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Analyzing the spatio-temporal relationship between socio-economics and land-use structure at the micro-scale is crucial for effective spatial governance in large cities. This paper focuses on Beijing, utilizing long time-series remote sensing images and multi-source data spanning 30 years. We employ spatio-temporal clustering based on kilometer grid cells and a community-scale multi-factor aggregation method to categorize the linkages and spatio-temporal matching of population, GDP, land development, and ecological protection at the community level in a problem-oriented approach. Results indicate significant changes in Beijing's population, GDP, and land use, with a 11.53% increase in land development intensity. We identify significant temporal and spatial disparities between population–GDP dynamics, population–land development trends, and GDP–land development patterns, underscoring the multifaceted challenges inherent in urban governance. Areas characterized by lagging population concentration, sluggish economic growth, rampant land development, and ecological fragility collectively encapsulate notable portions of Beijing's expansive urban terrain. Mismatches pose governance risks, with medium to high-risk communities comprising 18.08% of community units and high-risk types representing 4.27% in Beijing. These discrepancies pose formidable governance risks, with communities ranging from moderate to high-risk categories, necessitating tailored interventions to address their unique challenges. This systematic exploration of comprehensive governance issues within mega-cities promises to furnish decision-makers with invaluable insights, facilitating nuanced and strategic urban governance approaches tailored to the intricacies of urban dynamics and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological niche is a fundamental concept in ecology that can be used in order better understand species relationships. The overlap in species niches provides a measure of the likelihood for species to co‐occur. Most approaches that quantify niche overlap have been based on distance and similarity indices, for pairwise combinations of species. In this paper, we suggest that niche overlap can be calculated from the predictions of a model. Using a statistical model to predict niche overlap provides various benefits, includes the possibility to adjust the model to properties of the data. We demonstrate this using an example dataset of an ecological community of Foraminifera species, to which we fit a generalized linear latent variable model (GLLVM). GLLVMs are a flexible class of models that allow to estimate the distribution of species using both measured environmental predictors and residual covariation between species. We demonstrate how to calculate niche overlap from GLLVMs for any combination of species, and separately for different environments. Predicting niche overlap from a model further expands the toolset available to ecologists for the exploration of species co‐occurrence patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The composition and geological evolution of pre-Cryogenian material in the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding areas have played an important role in studying the formation and evolution of early supercontinents on Earth. This paper systematically summarizes the characteristics of pre-Cryogenian sedimentation, paleontology, magmatism, and metamorphism in the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding areas. Based on existing data, the records of pre-Cryogenian sedimentation and paleontology are mainly concentrated in the Meso–Neoproterozoic, with relatively few records from the Paleoproterozoic or earlier. The oldest geological record is the Hadean detrital zircons in the metamorphosed sedimentary rocks of the Himalaya and Qamdo areas (ca. 4.0 Ga). The Tibetan Plateau and surrounding areas preserve records related to the formation and evolution of the Kenor supercraton, and the Columbia, Rodinia, and Gondwana supercontinents. Pre-Cryogenian basements can be divided into three types: Tarim-, Yangtze-, and Lhasa-type. The Tarim-type basement has a paleogeographic affinity with the northern margins of the Australian and Indian continents and lacks detrital zircon age peaks and magmatic-metamorphic records related to the Rodinia assembly (ca. 1.3–0.9 Ga). The Yangtze-type basement records volcanic activity related to global cooling in the latest pre-Cryogenian period and contains Meso–Neoproterozoic stromatolite and micropaleoflora fossils, as well as magmatic-metamorphic records related to Rodinia assembly (ca. 1.1–1.0 Ga). The Lhasa-type basement is characterized by Neoproterozoic rift-related sediment records (ca. 900 Ma) and high-pressure metamorphic events (ca. 650 Ma), with a prominent peak of detrital zircon ages of ca. 1.2–1.1 Ga. It is likely to have a paleogeographic affinity with the African continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is a primary manager of federal public lands in the northern Great Plains region, with over 400,000 hectares (ha) of mostly grassland and wetland administered under the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS). More specifically, the Service manages > 100,000 ha of mixed-grass and tallgrass prairie in northern Great Plains states. Prairies range from small, isolated < 16-ha tracts embedded in agricultural landscapes to > 10,000-ha contiguous tracts embedded within grassland-dominated landscapes. The mission of the NWRS is uniquely wildlife/wildland oriented, with human uses secondary in importance. As such, the expectation is that natural plant communities occur as relatively high-quality habitats. Grant et al. (2009) explored this expectation, concluding that "Despite 40–70 years of protection, the integrity of many prairies held in public trust continues to decline, primarily because of invasion by cool-season, introduced plants and woody vegetation." To address this concern, the Service proposed a program to evaluate restoration of Service-owned prairies following principles of adaptive management, including a decision support function. Our purpose in this paper is to update 14 years of development and implementation of the Native Prairie Adaptive Management (NPAM) program. We confirmed that Service-owned prairies continue to be degraded by invasive plants, especially Bromus inermis (smooth brome) and Poa pratensis (Kentucky bluegrass). However, NPAM has facilitated a significant gain in our understanding of ecological restoration and management of prairies in the region, increasing hope that restoration successes can occur when viewed over the long-term (i.e. many decades). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of health has gained importance in today's society in the context of a healthy China. The success of community environmental design is intimately correlated with everyone's physical and mental health since it is the setting for people's daily lives. At present, although the facilities and equipment of the community environment in our country are improving day by day, the important role of color psychology in the community environment has been neglected. Color has always been a part of human life and a very important component of the community environment. When it comes to the design of communal environments, the color design of various areas will have variable degrees of influence on the psychological space and perspective of individuals. