Microbial Ecosystem Functions in Wetlands under Disturbance

2017 ◽  
pp. 227-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne K. Steenbergh ◽  
Annelies J. Veraart ◽  
Adrian Ho ◽  
Paul L. E. Bodelier
Ecology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L. Goebel ◽  
Christopher A. Edwards ◽  
Michael J. Follows ◽  
Jonathan P. Zehr

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor M Royalty ◽  
Andrew Decker Steen

Advances in nucleic acid sequencing technology have revealed that, in many microbial ecosystems, the same ecosystem function or trait is performed by multiple species or taxa. Theory, developed in the context of macroecology, predicts that communities with high functional redundancy are less likely to lose functions due to species extinction compared to communities with low functional redundancy. It is not clear whether this is the case for microbial communities, particularly on the landscape scale. In part, the lack of quantitative measures for functional redundancy in microbial ecosystems has been prohibitive in addressing this question. We recently proposed a quantitative functional redundancy metric, contribution evenness, which measures how evenly taxa in a community contribute to an ecosystem function or trait. Using transcriptomes deposited in the Ocean Microbial Reference Gene Catalog (OM-RGC.v2), a catalog of genes and transcripts sequenced by the TARA Ocean expedition, we quantified the functional redundancy for 4,314 KEGG Orthologs (KOs) across 124 marine sites. Functional redundancy was highly correlated with a latent variable reflecting few ocean physiochemical parameters and was systematically higher at the poles than in non-polar regions. Functional richness β-diversity among non-polar sites was higher than that among polar sites, indicating that microbial ecosystem functions are more similar among polar sites than among non-polar sites. These observations combined provide evidence that functional redundancy influences microbial ecosystem function stability on spatiotemporal scales consistent with surface ocean mixing. We suggest that future changes in ocean physiochemistry will likely influence this stability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 2013
Author(s):  
Noora Alhajri ◽  
Rubiya Khursheed ◽  
Mohammad Taher Ali ◽  
Tareq Abu Izneid ◽  
Oumaima Al-Kabbani ◽  
...  

It has become evident over the past several years that the intestinal microbial ecosystem plays a critical role in the development and prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and other metabolic disorders, such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome. The intestinal microbiota ecosystem functions as a major virtual endocrine organ that interacts and responds to molecules’ signals within the host. Several meta-organismal pathways are involved in the gut–host interaction, including trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) and short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). Host phenotype and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) varying from hypertension, insulin resistance, and obesity to more specific inflammatory processes, such as atherosclerosis and hypercoagulability, have shown to be affected by the gut–host interaction. Additionally, several studies that involved animals and humans demonstrated a striking connection between the development of new CVDs and an imbalance in the gut microbiota composition along with the presence of their derived metabolites. Through this review article, we aim to evaluate the role of the normal gut microbiota ecosystem, its association with CVDs, effects of the therapies used to control and manage CVDs in the gut microbiota environment and explore potential therapeutic interventions to amplify disease outcomes in patients with CVDs.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Matthius Eger ◽  
Rebecca J. Best ◽  
Julia Kathleen Baum

Biodiversity and ecosystem function are often correlated, but there are multiple hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying this relationship. Ecosystem functions such as primary or secondary production may be maximized by species richness, evenness in species abundances, or the presence or dominance of species with certain traits. Here, we combined surveys of natural fish communities (conducted in July and August, 2016) with morphological trait data to examine relationships between diversity and ecosystem function (quantified as fish community biomass) across 14 subtidal eelgrass meadows in the Northeast Pacific (54° N 130° W). We employed both taxonomic and functional trait measures of diversity to investigate if ecosystem function is driven by species diversity (complementarity hypothesis) or by the presence or dominance of species with particular trait values (selection or dominance hypotheses). After controlling for environmental variation, we found that fish community biomass is maximized when taxonomic richness and functional evenness is low, and in communities dominated by species with particular trait values – those associated with benthic habitats and prey capture. While previous work on fish communities has found that species richness is positively correlated with ecosystem function, our results instead highlight the capacity for regionally prevalent and locally dominant species to drive ecosystem function in moderately diverse communities. We discuss these alternate links between community composition and ecosystem function and consider their divergent implications for ecosystem valuation and conservation prioritization.


Author(s):  
N.N. Krupina ◽  

Based on the analysis of the tense ecological situation in the industrial zones of industrial cities, the role and place of special landscaping areas in the implementation of national projects is substantiated. From the perspective of the ecosystem approach, a set of requirements and a list of priority optimization decisions regarding the planning organization of environmental protection landscaping are proposed. The matrix of situational analysis of the state and the composition of indicators for assessing the barrier potential of a territory with a special land use regime are presented.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Gradel ◽  
Gerelbaatar Sukhbaatar ◽  
Daniel Karthe ◽  
Hoduck Kang

The natural conditions, climate change and socio-economic challenges related to the transformation from a socialistic society towards a market-driven system make the implementation of sustainable land management practices in Mongolia especially complicated. Forests play an important role in land management. In addition to providing resources and ecosystem functions, Mongolian forests protect against land degradation.We conducted a literature review of the status of forest management in Mongolia and lessons learned, with special consideration to halting deforestation and degradation. We grouped our review into seven challenges relevant to developing regionally adapted forest management systems that both safeguard forest health and consider socio-economic needs. In our review, we found that current forest management in Mongolia is not always sustainable, and that some practices lack scientific grounding. An overwhelming number of sources noticed a decrease in forest area and quality during the last decades, although afforestation initiatives are reported to have increased. We found that they have had, with few exceptions, only limited success. During our review, however, we found a number of case studies that presented or proposed promising approaches to (re-)establishing and managing forests. These studies are further supported by a body of literature that examines how forest administration, and local participation can be modified to better support sustainable forestry. Based on our review, we conclude that it is necessary to integrate capacity development and forest research into holistic initiatives. A special focus should be given to the linkages between vegetation cover and the hydrological regime.


2012 ◽  
Vol 163 (6) ◽  
pp. 240-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Nagel ◽  
Jurij Diaci ◽  
Dusan Rozenbergar ◽  
Tihomir Rugani ◽  
Dejan Firm

Old-growth forest reserves in Slovenia: the past, present, and future Slovenia has a small number of old-growth forest remnants, as well as many forest reserves approaching old-growth conditions. In this paper, we describe some of the basic characteristics of these old-growth remnants and the history of their protection in Slovenia. We then trace the long-term development of research in these old-growth remnants, with a focus on methodological changes. We also review some of the recent findings from old-growth research in Slovenia and discuss future research needs. The conceptual understanding of how these forests work has slowly evolved, from thinking of them in terms of stable systems to more dynamic and unpredictable ones due to the influence of natural disturbances and indirect human influences. In accordance with this thinking, the methods used to study old-growth forests have changed from descriptions of stand structure to studies that address natural processes and ecosystem functions.


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