Search results for " Ecosystem"
showing 10 items of 633 documents
Influence of plant traits, soil microbial properties, and abiotic parameters on nitrogen turnover of grassland ecosystems
2016
International audience; Although it is known that multiple interactions among plant functional traits, microbial properties , and abiotic soil parameters influence the nutrient turnover, the relative contribution of each of these groups of variables is poorly understood. We manipulated grassland plant functional composition and soil nitrogen (N) availability in a multisite mesocosm experiment to quantify their relative effects on soil N turnover. Overall, root traits, arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization, denitrification potential, as well as N availability and water availability, best explained the variation in measured ecosystem properties, especially the trade-off between nutrient sequest…
Contrasting olfactory responses of two egg parasitoids to buckwheat floral scent are reflected in field parasitism rates
2019
International audience; Conservation biological control programs advocate the planting of flower strips alongside crops to improve the survival and effectiveness of parasitoids. Ideally, the provided food plants are highly attractive and benefit the targeted biocontrol agents without promoting pests or intraguild competition. Previous laboratory studies showed that Trissolcus basalis, an egg parasitoid of the stink bug Nezara viridula, is highly attracted to floral odors of buckwheat and that its nectar increases the wasp’s fecundity. In the field, T. basalis competes with the co-occurring parasitoid Ooencyrtus telenomicida for host eggs. Therefore, in the present study, we explored whether…
Eutrophic status influences the impact of pesticide mixtures and predation on Daphnia pulex populations
2021
Abstract Pesticides, nutrients, and ecological stressors such as competition or predation co‐occur in freshwater ecosystems impacted by agriculture. The extent to which combinations of these stressors affect aquatic populations and the role of nutrients availability in modulating these responses requires further understanding. In this study, we assessed how pesticides affecting different taxonomic groups and predation influence the response of Daphnia pulex populations under different trophic conditions. An outdoor experiment was designed following a factorial design, with the insecticide chlorpyrifos, the herbicide diuron, and the predation by Notonecta sp. individuals as key stressors. Th…
The role of anthropogenic habitats in freshwater mussel conservation
2018
The data that supports the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.
The role of novel forest ecosystems in the conservation of wood-inhabiting fungi in boreal broadleaved forests
2016
The increasing human impact on the earth’s biosphere is inflicting changes at all spatial scales. As well as deterioration and fragmentation of natural biological systems, these changes also led to other, unprecedented effects and emergence of novel habitats. In boreal zone, intensive forest management has negatively impacted a multitude of deadwood-associated species. This is especially alarming given the important role wood-inhabiting fungi have in the natural decay processes. In the boreal zone, natural broad-leaved-dominated, herb-rich forests are threatened habitats which have high wood-inhabiting fungal species richness. Fungal diversity in other broadleaved forest habitat types is po…
Drivers of above-ground understorey biomass and nutrient stocks in temperate deciduous forests
2020
The understorey in temperate forests can play an important functional role, depending on its biomass and functional characteristics. While it is known that local soil and stand characteristics largely determine the biomass of the understorey, less is known about the role of global change. Global change can directly affect understorey biomass, but also indirectly by modifying the overstorey, local resource availability and growing conditions at the forest floor. In this observational study across Europe, we aim at disentangling the impact of global-change drivers on understorey biomass and nutrient stocks, from the impact of overstorey characteristics and local site conditions. Using piecewi…
European catfish (Silurus glanis) as a freshwater apex predator drives ecosystem via its diet adaptability
2017
AbstractApex predators play a key role in ecosystem stability across environments but their numbers in general are decreasing. By contrast, European catfish (Silurus glanis), the European freshwater apex predator, is on the increase. However, studies concerning apex predators in freshwaters are scarce in comparison to those in terrestrial and marine ecosystems. The present study combines stomach content and stable isotope analyses with diet preferences of catfish to reveal its impact on the ecosystem since stocking. Catfish niche width is extremely wide in comparison to the typical model predator, Northern pike (Esox lucius). Catfish and pike have different individual dietary specialization…
Competition between marine mammals and fisheries in contemporary harvested marine ecosystems
2019
Competitive interactions between marine mammals and fisheries represent some of the most complex challenges in marine resource management worldwide. The development of commercial fisheries and recovering marine mammal populations have contributed to a decrease in fish availability. Whilst ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) can counteract this decrease, achieving the EBFM objectives faces certain major obstacles including insufficient or unreliable data, inapplicable assessment models, as well as inadequate management decisions that do not account for fisheries-induced morphological alterations (FIMA) and marine mammal management. Despite a body of evidence addressing various aspect…
Functional responses of multitaxa communities to disturbance and stress gradients in a restored floodplain
2015
Trait-based approaches can reveal the mechanisms through which disturbances or stress impact communities, allowing comparisons of the role of different mechanisms in shaping communities among taxonomic groups. Such information can lead to higher comparability, transferability and predictability of the outcome of restoration projects. However, multitaxa trait-based approaches were rarely used in the context of ecosystem restoration. We investigated the responses to environmental gradients of seven taxa (vascular plants, staphylinid and carabid beetles, spiders, isopods, diplopods and earthworms) in a restored floodplain using a species traits approach. We assessed the impact of flood disturb…
Lakes in the era of global change: moving beyond single‐lake thinking in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services
2020
The Anthropocene presents formidable threats to freshwater ecosystems. Lakes are especially vulnerable and important at the same time. They cover only a small area worldwide but harbour high levels of biodiversity and contribute disproportionately to ecosystem services. Lakes differ with respect to their general type (e.g. land-locked, drainage, floodplain and large lakes) and position in the landscape (e.g. highland versus lowland lakes), which contribute to the dynamics of these systems. Lakes should be generally viewed as ‘meta-systems’, whereby biodiversity is strongly affected by species dispersal, and ecosystem dynamics are contributed by the flow of matter and substances among locati…