Drivers of wood-inhabiting fungal diversity in European and Oriental beech forests.

The hyperdiverse wood-inhabiting fungi play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle, but often are threatened by deadwood removal, particularly in temperate forests dominated by European beech () and Oriental beech (). To study the impact of abiotic drivers, deadwood factors, forest management and biogeographical patterns in forests of both beech species on fungal composition and diversity, we collected 215 deadwood-drilling samples in 18 forests from France to Armenia and identified fungi by meta-barcoding. In our analyses, we distinguished the patterns driven by rare, common, and dominant species using Hill numbers.

Disturbance theory for ecosystem ecologists: A primer.

Understanding what regulates ecosystem functional responses to disturbance is essential in this era of global change. However, many pioneering and still influential disturbance-related theorie proposed by ecosystem ecologists were developed prior to rapid global change, and before tools and metrics were available to test them. In light of new knowledge and conceptual advances across biological disciplines, we present four disturbance ecology concepts that are particularly relevant to ecosystem ecologists new to the field: (a) the directionality of ecosystem functional response to disturbance; (b) functional thresholds; (c) disturbance-succession interactions; and (d) diversity-functional stability relationships.

Diesel exhaust particles alter gut microbiome and gene expression in the bumblebee .

Insect decline is a major threat to ecosystems around the world as they provide many important functions, such as pollination or pest control. Pollution is one of the main reasons for the decline, alongside changes in land use, global warming, and invasive species. While negative impacts of pesticides are well-studied, there is still a lack of knowledge about the effects of other anthropogenic pollutants, such as airborne particulate matter, on insects.

An experimental, behavioral, and chemical analysis of food limitations in mutualistic ant symbionts inhabiting host plants.

Obligate mutualistic plant-ants are often constrained by their plant partner's capacity to provide resources. However, despite this limitation, some ant partners actively reject potential prey items and instead drop them from the plant rather than consuming them, leaving the ants entirely reliant on host plant-provided food, including that provided indirectly by the symbiotic scale insects that ants tend inside the plants. This dependency potentially increases the efficiency of these ants in defending their host.

Dung-visiting beetle diversity is mainly affected by land use, while community specialization is driven by climate.

Dung beetles are important actors in the self-regulation of ecosystems by driving nutrient cycling, bioturbation, and pest suppression. Urbanization and the sprawl of agricultural areas, however, destroy natural habitats and may threaten dung beetle diversity. In addition, climate change may cause shifts in geographical distribution and community composition.

A novel methanotroph potentially couples methane oxidation to iodate reduction.

Methane oxidizing microbes play a key role in reducing the emission of this potent greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. The known versatility of the recently discovered anaerobic methanotrophs is limited. Here, we report a novel uncultured species, , with the genetic potential of iodate respiration from biofilm in iodine-rich cavern spring water.

The Beauty is a beast: Does leachate from the invasive terrestrial plant affect aquatic food webs?

Invasive alien species are a major threat to ecosystems. Invasive terrestrial plants can produce allelochemicals which suppress native terrestrial biodiversity. However, it is not known if leached allelochemicals from invasive plants growing in riparian zones, such as , also affect freshwater ecosystems.

Influence of tree hollow characteristics and forest structure on saproxylic beetle diversity in tree hollows in managed forests in a regional comparison.

Tree hollows are among the rarest habitats in today's Central European managed forests but are considered key structures for high biodiversity in forests. To analyze and compare the effects of tree hollow characteristics and forest structure on diversity of saproxylic beetles in tree hollows in differently structured managed forests, we examined between 41 and 50 tree hollows in beech trees in each of three state forest management districts in Germany. During the two-year study, we collected 283 saproxylic beetle species (5880 individuals; 22% threatened species), using emergence traps.

Invasive : A driver of changes in native vegetation?

Biological invasions are one of the major threats to biodiversity worldwide and contribute to changing community patterns and ecosystem processes. However, it is often not obvious whether an invader is the "driver" causing ecosystem changes or a "passenger" which is facilitated by previous ecosystem changes. Causality of the impact can be demonstrated by experimental removal of the invader or introduction into a native community.

Diversification in evolutionary arenas-Assessment and synthesis.

Understanding how and why rates of evolutionary diversification vary is a key issue in evolutionary biology, ecology, and biogeography. Evolutionary rates are the net result of interacting processes summarized under concepts such as adaptive radiation and evolutionary stasis. Here, we review the central concepts in the evolutionary diversification literature and synthesize these into a simple, general framework for studying rates of diversification and quantifying their underlying dynamics, which can be applied across clades and regions, and across spatial and temporal scales.

Niche differentiation in rainforest ant communities across three continents.

A central prediction of niche theory is that biotic communities are structured by niche differentiation arising from competition. To date, there have been numerous studies of niche differentiation in local ant communities, but little attention has been given to the macroecology of niche differentiation, including the extent to which particular biomes show distinctive patterns of niche structure across their global ranges. We investigated patterns of niche differentiation and competition in ant communities in tropical rainforests, using different baits reflecting the natural food spectrum.

Direct and indirect effects of land-use intensification on ant communities in temperate grasslands.

Land-use intensification is a major driver of local species extinction and homogenization. Temperate grasslands, managed at low intensities over centuries harbored a high species diversity, which is increasingly threatened by the management intensification over the last decades. This includes key taxa like ants.

Matriline effects on metamorphic traits in a natural system in the European common frog ().

Successful reproduction is an important determinant of the fitness of an individual and of the dynamics of populations. Offspring of the European common frog () exhibit a high degree of variability in metamorphic traits. However, environmental factors alone cannot explain this phenotypic variability, and the influence of genetic factors remains to be determined.

Population-specific effects of developmental temperature on body condition and jumping performance of a widespread European frog.

All physiological processes of ectotherms depend on environmental temperature. Thus, adaptation of physiological mechanisms to the thermal environments is important for achieving optimal performance and fitness. The European Common Frog, Rana temporaria, is widely distributed across different thermal habitats.