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the application value of color psychology in the design of community health environments using color psychology as a scientific foundation. Additionally, the paper attempts to use color psychology as a scientific basis to study the thinking of health issues in the community environment. In addition, the results of the questionnaire survey are used to perform analysis and discussion in order to investigate the regular characteristics of the various research objects, as well as their preferences and psychological needs for color. This is done with the goal of providing empirical support for the improvement of the community environment and the health of the people living in it. In the end, the results of the questionnaire survey are compiled with four different design concepts. These design principles include functionality, naturalness, beauty, and safety. And the design intention and optimization strategy from the three directions the overall building, planting, and paving in the community healthy environment are then presented. This is done in order to create a colorful and comfortable healthy environment for the community life of people and to support the development of people's physical and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on tradoecology of traditional commuities. Using the Yoruba as a case study, it examines the usefulness of tradoecology as a tool in studying the ecological anthropology of traditional communities. It aims for a sustainable environment in the face of on-going monumental destruction of the planet. Data reveal that the world is inundated with severe ecological problems with apocalyptic proportions. Under this pathetic condition, the research notes that traditional communities, like the Yoruba are worst hit as they lack the needed modern scientific means to confront the menace. The paper identifies and proposes tradoecology as eco-friendly and as a most appropriate mechanism for sustaining the environment. Methodologically, the study engages in ethnographic fieldwork in parts of Yorubaland, which are considered as pristine traditional communities to gain firsthand knowledge of tradoecology and thereby build up fundamental points on ecological anthropology of the people. Findings indicate that Yorubaland has immense traditional ecological mechanisms, which can ameliorate the gamut of ecological degradation confronting humanity. The paper concludes that the study of tradoecology and ecological anthropology of the Yoruba portends great value to anthropological and ecological studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Size spectra are used to assess the status and functioning of marine and freshwater ecosystems worldwide. Their use is underpinned by theory linking the dynamics of trophic interactions to a power-law decline of abundance with body size in ecological communities. Recent papers on empirical size spectrum estimation have argued for Maximum Likelihood Estimation of power-law probability distributions as a more accurate alternative to traditional linear regression approaches. One major limitation of currently used size spectrum estimators from Maximum Likelihood Estimation is that they cannot account for the use of multiple sampling protocols, nor the distortions caused by gear size selectivity, and therefore they become restricted to a relatively narrow taxonomic group and size range. Further progress in the field requires new methods that are flexible enough to combine multiple trophic groups and sampling gears into a single size spectrum estimate, while taking advantage of more accurate distributional approaches. The method we propose in this paper fills this gap by deriving the distribution of observed sizes explicitly from the underlying power-law spectrum and gear selectivity functions. It specifies likelihoods as a product of two components: (i) the probability of belonging to a given group and (ii) the probability distribution within the group. Using Bayesian estimation, we applied the method to surveys of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fishes in lakes of Quetico Provincial Park, northwestern Ontario, using Van Dorn samplers, zooplankton nets, gillnets, and hydroacoustics. The results show that the spectra estimated from subsets of trophic groups or gears are weak predictors of more complete spectra, highlighting the importance of using more inclusive community data. The two-component partitioning of likelihoods also helped demonstrate the existence of between-group spectrum slopes that were overall steeper than within-group slopes, indicating that heterogeneity of trophic transfers across the size spectrum is an important factor structuring these ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecofeminist epistemologies recognize the ecological and social interdependencies in the planetary system. Carolyn Merchant’s (2014) concept of partnership ethics is grounded on the interdependencies between the biotic and abiotic communities: “A partnership ethic holds that the greatest good for the human and nonhuman communities is in their mutual living interdependence” (83). Following this line of thought, this paper studies Barbara Kingsolver’s fiction and nonfiction, namely, High Tide in Tucson (1995), Small Wonder (2003), Prodigal Summer (2000), Flight Behaviour (2012), and Animal Dreams (1990) through the lens of Ecofeminist Partnership Ethics (Carolyn Merchant 2014) and foregrounds the interrelationship between women, women-nature, and human-nature. This paper also analyses the ecofeminist thoughts of Karren Warren, Val Plumwood, and Carolyn Merchant and how Kingsolver’s works repudiate the limitations of dualistic thinking (culture/nature, man/woman) and the subordination of nature and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genome resequencing is now routine in other taxa, but large genome size and lackof reference assemblies have limited the ability to apply resequencing to molluscs. Endnote 1 Aword count of the collected papers in the Theo Murphy issue also shows that "mollusc" is the most popular name for a member of the phylum: 690 uses for "mollusc" in 13 papers versus 66 uses in 10 for "mollusk". Royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rstb Introduction Cite this article: Davison A, Neiman M. 2021 Pearls of wisdom - a Theo Murphy issue on molluscan genomics. Thus, work by Calcino et al. [11] and others [12] using recently published complete genomes from representatives of eight wild-caught mollusc species to investigate the prevalence of hemizygous regions has implications for understanding genome dynamics across the other animal phyla. [Extracted from the article]

This special issue entitled "Futures of Digital Death: Mobilities of Loss and Commemoration" explores the topic of digital death and how technologies are reconfigured by and reconfiguring social relationships with the deceased and dying loved ones as well as the larger ecosystem supporting such relationships. This Introduction article starts with an overview of the past research on digital death intended to provide a relevant context for the five papers included in this issue. Then, we reflect on how the current papers, or the present research, build on the past and can be used to address existing gaps and to inform future new research directions in order to move the field forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information on tropical Asian vertebrates has traditionally been sparse, particularly when it comes to cryptic species inhabiting the dense forests of the region. Vertebrate populations are declining globally due to land‐use change and hunting, the latter frequently referred as "defaunation." This is especially true in tropical Asia where there is extensive land‐use change and high human densities. Robust monitoring requires that large volumes of vertebrate population data be made available for use by the scientific and applied communities. Camera traps have emerged as an effective, non‐invasive, widespread, and common approach to surveying vertebrates in their natural habitats. However, camera‐derived datasets remain scattered across a wide array of sources, including published scientific literature, gray literature, and unpublished works, making it challenging for researchers to harness the full potential of cameras for ecology, conservation, and management. In response, we collated and standardized observations from 239 camera trap studies conducted in tropical Asia. There were 278,260 independent records of 371 distinct species, comprising 232 mammals, 132 birds, and seven reptiles. The total trapping effort accumulated in this data paper consisted of 876,606 trap nights, distributed among Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Bhutan, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Nepal, and far eastern India. The relatively standardized deployment methods in the region provide a consistent, reliable, and rich count data set relative to other large‐scale pressence‐only data sets, such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) or citizen science repositories (e.g., iNaturalist), and is thus most similar to eBird. To facilitate the use of these data, we also provide mammalian species trait information and 13 environmental covariates calculated at three spatial scales around the camera survey centroids (within 10‐, 20‐, and 30‐km buffers). We will update the dataset to include broader coverage of temperate Asia and add newer surveys and covariates as they become available. This dataset unlocks immense opportunities for single‐species ecological or conservation studies as well as applied ecology, community ecology, and macroecology investigations. The data are fully available to the public for utilization and research. Please cite this data paper when utilizing the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For example (examples I use here are from my actual experiences with students), an undergraduate biology major who joins my lab as a second-year student might have a great background in general biology and may even have excellent grades in math classes. ASLO: Your paper shows that green algae can acquire new genes through incorporation of large... B MM b : Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in algae and other protists is a well-established phenomenon, specifically HGT from other cellular sources like bacteria. Each year, ASLO honors aquatic scientists of various career stages for their exceptional work in advancing the fields of limnology and oceanography. Some of my most productive and enjoyable projects have resulted from graduate and undergraduate students, or Post Docs and students, working together. [Extracted from the article]

