C-Age of Carbon Used to Grow Fine Roots Reflects Tree Carbon Status.

The time elapsed between carbon fixation into nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) and their use to grow tree structural tissues can be estimated by C ages. Reported C-ages indicate that NSC used to grow root tissues (growth NSC) can vary from < 1 year to decades. To understand the controls of this variability, we compared C-ages of leaf, branch, and root tissues from two conifers (Larix decidua, Pinus mugo) in a control valley site and an alpine treeline ecotone where low temperatures restrict tree growth.

Cross-taxa sublethal impacts of plant protection products on honeybee in-hive and zebrafish swimming behaviours at environmentally relevant concentrations.

Single and mixture exposure to plant protection products (PPPs) can affect non-target organisms at sublethal concentrations, yet the ecological relevance of behavioural effects remains underexplored. Behavioural disruptions can compromise survival and fitness, with exposure occurring across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Here, we assess the behavioural impact of environmentally relevant PPP concentrations on two ecologically and toxicologically important model species: honeybees (Apis mellifera) and zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Small-Scale Stabilizing Effect of Asynchrony in Vital Rate Responses to Climate in an Imperiled Dune Thistle.

Changes in population responses to climate are usually studied at broad spatial grains, such as across species ranges. Only a handful of studies have investigated how small-scale variation, for example driven by soil conditions and microtopography, can mediate the responses of population vital rates to climate. Here, we examine responses of vital rates to climate across five subpopulations occurring in coastal dune locations that range from the foredune to the backdune.

Linking spatial patterns of chlorophyll a and phosphorus concentrations: River length and upstream lakes control realized eutrophication in German rivers.

Eutrophication, i.e., the enhanced primary production above the natural level due to nutrient enrichment, remains a serious problem in river ecosystems despite substantial reduction of the limiting nutrient phosphorus (P).

Detecting mass mortality events in wildlife populations.

Reports in the literature of mass mortality events (MMEs) involving diverse animal taxa are increasing. Yet, many likely go unobserved due to imperfect detection and infrequent sampling. MMEs involving small, cryptic species, for instance, can be difficult to detect even during the event, and degradation and scavenging of carcasses can make the window for detection very short.

De novo peptide databases enable protein-based stable isotope probing of microbial communities with up to species-level resolution.

Background: Protein-based stable isotope probing (Protein-SIP) is a powerful approach that can directly link individual taxa to activity and substrate assimilation, elucidating metabolic pathways and trophic relationships within microbial communities. In Protein-SIP, peptides and corresponding taxa are identified by database matching, making database quality crucial for accurate analyses. For samples with unknown community composition, Protein-SIP typically employs either unrestricted reference databases or metagenome-derived databases.

Identification of key species and molecular mechanisms driving conjugative transfer of antibiotic resistance genes in swine manure-derived bacterial communities.

The spread of antimicrobial resistance in livestock environments poses a major public health risk. Conjugative transfer plays a key role in antimicrobial resistance transmission, but the diversity of bacterial hosts involved and the molecular mechanisms driving conjugative transfer within complex microbial communities remain poorly understood. To address this, we investigated plasmid-mediated conjugation in both a swine manure-derived bacterial community and isolated strains from manure.

Plant communities converge to resource-dependent transient states during succession on old fields.

The community composition of plants during succession may follow trajectories driven by the resource-dependent coexistence of plant species. This predicts the convergence of trajectories to resource-dependent transient or stable states. Here, we report the analyses of yearly vegetation surveys between 1987 and 2022 from two pairs of experimental plots on which agricultural use ceased in 1986.

Uncovering the Role of Land Use Intensity in Shaping Forest and Grassland-Specific Soil Fungal Communities.

Soil fungal communities are shaped by land use intensity (LUI) and environmental conditions, but their combined effects remain unclear. Using data from 300 forest and grassland plots across Germany from 2021, we analysed fungal taxa relative abundance and associations with environmental variables. Soil conditions, soil fungal diversity, and community composition were linked to ecosystem variables and differed significantly across LUI levels.

Survey of polar organic micropollutants in German tap waters.

