straw or straw-derived gasification biochar applications on soil quality and crop productivity: A farm case study.

Thermal gasification of straw is a highly efficient technology that produces bioenergy and gasification biochar that can be used as a soil amendment, thereby returning non-renewable nutrients and stable carbon, and securing soil quality and crop productivity. A Danish on-farm field study investigated the impact of traditional straw incorporation vs. straw removal for thermal gasification bioenergy production and the application of straw gasification biochar (GB) on soil quality and crop production.

Pesticide Side Effects in an Agricultural Soil Ecosystem as Measured by amoA Expression Quantification and Bacterial Diversity Changes.

Background And Methods: Assessing the effects of pesticide hazards on microbiological processes in the soil is currently based on analyses that provide limited insight into the ongoing processes. This study proposes a more comprehensive approach. The side effects of pesticides may appear as changes in the expression of specific microbial genes or as changes in diversity.

Species composition of a soil invertebrate multi-species test system determines the level of ecotoxicity.

A soil multi-species, SMS, experimental test system consisting of the natural microbial community, five collembolan species and a predatory mite along with either Enchytraeus crypticus or the earthworm Eisenia fetida were exposed to α-cypermethrin. A comparison of the performance of these two types of SMSs is given to aid the development of a standard test system. E.

Microarray detection and qPCR screening of potential biomarkers of Folsomia candida (Collembola: Isotomidae) exposed to Bt proteins (Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac).

The impact of Bt proteins on non-target arthropods is less understood than their effects on target organisms where the mechanism of toxic action is known. Here, we report the effects of two Bt proteins, Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac, on gene expression in the non-target collembolan, Folsomia candida. A customized microarray was used to study gene expression in F.

Laboratory assessment of the impacts of transgenic Bt rice on the ecological fitness of the soil non-target arthropod, Folsomia candida (Collembola: Isotomidae).

Transgenic rice expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) endotoxins (Bt rice) for pest control is considered an important solution to food security in China. However, tests for potential effects on non-target soil organisms are required for environmental risk assessment. The soil collembolan Folsomia candida L.

Creating pharmacy staffing-to-demand models: predictive tools used at two institutions.

Purpose: The creation and implementation of data-driven staffing-to-demand models at two institutions are described.

Summary: Predictive workload tools provide a guideline for pharmacy managers to adjust staffing needs based on hospital volume metrics. At Abbott Northwestern Hospital, management worked with the department's staff and labor management committee to clearly outline the productivity monitoring system and the process for reducing hours.

Decrease in catalase activity of Folsomia candida fed a Bt rice diet.

Here we report the effects of three Bt-rice varieties and their non-Bt conventional isolines on biological traits including survival, reproduction, and the activities of three antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase, in the Collembolan, Folsomia candida. The reproduction was significantly lower when fed Kemingdao and Huahui1 than those feeding on their non-GM near-isogenic varieties Xiushui and Minghui63 respectively, this can be explained by the differences of plant compositions depended on variety of rice. The catalase activity of F.

NORMA-Gene: a simple and robust method for qPCR normalization based on target gene data.

Background: Normalization of target gene expression, measured by real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR), is a requirement for reducing experimental bias and thereby improving data quality. The currently used normalization approach is based on using one or more reference genes. Yet, this approach extends the experimental work load and suffers from assumptions that may be difficult to meet and to validate.

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) as a tool to predict the bioavailability and toxicity of pyrene to the springtail, Folsomia candida, under various soil conditions.

The porewater concentrations of pyrene were estimated by a negligible depletive solid-phase microextraction (SPME) method. The effects of organic matter (OM) and soil aging on the bioavailability of pyrene in soil were investigated by generation of reproductive effect concentrations (EC50) for the euedaphic springtail, Folsomia candida, under various test conditions. The soil used was a sandy loam soil with natural OM content of 2.

Effects of acclimation temperature on thermal tolerance and membrane phospholipid composition in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

Adaptative responses of ectothermic organisms to thermal variation typically involve the reorganization of membrane glycerophospholipids (GPLs) to maintain membrane function. We investigated how acclimation at 15, 20 and 25 degrees C during preimaginal development influences the thermal tolerance and the composition of membrane GPLs in adult Drosophila melanogaster. Long-term cold survival was significantly improved by low acclimation temperature.

Comparison of two personal-computer-based mobile devices to support pharmacists' clinical documentation.

Purpose: Two personal-computer (PC)-based mobile devices used to support electronic clinical pharmacy documentation on two decentralized units at a large academic medical center were compared.

Methods: A five-week, two-phase pilot study was performed to compare a laptop computer on a mobile cart ("computer on wheels," or COW) with a tablet PC for pharmacist preference and ability to support electronic clinical documentation. The study was performed on the inpatient transplant unit and the pediatric hematology-oncology unit.

Probabilistic risk assessment for linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) in sewage sludge used on agricultural soil.

Deterministic and probabilistic risk assessments were developed for commercial LAS in agricultural soil amended with sewage sludge. The procedure done according to ILSI Europe's Conceptual Framework [Schowanek, D., Carr, R.