Tropical forest soils contribute 6.2 Tg yr-1 (28 %) to global methane (CH4) uptake, which is large enough to alter CH4 accumulation in the atmosphere if significant changes would occur to this sink. Elevated deposition of inorganic nitrogen (N) to temperate forest ecosystems has been shown to reduce CH4 uptake in forest soils, but almost no information exists from tropical forest soils even though projections show that N deposition will increase substantially in tropical regions. Here we report the results from long-term, ecosystem-scale experiments in which we assessed the impact of chronic N addition on soil CH4 fluxes from two old-growth forests in Panama: (1) a lowland, moist (2.7myr-1 rainfall) forest on clayey Cambisol and Nitisol soils with controls and N-addition plots for 9-12 yr, and (2) a montane, wet (5.5 myr-1 rainfall) forest on a sandy loam Andosol soil with controls and N-addition plots for 1-4yr. We measured soil CH4 fluxes for 4yr (2006-2009) in 4 replicate plots (40 m x 40 m each) per treatment using vented static chambers (4 chambers per plot). CH4 fluxes from the lowland control plots and the montane control plots did not differ from their respective N-addition plots. In the lowland forest, chronic N addition did not lead to inhibition of CH4 uptake; instead, a negative correlation of CH4 fluxes with nitrate (NO3-) concentrations in the mineral soil suggests that increased NO3- levels in N-addition plots had stimulated CH4 consumption and/or reduced CH4 production. In the montane forest, chronic N addition also showed negative correlation of CH4 fluxes with ammonium concentrations in the organic layer, which suggests that CH4 consumption was N limited. We propose the following reasons why such N-stimulated CH4 consumption did not lead to statistically significant CH4 uptake: (1) for the lowland forest, this was caused by limitation of CH4 diffusion from the atmosphere into the clayey soils, particularly during the wet season, as indicated by the strong positive correlations between CH4 fluxes and water-filled pore space (WFPS); (2) for the montane forest, this was caused by the high WFPS in the mineral soil throughout the year, which may not only limit CH4 diffusion from the atmosphere into the soil but also favour CH4 production; and (3) both forest soils showed large spatial and temporal variations of CH4 fluxes. We conclude that in these extremely different tropical forest ecosystems there were indications of N limitation on CH4 uptake. Based on these findings, it is unlikely that elevated N deposition on tropical forests will lead to widespread inhibition of CH4 uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric inversions have become an important tool in quantifying carbon dioxide (CO2) sinks and sources at a variety of spatiotemporal scales, but associated large uncertainties restrain the inversion research community from reaching agreements on many important subjects. We enhanced an atmospheric inversion of the CO2 flux for North America by introducing spatially-explicit information on forest stand age for US and Canada as an additional constraint, since forest carbon dynamics are closely related to time since disturbance. To use stand age information in the inversion, we converted stand age into an age factor, and included the covariances between subcontinental regions in the inversion based on the similarity of the age factors. Our inversion results show that, considering age factors, regions with recently-disturbed or old forests are often nudged towards carbon sources, while regions with middle-aged productive forests are shifted towards sinks. This conforms to stand age effects observed in flux networks. At the sub-continental level, our inverted carbon fluxes agree well with continuous estimates of net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) upscaled from eddy covariance flux data (EC) based on MODIS data. Inverted fluxes with the age constraint exhibit stronger correlation to these upscaled NEE estimates than those inverted without the age constraint. While the carbon flux at the continental and subcontinental scales is predominantly determined by atmospheric CO2 observations, the age constraint is shown to have potential to improve the inversion of the carbon flux distribution among sub-continental regions, especially for regions lacking atmospheric CO2 observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil formation is the result of a complex network of biological as well as chemical and physical processes. Mainly the role of soil microbes is of high interest in this respect, as they are responsible for most transformations and drive the development of stable and labile carbon and nutrient pools in soil, which facilitate the basis for the subsequent establishment of plant communities. Glacier forefields, which provide a chronosequence of soils of different age due to the continuous retreat of the ice layer as a consequence of the increasing annual temperature since the last centuries, are a nice play ground to study the interaction of bacteria, fungi and archaea with their abiotic environment at different stages of soil formation. In this review we give insights into the role of microbes for soil development on the basis of investigations which have been performed at the Damma glacier in Switzerland in the frame of two international network projects Big Link (http://www.cces.ethz.ch/projects/clench/BigLink) and DFG SFB/TRR 38 (http://www.tu-cottbus.de/ecosystem). The review focusses on the microbiology of three major steps of soil formation including weathering of the parental material, the development of basic nutrient cycles, the formation of soil crusts and biofilms as initial microbial network structures and the occurrence of plants respectively the setup of plant communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trophic state of benthic deep-sea ecosystems can greatly influence key ecological processes (e.g. biomass production and nutrient cycling). Thus, assessing the trophic state of the sediment at different spatial and temporal scales is crucial for a better understanding of deep-sea ecosystem functioning. Here, using a biomimetic approach based on enzymatic digestion of protein and carbohydrate pools, we assess the bioavailability of organic detritus and its nutritional value in the uppermost layer of deepsea sediments from open slopes and canyons of the Catalan (NW Mediterranean) and Portuguese (NE Atlantic) continental margins, offshore east and west Iberia, respectively. Patterns of sediment trophic state were analyzed in relation to increasing water depth, including repeated samplings over a 3 yr period in the Catalan margin. Bioavailable organic matter and its nutritional value were significantly higher in the Portuguese margin than in the Catalan margin, thus reflecting differences in primary productivity of surface waters reported for the two regions. Similarly, sediments of the Catalan margin were characterized by significantly higher food quantity and quality in spring, when higher primary production processes occur in surface waters, than in summer and autumn. In both continental margins, bioavailable organic C concentrations did not vary or increase with increasing water depth. Differences in the benthic trophic state of canyons against open slopes were more evident in the Portuguese than in the Catalan margin. Overall our findings indicate that deep-sea sediments are characterized by relatively high amounts of bioavailable organic matter. We suggest that the interactions between biological-related processes in surface