Exhaustive reanalysis of barcode sequences from public repositories highlights ongoing misidentifications and impacts taxa diversity and distribution.

Accurate species identification often relies on public repositories to compare the barcode sequences of the investigated individual(s) with taxonomically assigned sequences. However, the accuracy of identifications in public repositories is often questionable, and the names originally given are rarely updated. For instance, species of the Sea Lettuce (Ulva spp.

Growing Azolla to produce sustainable protein feed: the effect of differing species and CO concentrations on biomass productivity and chemical composition.

Background: Since available arable land is limited and nitrogen fertilizers pollute the environment, cropping systems ought to be developed that do not rely on them. Here we investigate the rapidly growing, N -fixing Azolla/Nostoc symbiosis for its potential productivity and chemical composition to determine its potential as protein feed.

Results: In a small production system, cultures of Azolla pinnata and Azolla filiculoides were continuously harvested for over 100 days, yielding an average productivity of 90.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids in various macroalgal species from North Atlantic and tropical seas.

Background: In this study the efficacy of using marine macroalgae as a source for polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are associated with the prevention of inflammation, cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders, was investigated.

Methods: The fatty acid (FA) composition in lipids from seven sea weed species from the North Sea (Ulva lactuca, Chondrus crispus, Laminaria hyperborea, Fucus serratus, Undaria pinnatifida, Palmaria palmata, Ascophyllum nodosum) and two from tropical seas (Caulerpa taxifolia, Sargassum natans) was determined using GCMS. Four independent replicates were taken from each seaweed species.

No evidence for substantial aerobic methane emission by terrestrial plants: a 13C-labelling approach.

* The results of a single publication stating that terrestrial plants emit methane has sparked a discussion in several scientific journals, but an independent test has not yet been performed. * Here it is shown, with the use of the stable isotope (13)C and a laser-based measuring technique, that there is no evidence for substantial aerobic methane emission by terrestrial plants, maximally 0.3% (0.

Experimental manipulation of succession in heathland ecosystems.

An experiment was carried out in two heathland ecosystems, one dominated by Calluna vulgaris and the other by Molinia caerulea, to analyse the effects of soil organic matter accumulation and nutrient mineralization on plant species dynamics during succession. The experiment included one treatment that received nutrient solution and two treatments where the rate of soil organic matter accumulation was reduced by removing litter or accelerated by adding litter. In a fourth treatment the C.