Transient hypoxia drives soil microbial community dynamics and biogeochemistry during human decomposition.

Human decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems is a dynamic process creating localized hot spots of soil microbial activity. Longer-term (beyond a few months) impacts on decomposer microbial communities are poorly characterized and do not typically connect microbial communities to biogeochemistry, limiting our understanding of decomposer communities and their functions. We performed separate year-long human decomposition trials, one starting in spring, another in winter, integrating bacterial and fungal community structure and abundances with soil physicochemistry and biogeochemistry to identify key drivers of microbial community change.

Breaking Barriers with Bread: Using the Sourdough Starter Microbiome to Teach High-Throughput Sequencing Techniques.

Widespread usage of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) in the LIFE SCIENCES has produced a demand for undergraduate and graduate institutions to offer classes exposing students to all aspects of HTS (sample acquisition, laboratory work, sequencing technologies, bioinformatics, and statistical analyses). Despite the increase in demand, many challenges exist for these types of classes. We advocate for the usage of the sourdough starter microbiome for implementing meta-amplicon sequencing.

Feasting, not fasting: winter diets of cave hibernating bats in the United States.

Temperate bat species use extended torpor to conserve energy when ambient temperatures are low and food resources are scarce. Previous research suggests that migratory bat species and species known to roost in thermally unstable locations, such as those that roost in trees, are more likely to remain active during winter. However, hibernating colonies of cave roosting bats in the southeastern United States may also be active and emerge from caves throughout the hibernation period.

Microbiome Variation Across Two Hemlock Species With Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Infestation.

The hemlock woolly adelgid (, HWA), an invasive insect, is devastating native hemlock populations in eastern North America, and management outcomes have so far had limited success. While many plant microbiomes influence and even support plant immune responses to insect herbivory, relatively little is known about the hemlock microbiome and its interactions with pathogens or herbivores such as HWA. Using 16S rRNA and ITS gene amplicon sequencing, we characterized the needle, branch, root, and rhizosphere microbiome of two hemlock species, and , that displayed low and high levels of HWA populations.

Disparities in second-generation DNA metabarcoding results exposed with accessible and repeatable workflows.

Different second-generation sequencing technologies may have taxon-specific biases when DNA metabarcoding prey in predator faeces. Our major objective was to examine differences in prey recovery from bat guano across two different sequencing workflows using the same faecal DNA extracts. We compared results between the Ion Torrent PGM and the Illumina MiSeq with similar library preparations and the same analysis pipeline.

Predator-prey interaction reveals local effects of high-altitude insect migration.

High-altitude nocturnal insect migrations are ubiquitous and represent significant pulses of biomass, which impact large areas and multiple trophic levels, yet are difficult to study and poorly understood. Predation on migratory insects by high-flying bats provides potential for investigating flows of migratory insects across a landscape. Brazilian free-tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis, provide valuable ecosystem services by consuming migratory pests, and research suggests migratory insects are an important resource to bats in autumn.

Bats track and exploit changes in insect pest populations.

The role of bats or any generalist predator in suppressing prey populations depends on the predator's ability to track and exploit available prey. Using a qPCR fecal DNA assay, we document significant association between numbers of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) consuming corn earworm (CEW) moths (Helicoverpa zea) and seasonal fluctuations in CEW populations. This result is consistent with earlier research linking the bats' diet to patterns of migration, abundance, and crop infestation by important insect pests.

Population growth of Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana) predates human agricultural activity.

Background: Human activities, such as agriculture, hunting, and habitat modification, exert a significant effect on native species. Although many species have suffered population declines, increased population fragmentation, or even extinction in connection with these human impacts, others seem to have benefitted from human modification of their habitat. Here we examine whether population growth in an insectivorous bat (Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana) can be attributed to the widespread expansion of agriculture in North America following European settlement.