waters and particle transport and deposition dynamics can play a crucial role in shaping the quantity and distribution of bioavailable organic detritus and its nutritional value along deep continental margins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: This paper discusses the impact of agricultural activities on stream health, particularly in relation to dairy cow fecal pollution. The study explores the fecal microbiome of cattle and the potential ecological implications of aging fecal pollution on waterways. (2) Methods: The study examines changes in the bacterial community available for mobilization from in-situ decomposing cowpats and the effects of simulated rainfall. The microbiome of individual cowpats was monitored over 5.5 months. We used 16S rRNA metagenomics and machine learning software, FEAST (Fast Expectation-mAximization for microbial Source Tracking), for bacterial and fecal source assignments. (3) Results: The phyla Bacillota and Bacteroidota are dominant in the fecal microbiota of fresh cow feces but shift to Pseudomonodota, Actinomycetota, and environmental Bacteroidota in aged cowpats. Potential impacts of these bacterial community shifts on inputs to local agricultural streams are discussed in relation to water quality monitoring and aging sources of fecal contamination. We identified taxon orders that are potential indicators of fresh cattle sources (Oscillospirales and Bacteroidales) and aged sources (Peptostreptococcales-Tissierellales) in water bodies. (4) The paper highlights that bacterial metagenomic profiling can inform our understanding of the ecology of microbial communities in aquatic environments and the potential impacts of agricultural activities on ecosystem health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological evolution is generally regarded as a stochastic or probabilistic process, per the ideas of Darwin in the nineteenth century. Even if this is true at the meso-scale, it still may, however, be impacted by overarching constraints that we have not yet identified. In this paper, we revisit the subject of mammal faunal regions with a mind to explore a potential kind of macroevolutionary influence. We first identify an optimum seven-region mammal faunal classification system based on spatial and phylogenetic data from a comprehensive 2013 review, and then examine the possibility that this classification provides supporting evidence for a Spinoza-influenced philosophical/theoretical model of the "natural system" concept developed by one of the authors in the 1980s. The hierarchical pattern of regional affinities revealed does do this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning in the nineteenth century, scientists speculated that the Pleistocene megafauna—species such as the giant ground sloth, wooly mammoth, and saber-tooth cat—perished because of rapid climate change accompanying the end of the most recent Ice Age. In the 1950s, a small network of ecologists challenged this view in collaboration with archeologists who used the new tool of radiocarbon dating. The Pleistocene overkill hypothesis imagined human hunting, not climate change, to be the primary cause of megafaunal extinction. This article situates the Pleistocene overkill hypothesis in a broader history of the emergence of historical ecology as a distinct sub-discipline of paleoecology. Tracing the work of the Yale Geochronometric Laboratory and an interdisciplinary research network that included Paul Sears, Richard Foster Flint, Edward Deevey, Kathryn Clisby, and Paul S. Martin, it reveals how both the methods and the meaning of studying fossil pollen shifted between the 1910s and 1960s. First used as a tool for fossil fuel extraction, fossil pollen became a means of envisioning climatic history, and ultimately, a means of reimagining global ecological history. First through pollen stratigraphy and then through radiocarbon dating, ecologists reconstructed past biotic communities and rethought the role of humans in these communities. By the 1980s, the discipline of historical ecology would reshape physical environments through the practice of ecological restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the largest sources of uncertainties in modelling of the future global climate is the response of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Studies have shown that it is likely that the extant land sink of carbon will weaken in a warming climate. Should this happen, a larger portion of the annual carbon dioxide emissions will remain in the atmosphere, and further increase the global warming, which in turn may further weaken the land sink. We investigate the potential sensitivity of global terrestrial ecosystem carbon balance to differences in future climate simulated by four general circulation models (GCMs) under three different CO2 concentration scenarios. We find that the response in simulated carbon balance is more influenced by GCMs than CO2 concentration scenarios. Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) analysis of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) reveals differences in the GCMs SST variability leading to decreased tropical ecosystem productivity in two out of four GCMs. We extract parameters describing GCM characteristics by parameterizing a statistical replacement model mimicking the simulated carbon balance results. By sampling two GCM-specific parameters and global temperatures we create 60 new "artificial" GCMs and investigate the extent to which the GCM characteristics may explain the uncertainty in global carbon balance under future radiative forcing. Our analysis suggests that differences among GCMs in the representation of SST variability and ENSO and its effect on precipitation and temperature patterns explains the majority of the uncertainty in the future evolution of global terrestrial ecosystem carbon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herbivory can influence ecosystem productivity, but recent evidence suggests that damage by herbivores modulates potential productivity specific to damage type. Because productivity is linked to photosynthesis at the leaf level, which in turn is influenced by atmospheric CO concentrations, we investigated how different herbivore damage types alter component processes of photosynthesis under ambient and elevated atmospheric CO. We examined spatial patterns in chlorophyll fluorescence and the temperature of leaves damaged by leaf-chewing, gall-forming, and leaf-folding insects in aspen trees as well as by leaf-chewing insects in birch trees under ambient and elevated CO at the aspen free-air CO enrichment (FACE) site in Wisconsin. Both defoliation and gall damage suppressed the operating efficiency of photosystem II (ΦPSII) in remaining leaf tissue, and the distance that damage propagated into visibly undamaged tissue was marginally attenuated under elevated CO. Elevated CO increased leaf temperatures, which reduced the cooling effect of gall formation and freshly chewed leaf tissue. These results provide mechanistic insight into how different damage types influence the remaining, visibly undamaged leaf tissue, and suggest that elevated CO may reduce the effects of herbivory on the primary photochemistry controlling photosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactive nitrogen (Nr) compounds have different fates in the atmosphere due to differences in governing processes of physical transport, deposition and chemical transformation. Nr compounds addressed here include reduced nitrogen (NHx: ammonia (NH3) and its reaction product ammonium (NH Due to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed.)), oxidized nitrogen (NOy: nitrogen monoxide (NO) + nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and their reaction products) as well as organic nitrogen compounds (organic N). Pollution abatement strategies need to take into account these differences in the governing processes of these compounds when assessing their impact on ecosystem services, biodiversity, human health and climate. NOx (NO + NO2) emitted from traffic affects human health in urban areas where the presence of buildings increases the residence time in streets. In urban areas this leads to enhanced exposure of the population to NOx concentrations. NOx emissions have little impact on nearby ecosystems because of the small dry deposition rates of NO3. These compounds need to be converted into nitric acid (HNO3) before removal through deposition is efficient. HNO3 sticks quickly to any surface and is thereby either dry deposited or incorporated into aerosols as nitrate (NO Due