Saproxylic beetles' morphological traits and higher trophic guilds indicate boreal forest naturalness.

Forests contribute to numerous ecosystem functions and services and contain a large proportion of terrestrial biodiversity, but they are being negatively impaced by anthropogenic activities. Forests that have never been clear-cut and have old growth characteristics, termed "near-natural," often harbor different and richer species assemblages than managed forests. Alternative management strategies may be able to balance the needs of biodiversity with the demands of forestry, but evaluation efforts are limited by the challenges of measuring biodiversity.

Structure and formation of the perforated theca defining the Pelagophyceae (Heterokonta), and three new genera that substantiate the diverse nature of the class.

The pelagophytes, a morphologically diverse class of marine heterokont algae, have been historically united only by DNA sequences. Recently we described a novel perforated theca (PT) encasing cells from the Pelagophyceae and hypothesized it may be the first morphological feature to define the class. Here we consolidate that observation, describing a PT for the first time in an additional seven pelagophyte genera, including three genera new to science.

Veteran trees have divergent effects on beetle diversity and wood decomposition.

Veteran hollow trees are keystone structures in ecosystems and provide important habitat for a diverse set of organisms, many of which are involved in the process of decomposition. Since veteran trees are 'islands' of high biodiversity, they provide a unique system in which to study the relationship between biodiversity and decomposition of wood. We tested this relationship with a balanced experiential design, where we quantified the taxonomic and functional diversity of beetles directly involved in the process of decomposing wood, and measured the decomposition of experimentally added bundles of small diameter wood around 20 veteran trees and 20 nearby young trees in southern Norway.