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Quantifying ecosystem functioning is important for both fundamental and applied ecological research. However, there is currently a gap between the data available and the data needed to address topical questions, such as the drivers of functioning in different ecosystems under global change or the best management to sustain provisioning of ecosystem functions and services. Here, we identify a set of important functions and propose a Rapid Ecosystem Function Assessment (REFA). The proposed methods were specifically selected to be low-tech, easy to use, repeatable, and cost efficient. Thus, REFA enables standardized and comparable measurements of proxies for these functions that can be used at a large scale within and across studies. Adopting REFA can help to close the identified ecosystem functioning data gap.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.04.006 | DOI Listing |
Elife
September 2025
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Paleontology and Geobiology, Ludwig Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
The rapid emergence of mineralized structures in diverse animal groups during the late Ediacaran and early Cambrian periods likely resulted from modifications of pre-adapted biomineralization genes inherited from a common ancestor. As the oldest extant phylum with mineralized structures, sponges are key to understanding animal biomineralization. Yet, the biomineralization process in sponges, particularly in forming spicules, is not well understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Public Health
September 2025
Duke Global Health Innovation Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States.
Unlabelled: Market shaping activities have been increasingly used to improve access to health products, such as the advance market commitments used to increase access to the pneumococcal vaccine and COVID-19 vaccines. This paper reviewed the progress and impacts, and identified enablers and barriers of market shaping activities in the past decade. We conducted a systematic review using a structured searching strategy across five academic databases and key actors' websites for gray and white literature published in English since 2012.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMol Ecol
September 2025
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
The class Hexacorallia, encompassing stony corals and sea anemones, plays a critical role in marine ecosystems. Coral bleaching, the disruption of the symbiosis between stony corals and zooxanthellate algae, is driven by seawater warming and further exacerbated by pathogenic microbes. However, how pathogens, especially viruses, contribute to accelerated bleaching remains poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnal Chim Acta
November 2025
Department of Physics, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India; Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, India. Electronic address:
Background: Water contamination is a global challenge, primarily due to heavy metal ions like lead (Pb), iron (Fe), cadmium (Cd), andmercury (Hg) as well as dyes. These pollutants enter the ecosystem from industrial waste and runoff, accumulate in the environment and pose a high risk to humans, animals and plants. Various sensors, such as colorimetric sensors, and electrochemical sensors have been developed to detect these ions and dyes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnal Chim Acta
November 2025
Measurement Technology & Instrumentation Key Laboratory of Hebei Province, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China.
Background: With the development of modern agriculture, neonicotinoid pesticides have been widely used due to their high efficiency and strong systemic properties. However, excessive use leads to the accumulation of residues in the food chain, threatening the ecosystem and human health. Pesticide residues are easily accumulated in oilseed crops and become concentrated during the edible oil refining process.
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