to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed.). In contrast to NOx compounds, NH3 has potentially high impacts on ecosystems near the main agricultural sources of NH3 because of its large ground-level concentrations along with large dry deposition rates. Aerosol phase NH Due to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed. and NO Due to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed. contribute significantly to background PM2.5 and PM10 (mass of aerosols with a diameter of less than 2.5 and 10 µm, respectively) with an impact on radiation balance as well as potentially on human health. Little is known quantitatively and qualitatively about organic N in the atmosphere, other than that it contributes a significant fraction of wet-deposited N, and is present in both gaseous and particulate forms in the atmosphere. Further studies are needed to characterize the sources, air chemistry and removal rates of organic N emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluate spatial structure in North American CO2 flux observations using a simple diagnostic land surface model. The Vegetation Photosynthesis Respiration Model (VPRM) calculates net ecosystem exchange (NEE) using locally observed temperature and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) along with satellite-derived phenology and moisture. We use observed NEE from a group of 65 North American eddy co-variance tower sites spanning North America to estimate VPRM parameters for these sites. We investigate spatial coherence in regional CO2 fluxes at several different time scales by using geostatistical methods to examine the spatial structure of model data-model residuals. We find that persistent spatial structure does exist in the data-model residuals at a length scale of approximately 1000 km. This spatial structure defines a flux-tower-based VPRM residual covariance matrix. The residual covariance matrix is useful in constructing prior fluxes for atmospheric CO2 concentration inversion calculations, as well as for constructing a VPRM North American CO2 flux map optimized to eddy covariance observations. Finally, the estimated VPRM parameter values do not separate clearly by plant functional type (PFT). This calls into question whether PFTs partition ecosystems by carbon cycle participation when the viewing lens is a simple model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Russian boreal forest, which mainly consists of extensive forests in Siberia, is the largest continuous forest region on Earth and represents 70 % of the world's boreal forest. Siberian forest is a tremendous repository of terrestrial organic carbon (C), which may increase owing to climate change, potential increases in ecosystem productivity and hence C sequestration. Phosphorus (P) availability could limit the C sequestration potential, but tree roots may mine the soil deeper to increase access to mineral P. Improved understanding and quantification of the processes controlling P availability in surface and deep soil layers of forest ecosystems are thus required. Relative contributions of organic and inorganic P and, consequently, P availability in forest ecosystems depend on decomposition processes, which could be strongly affected by vegetation composition, temperature, precipitation, and their changes due to a warming climate. The objectives of the present study were to (1) evaluate P status of surface and deep forest soil horizons from two contrasted biomes in Southwestern Siberia (i.e. forest steppe in the West Siberian plain and blackish ("chernevaya" in Russian) taiga in the low Salair mountains) and (2) assess the effects of vegetation (siberian fir stand, common aspen stand and herbs in a forest gap) and local climate on soil P fractions. Results revealed high contents in total P (645-1042 mgkg"1 in the surface mineral soils) and available inorganic P (diffusive phosphate ions in one week = 83-126 mgkg"1). In addition, there was an accumulation of diffusive phosphate ions in the subsoils resulting from differences between soil horizons in total inorganic P and soil properties. Consequently, deeper root systems may mine substantial amounts of available P for the trees and the potential enhanced growth and C sequestration due to climate change should thus a priori not be P-limited. High proportions of total organic P (47-56% of total P in the surface mineral soils) show that decomposition processes potentially play a significant role in P availability. Results show that decomposition processes are affected by vegetation (deciduous broadleaved trees, evergreen coniferous, herbs) and local climate (precipitations; snow cover with its isolating effect on soil). Results on the effects of plant species and local climate improved our understanding of the potential effects of climate change on P availability through warming and vegetation redistribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Scientific assessment of the health of wetland ecosystem is an important prerequisite for wetland management and protection. The Zoige wetland ecosystem is a cold peat wetland ecosystem on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in southwest China. By measuring organic matter and nutrients from soil samples in the Zoige wetland, we found that there were connections between organic matter in soil and vegetation growth, since decomposition of soil organic matter was an important source of soil nutrients and was influenced by the soil water content of the wetland. We therefore integrated a cluster of geochemical indicators of soil, including organic matter content, total nitrogen, total phosphorus content, total potassium content and humic acid yield, into a conceptual framework for ecosystem health assessment, therefore improving the existing indicator system for the Zoige wetland. We analyzed levels of organic matters and nutriment elements in soil samples from the Zoige wetland simultaneously with other indicators of the assessment system. Compared with the previous assessment work for Zoige wetland, the proposed assessment system showed a more holistic result. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Globally, terrestrial ecosystems have absorbed about 30% of anthropogenic emissions over the period 2000-2007 and inter-hemispheric gradients indicate that a significant fraction of terrestrial carbon sequestration must be north of the Equator. We present a compilation of the CO2, CO, CH4 and N2O balance of Europe following a dual constraint approach in which (1) a land-based balance derived mainly from ecosystem carbon inventories and (2) a land-based balance derived from flux measurements are confronted with (3) the atmospheric-based balance derived from inversion informed by measurements of atmospheric GHG concentrations. Good agreement between the GHG balances based on fluxes (1249±545 TgC in CO2-eq y-1), inventories (1299±200 TgC in CO2-eq y-1) and inversions (1210±405 TgC in CO2-eq y-1) increases our confidence that current European GHG balances are accurate. However, the uncertainty remains large and largely lacks formal estimates. Given that European net land-atmosphere balances are determined by a few dominant fluxes, the uncertainty of these key components needs to be formally estimated before efforts could be made to reduce the overall uncertainty. The dual-constraint approach confirmed that the European land surface, including inland waters and urban areas, is a net source for CO2 CO, CH2 and N2O. However, for all ecosystems except croplands, C uptake exceeds C release and us such 210±70 TgCy-1 from fossil fuel burning is removed from the atmosphere and sequestered in both terrestrial and inland aquatic ecosystems. If the C cost for ecosystem management is taken into account, the net uptake of ecosystems was estimated to decrease by 45% but still indicates substantial C-sequestration. Also, when the balance is extended from CO2 towards the main GHGs, C-uptake by terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems is compensated for by emissions of GHGs. As such the European ecosystems are unlikely to contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing field of ocean acidification research is concerned with the investigation of organisms' responses to increasing pCO2 values. One important approach in this context is culture work using seawater with adjusted CO2 levels. As aqueous pCO2 is difficult to measure directly in small scale experiments, it is generally calculated from two other measured parameters of the carbonate system (often AT, CT or pH). Unfortunately, the overall uncertainties of measured and subsequently calculated values