Accurate characterisation of ecological communities with respect to their biodiversity and food-web structure is essential for conservation. However, combined empirical study of biodiversity and multi-trophic food webs at a large spatial and temporal resolution has been prohibited by the lack of appropriate access to such data from natural systems. Here, we assessed biodiversity and food-web characteristics across a 700 km riverine network over seasons using environmental DNA. We found contrasting biodiversity patterns between major taxonomic groups. Local richness showed statistically significant, season-dependent increases and decreases towards downstream location within the catchment for fish and bacteria, respectively. Meanwhile, invertebrate richness remained spatially unchanged but varied across seasons. The structure of local food webs, such as link density and nestedness, also varied across space and time. However, these patterns did not necessarily mirror those observed for biodiversity and functional feeding characteristics. Our results suggest that biodiversity patterns and food-web dynamics are not directly scalable to each other even at the same spatial and temporal scales. In order to conserve species diversity as well as the functional trophic integrity of communities, patterns of biodiversity and food-web characteristics must thus be jointly studied.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03216-z | DOI Listing |
Environ Toxicol Chem
January 2025
Molecular Biosciences PhD Program, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, United States.
Riparian spiders are used in ecotoxicology as sentinels of bioavailable contaminants that are transferred from aquatic to terrestrial habitats via emergent aquatic insects. Spiders in the family Tetragnathidae are particularly of interest because a high proportion of their diet consists of emergent aquatic insects and their contaminant loads reflect the amount transferred through the food web to riparian predators. The transfer of contaminants can be determined through food web tracers such as stable isotopes and polyunsaturated fatty acids; however, it is unclear how contaminants and tracers vary over the course of a year.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrob Biotechnol
January 2025
Fonterra Microbiome Research Centre, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Advancing microbiome-gut-brain axis science requires systematic, rational and translational approaches to bridge the critical knowledge gaps currently preventing full exploitation of the gut microbiome as a tractable therapeutic target for gastrointestinal, mental and brain health. Current research is still marked by many open questions that undermine widespread application to humans. For example, the lack of mechanistic understanding of probiotic effects means it remains unclear why even apparently closely related strains exhibit different effects in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Agric Food Chem
January 2025
Department of General Surgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, China.
Background Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) manifests as a critical state marked by acute abdominal symptoms, often associated with intestinal barrier dysfunction, exacerbating SAP retroactively. Ganoderic acid A (GAA) demonstrates anti-inflammatory properties in various inflammatory disorders. Nonetheless, its potential therapeutic impact on SAP and the underlying mechanisms remain unexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Agric Food Chem
January 2025
College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 Shaanxi, China.
Pumpkin extract has been shown to alleviate hyperglycemic symptoms by improving glucose metabolism disorders. However, the specific active components responsible for its hypoglycemic effects and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, db/db mice underwent a 4-week dietary intervention with two pumpkin flours (PF1 and PF2), total dietary fiber (TDF), soluble dietary fiber (SDF), and insoluble dietary fiber (IDF), with acarbose serving as a positive control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfectious animal diseases represent a major constraint to livestock productivity, food security and wellbeing in many developing countries. To mitigate these impacts, farmers frequently use antimicrobials without professional advice, potentially yielding drug residues in livestock products and the food chain, as well as resistant antimicrobial genes. Recent studies identified Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) and Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) as the diseases most negatively affecting ruminant livestock productivity and farmers' wellbeing in Ghana.
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