are often unknown. Especially under high pCO2, this can become a severe problem with respect to the interpretation of physiological and ecological data. In the few datasets from ocean acidification research where all three of these parameters were measured, pCO2 values calculated from AT and CT are typically about 30% lower (i.e. ∼300 µatm at a target pCO2 of 1000 µatm) than those calculated from AT and pH or CT and pH. This study presents and discusses these discrepancies as well as likely consequences for the ocean acidification community. Until this problem is solved, one has to consider that calculated parameters of the carbonate system (e.g. pCO2, calcite saturation state) may not be comparable between studies, and that this may have important implications for the interpretation of CO2 perturbation experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stoichiometric ratios of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and nutrients during biological removal have been widely assumed to follow the Redfield ratios (especially the C/N ratio) in large river plume ecosystems. However, this assumption has not been systematically examined and documented because DIC and nutrients are rarely studied simultaneously in a river plume area, a region in which they can be affected by strong river-ocean mixing as well as intense biological activity. We examined stoichiometric ratios of DIC, total alkalinity (TA), and nutrients (NO3, Due to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed. and Si(OH)4) data during biological removal in the Mississippi River plume and adjacent continental shelf in June 2003 and August 2004 with biological removals defined as the difference between measured values and values predicted on the basis of conservative mixing determined using a multi-endmember mixing model. Despite complex physical and biogeochemical influences, relationships between DIC and nutrients were strongly dependent on salinity range and geographic location, and influenced by biological removal. Lower C/Si and N/Si ratios in one nearshore area were attributed to a potential silicate source induced by water exchange with coastal salt marshes. When net biological uptake was separated from river-ocean mixing and the impact of marshes and bays excluded, stoichiometric ratios of C/N/Si were similar to the Redfield ratios, thus supporting the applicability of the Redfield-type C/N/Si ratios as a principle in river-plume biogeochemical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dimethylsulfide (DMS) and dissolved and particulate dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSPd, DMSPp) were measured in sea surface layer along the Mauritanian coast, Northwest Africa, during the upwelling season in February 2008. DMS, DMSPd and DMSPp surface concentrations of up to 10 nmol L-1, 15 nmol L-1 and 990 nmol L-1, respectively, were measured. The maximum DMSPp concentration is the highest reported from upwelling regions so far and indicates that the Mauritanian upwelling is a hot spot of DMSP and, thus, DMS production. Dinoflagellates were responsible for the DMS production. Other phytoplankton groups seemed to have only a minor or no influence on the DMS and DMSP production. Decreasing nitrogen (i.e. increasing nitrogen limitation) most likely triggered a switch from high DMSP production to high DMS production. It seems that both nitrogen limitation and the intensive solar radiation in the tropics induced stress in DMSP producing algae and activated their antioxidant system. Our results underline the importance of coastal upwelling regions as ecosystems with a pronounced temporal and spatial variability which result in high DMSP and DMS production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface emission and deposition fluxes of nitrogen compounds have been studied in five sites of West Africa during the period 2002 to 2007. Measurements of N deposition fluxes have been performed in IDAF sites representative of main west and central African ecosystems, i.e, 3 stations in dry savanna ecosystems (from 15° N to 12° N), and 2 stations in wet savanna ecosystems (from 9° N to 6° N). Dry deposition fluxes are calculated from surface measurements of NO2, HNO3 and NH3 concentrations and simulated deposition velocities, and wet deposition fluxes are calculated from NHDue to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed. and NODue to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed. concentration in samples of rain. Emission fluxes are evaluated including simulated NO biogenic emission from soils, emissions of NOx and NH3 from biomass burning and domestic fires, and volatilization of NH3 from animal excreta. This paper is a tentative to link the variability of rain and the intra and inter annual variability of emission and deposition processes, and to compare these evolutions between dry and wet savanna ecosystems. In dry savanna ecosystems where the rain season lasts mainly from June to September, the occurence of rain correlates with the beginning of emission and deposition fluxes. This link is less obvious in wet savanna ecosystems (wet season mainly from May to October), where the surface is less submitted to drastic changes in terms of water content. Whatever the location, the natural variability of rain from year to year does not exceed 15 %, and does not induce a strong impact on emission and deposition magnitude. Due to the scarcity of available data on the African continent, it is of first importance to combine data from different origins (surface measurements, satellite and modelling) to document the atmospheric Nitrogen cycle in these tropical regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An automated open system for measurement of soil CO2 efflux (Rsc) was developed and calibrated against known fluxes and tested in the field, while measuring soil respiration also by the gradient method (Rsg) at a dry sandy grassland (Bugac, Hungary). Ecosystem respiration (Reco) was measured by the eddy covariance technique. Small chamber size (5 cm in diameter) of the chamber system made it possible to use the chambers also in vegetation gaps, thereby avoiding the necessity of removing shoots, the disturbance of the spatial structure of vegetation and the upper soil layer. Low air flow rates associated with small chamber volume and chamber design allowed the overpressure range to stabilize between 0.05-0.12 Pa. While the correlation between ecosystem and soil CO2 efflux rates as measured by the independent methods was significant, Reco rates were similar or even lower than Rsc in the low flux (up to 2 µmol CO2 m-2 s-1) range, probably due to the larger than assumed storage flux. The gradient method showed both up and downward CO2 fluxes originating from the main rooting zone after rains. Downward fluxes within the soil profile amounted to 15% of the simultaneous upward fluxes and to ~7.6% of the total (upward) effluxes during the 3 months study. The upper 5 cm soil layer contributed to ~50% of the total soil CO2 efflux. The continuously operated automatic open chamber system and the gradient system makes possible the detection of situations when the eddy system underestimates Reco, gives the lower limit of underestimation (chamber system) and helps in quantifying the downward flux component of soil respiration (gradient method) between the soil layers. These latter (downward) fluxes are expected to seriously affect (1) the Reco vs. temperature response functions and (2) the net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (NEE) vs. photon flux density response functions, therefore potentially affecting also the gap filling procedures and to led to a situation (3) when the measured surface and the real time ecosystem fluxes will necessarily differ in the short term. Simultaneous measurements of Reco and soil CO2 effluxes may reveal the time and degree of the above decoupling, thereby contributing to decrease uncertainty, associated with eddy flux measurements over flat terrains. While the correlation between chamber fluxes and gradient fluxes was strong, gradient fluxes were generally larger than the flux from chambers. Calibration of gradient flux system by chamber effluxes is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on College of William and Mary student Kristin France's use of buckets and plastic tubing to create ecosystems to find out what happened to them when organisms migrated from one area to another. The loss of biodiversity is thought to damage the health and stability of an ecosystem. She also created a basic marine habitat consisting of sea water and seagrass in each bucket.

Low-salinity water (LSW, Salinity<37.5) lenses detached from the Rhone River plume under specific wind conditions tend to favour the biological productivity and potentially a transfer of energy to higher trophic levels on the Gulf of Lions (GoL). A field cruise conducted in May 2006 (BIOPRHOFI) followed some LSW lenses by using a lagrangian strategy. A thorough analysis of the available data set enabled to further improve our understanding of the LSW lenses' functioning and their potential influence on marine ecosystems. Through an innovative 3-D coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical modelling approach, a specific calibration dedicated to river plume ecosystems was then proposed and validated on field data. Exploring the role of ecosystems on the particulate organic carbon (POC) export and deposition on the shelf, a sensitivity analysis to the particulate organic matter inputs from the Rhone River was carried out from 1 April to 15 July 2006. Over such a typical end-of-spring period marked by moderate floods, the main deposition area of POC was identified alongshore between 0 and 50m depth on the GoL, extending the Rhone prodelta to the west towards the exit of the shelf. Moreover, the main deposition area of terrestrial POC was found on the prodelta region, which confirms recent results from sediment data. The averaged daily deposition of particulate organic carbon over the whole GoL is estimated by the model between 40 and 80 mgC/m², which is in the range of previous secular estimations. The role 20 of ecosystems on the POC export toward sediments or offshore areas was actually highlighted and feedbacks between ecosystems and particulate organic matters are proposed to explain paradoxical model results to the sensitivity test. In fact, the conversion of organic matter in living organisms would increase the retention of organic matter in the food web and this matter transfer along the food web could explain the 25 minor quantity of POC of marine origin observed in the shelf sediments. Thus, the effective carbon deposition on the shelf might be strongly dependent on the zooplankton presence in the GoL. Owing to their fertilizing ability in phosphorus, the LSW lenses could then have indirectly a negative impact on the carbon deposition on the shelf by favouring the development of large phytoplankton fuelling in turn zooplankton communities. The effective carbon deposition would then be delayed out of the GoL, unless a novel transfer of matter occurs toward higher trophic levels further in the open sea through small pelagic fishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the large differences between biospheric model estimates of regional carbon exchange, there is a need to understand and reconcile the predicted spatial variability of fluxes across models. This paper presents a set of quantitative tools that can be applied for comparing flux estimates in light of the inherent differences in model formulation. The presented methods include variogram analysis,variable selection, and geostatistical regression. These methods are evaluated in terms of their ability to assess and identify differences in spatial variability in flux estimates across North America among a small subset of models, as well as differences in the environmental drivers that appear to have the greatest control over the spatial variability of predicted fluxes. The examined models are the Simple Biosphere (SiB 3.0), Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach (CASA), and CASA coupled with the Global Fire Emissions Database (CASA GFEDv2) and the analyses are performed on model predicted net ecosystem exchange, gross primary production, and ecosystem respiration. Variogram analysis reveals consistent seasonal differences in spatial variability among modeled fluxes at a 1°×1° spatial resolution. However, significant differences are observed in the overall magnitude of the carbon flux spatial variability across models in both net ecosystem exchange and component fluxes Results of the variable selection and geostatistical regression analyses suggest fundamental differences between the models in terms of the factors that control the spatial variability of predicted flux. For example, carbon flux is more strongly correlated with percent land cover in CASA GFEDv2 than in SiB or CASA. Some of these factors can be linked back to model formulation, and would have been difficult to identify simply by comparing net fluxes between models. Overall the quantitative approach presented here provides a set of tools for comparing predicted grid-scale fluxes across models, a task that has historically been difficult unless standardized forcing data were prescribed or a detailed sensitivity analysis was performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The metabolic balance of the open waters supporting submerged macrophytes of the Doñana marsh (SW Spain) was investigated in spring, when community production is highest. The marsh community was net autotrophic with net community production rates averaging 0.61 g C m-2 d-1, and gross production rates exceeding community respiration rates by, on average, 43%. Net community production increased greatly with increasing irradiance, with the threshold irradiance for communities to become net autotrophic being 42 to 255 μE m-2 s-1, below which communities became net heterotrophic. Examination of the contributions of the benthic and the pelagic compartments showed the pelagic compartment to be strongly heterotrophic (average P/R ratio = 0.27), indicating that the metabolism of the pelagic compartment is strongly subsidised by excess organic carbon produced in the strongly autotrophic benthic compartment (average P/R = 1.58). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, cumulative changes in climate and land use/land cover (LULC) from 1981 to 2000 had collectively affected the net productivity in the terrestrial ecosystem and thus the net carbon flux, both of which are intimately linked with the global carbon cycle. This paper represents the first national effort of its kind to systematically investigate the impact of changes of LULC on carbon cycle with high-resolution dynamic LULC data at the decadal scale (1990s and 2000s). The CEVSA was applied and driven by high resolution LULC data retrieved from remote sensing and climate data collected from two ground-based meteorological stations. In particular, it allowed us to simulate carbon fluxes (net primary productivity (NPP), vegetation carbon (VEGC) storage, soil carbon (SOC) storage, heterotrophic respiration (HR), and net ecosystem productivity (NEP)) and carbon storage from 1981 to 2000. Simulations generally agree with output from other models and results from bookkeeping approach. Based on these simulations, temporal and spatial variations in carbon storage and fluxes in China may be confirmed and we are able to relate these variations to climate variability during this period for detailed analyses to show influences of the LULC and environmental controls on NPP, NEP, HR, SOC, and VEGC. Overall, the increases in NPP were greater than HR in most of the time due to the effect of global warming with more precipitation in China from 1981 to 2000. With this trend, the NEP remained positive during that period, resulting in the net increase of total amount of carbon being stored by about 0.296 PgC within the 20-years time frame. Because the climate effect was much greater than that of changes of LULC, the total carbon storage in China actually increased by about 0.17 PgC within the 20 years. Such findings will contribute to the generation of control policies of carbon emissions under global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on biological sciences which include analysis of fish communities, antioxidant concentration comparison between Kudzu and common food sources and effects of ascorbic acid on weight gain and organ production in Lytechinus Variegatus.

The first issue of the I Journal of Vegetation Science i (JVS) was published 30 years ago (van der Maarel, [6]). Within one year since its launch, the blog published 20 editorial news items and 25 posts provided by the authors of papers in JVS and in our sister journal I Applied Vegetation Science i (AVS). Every year the Chief Editors select one of the papers published in JVS for the Editors' Award, partly based on the nominations received from the Co-ordinating Editors of individual manuscripts. [Extracted from the article]

The article introduces that Conservation Biology is presenting the Rising Star Award for the best student-led paper published in the journal in 2015 to recognize an outstanding student researcher and communicator. The winner of the inaugural Rising Star Award is Franziska Humair for her paper "E-Commerce Trade in Invasive Plants."

The article focuses on the contents published in the journal "Urban Ecosystems." The papers published in the journal analyze the urban ecosystem from a social science point of view. The paper presented by researcher Marcos Pedlowski and his colleagues examines the internal structure of a Brazilian city. In this city urbanization erupted from the stagnation of an old agricultural frontier. Researcher Anntoinette WinklerPrins in his paper discusses people's contribution to biodiversity through a detailed study of house-lot gardens in the city of Santarém, Brazil.

Presents responses to articles published in the 'Environment' magazine. Paper mill in Canada; Question on how bypassing animals in the food chain destabilize the ecosystem; Potential for decentralized power-generation in industries; Concerns regarding the nuclear arms race; Polychlorinated biphenyls.

Poor and unreliable knowledge of the status of freshwater fisheries limits their inclusion in governance processes, thereby impeding effective management measures. This threatens the livelihoods of people, particularly in developing countries. Improved knowledge is required to draw the attention of policymakers and stimulate effective management measures to accelerate the sustainability of the freshwater fisheries. In line with this requirement, this paper provides the state of knowledge of the aquatic ecosystem and fisheries of the Lake Edward system, East Africa, focusing on lakes Edward, George and the Kazinga channel. The state of knowledge was accomplished by reviewing existing data and information on aspects of primary productivity and water quality, invertebrates, fish fauna, fish life history and ecology, and fisheries. The waterbodies have been monitored since the 1930s, albeit sporadically, providing data on all the above aspects but with substantial temporal gaps. Adequate and updated data and information exist on the water quality status of the water bodies, extant aquatic taxa (including fishes) and fish catches but with uncertainties in the latter. Data and information gaps exist on the abundance of biotic communities, fish life history, quantitative trophic ecology and fisheries management reference points. The aggregated data and information can directly support decisions for fisheries management. We recommend regular monitoring to fill the data and information gaps, more comprehensive stock assessments and the development of aquatic ecosystem models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to highlight some interspecific relationships existing in epigeic invertebrate communities in natural forest ecosystems and plantations in the Western Romanian Plain. Nine sites were studied: 2 natural forests and 7 plantations. The material was collected with Barber traps during the summer season. The fauna was identified at the higher level of the species and Coleoptera: Carabidae - at species level, using specific identification keys. The following aspects were analysed: taxonomic composition, status of the taxa in the local coenoses from the point of view of their constancy classes in the samples, as well as the linear correlation coefficient (r) between the predatory taxa but also between the predators and their food sources. The results of this study highlight the importance of the coenotic heterogeneity in ensuring complex and long-lasting interspecific relationships along the path of ecological succession, resulting in a quality supply of environmental services provided by forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Play is essential for the harmonious development of children. Playing outdoors brings with it a multitude of well-known benefits. The presence of playgrounds in the urban environment becomes all the more important as children's connection with the natural environment becomes increasingly precarious. The appearance of standardized play equipment unfortunately omitted the primary need of children to discover the surrounding environment through challenges. The stereotyped design practiced in the arrangement of play spaces reduces the possibilities of developing a child's personality and expressing his creativity. The present study aims to address the importance of designing play spaces with a natural concept that will contribute positively to the cognitive development, creative thinking, flexibility, and adaptability of children to various situations. The paper proposes solutions for their correct utilization by providing them with equipment made of carefully selected natural materials and integrated in an appropriate compositional environment. The final goal is to develop some good practice models that can later be implemented in the network of urban spaces intended for children in the city of Iași. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With this paper we invite the reader to join us to a field trip to Guinea-Bissau through our eyes as primatologists and to explore the entanglements between humans and non-human primates. The first time we went to the field was in 2003. After staying with an NGO for a while, we set up a field station in a protected area that was home to chimpanzees (Madina Field Station). However, soon we realized that «protected areas», «high-quality forest», or «suitable habitat for chimpanzees» would not make any difference for research - and, most importantly, for this ape's conservation - without taking into consideration the locals' attitudes. Humanized landscapes most probably will become the rule in the future, so finding a way for a peaceful coexistence is urgent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose: The international working group MariLCA has proposed a framework aiming towards integrating the impacts of plastic pollution in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). Filling one of the identified mechanisms, this paper proposes a harmonized LCIA framework for the development of mechanistic fate factors (FFs) and consequently characterization factors (CFs) for microplastics (MPs) emissions in the marine environment, for the proposed impact category "Physical effects on biota." Methods: Based on a literature review, fate mechanisms and environmental factors influencing MPs in the marine environment are identified. Dominant fate mechanisms are determined, based on which the marine environment is divided into homogeneous sub-compartments. Following on this framework and multimedia fate models adopted in LCIA, rate matrices for different types, shapes, and sizes of MPs are constructed. Fate matrices are obtained by negatively inverting rate matrices. Similar to emission-related impact categories, CF matrices are constructed by multiplying FF matrices with exposure-effect matrices. Results and discussion: The marine environment is divided into marine sub-compartments at two different scales: continental and global. Marine sub-compartments include beach, water surface, water column, and sediments at the continental scale and water surface, water column, and sediments at the global scale. Due to the dependency of MPs fate on their physiology (shape, size, and density), different rate and fate matrices can be obtained. Mechanistic characterization factors for water surface and water column sub-compartments are obtained by multiplying the fate matrix with already existing exposure-effect factors for aquatic ecosystem. However, in order to develop CFs for beach and sediments sub-compartments, this framework suggests the development of new exposure and effect factors specific to these sub-compartments. Conclusion: Since LCA is known as a holistic approach, marine litter should be integrated in its impact assessment. This proposed framework fills one of the gaps of MariLCA's framework that aims towards integrating plastic litter in LCIA by proposing fate and CF matrices for different types of microplastics emitted to the marine environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]