Tap waters from 91 locations across Germany were analysed for organic persistent and mobile (PM) substances, covering a range of sources and substance classes, e.g. the sweetener saccharine (SAC), antibiotic drug sulfamethoxazole (SMX), pharmaceutical transformation product valsartanic acid (VSA), industrial chemicals as cyanoguanidine (CG) or ultra-short-chain PFAS trifluoroacetic acid and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFA and TFMSA).

Foam formation during anaerobic digestion of sugar beet silage: causes and countermeasures.

On-demand electricity generation from biogas can be achieved through variable feeding regimes using easily degradable substrates, such as sugar beet. However, such substrates pose a high risk of foam formation in anaerobic digesters. This study aimed to identify foam-causing compounds in anaerobic digestion of sugar beet silage and to evaluate effective countermeasures.

Successes and limitations of pretrained YOLO detectors applied to unseen time-lapse images for automated pollinator monitoring.

Pollinating insects provide essential ecosystem services, and using time-lapse photography to automate their observation could improve monitoring efficiency. Computer vision models, trained on clear citizen science photos, can detect insects in similar images with high accuracy, but their performance in images taken using time-lapse photography is unknown. We evaluated the generalisation of three lightweight YOLO detectors (YOLOv5-nano, YOLOv5-small, YOLOv7-tiny), previously trained on citizen science images, for detecting ~ 1,300 flower-visiting arthropod individuals in nearly 24,000 time-lapse images captured with a fixed smartphone setup.

Beyond Estrogenicity: A Comparative Assessment of Bisphenol A and Its Alternatives in In Vitro Assays Questions Safety of Replacements.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a well-known endocrine disruptor linked to numerous adverse health outcomes and was, therefore, banned in food-contact materials in the European Union. Numerous alternatives are now in commerce, but their health hazards are often inadequately addressed. This study compared BPA and 26 alternatives in six in vitro bioassays for cytotoxicity, endocrine disruption, xenobiotic metabolism, adaptive stress responses, mitochondrial toxicity, and neurotoxicity.

Assessing biodiversity trends in a quasi-permanent non-equilibrium state.

The 'equilibrium assumption' underlying biodiversity trends assessments in response to environmental changes is rarely challenged, the traditional assumption being that biodiversity is in an equilibrium state with its contemporary drivers. Existing non-equilibrium biodiversity frameworks still rely on the assumption that biodiversity is, at a given moment in time, in an equilibrium state with its contemporary drivers. In this opinion article we consider multiple trajectories of changes due to long-term disturbances that push biodiversity into a quasi-permanent non-equilibrium state.

Minimizing trade-offs in agricultural landscapes through optimal spatial allocation of agri-environmental practices.

The implementation of agri-environmental practices (AEPs) is a key strategy to reach biodiversity and environmental objectives in agricultural landscapes, but their widespread application is often hampered by perceived trade-offs with crop production. However, the extent of these trade-offs remains poorly understood and has rarely been quantified in real-world case studies. Hence, our aim was to analyze trade-offs between crop yield, water quality and farmland biodiversity using an optimization approach for the spatial allocation of AEPs for a catchment in Eastern Germany.

Metabolic pathways for biotransformation of benzalkonium compounds in fungal- and bacteria-based biofilm reactors.

Benzalkonium compounds (BACs) are quaternary ammonium biocides widely used in healthcare and industrial animal production, resulting in high concentrations in manure and wastewater. While BAC biodegradation has been demonstrated in wastewater and soil, little is known about the relevant biodegradation pathways in multi-species biofilm systems. This study investigated BAC degradation pathways in three aerobic moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) systems: (1) a fungi (Trametes versicolor) inoculated reactor, and heterotrophic biofilm in (2) water, and (3) manure.

Microbial Cooperative Molecular Strategies Enabling 1,2-Dichloroethane Detoxification in Low pH Aquifers.

Organohalide-respiring bacteria (OHRB) play a critical role in the bioremediation of halogenated pollutants. However, their activity is often compromised in naturally occurring acidic environments that impose substantial physiological stress with only a few OHRB remaining functional. The mechanisms enabling these acid-tolerant OHRB to thrive under low-pH environments remain largely unexplored.

Climate change and child health: The growing burden of climate-related adverse health outcomes.

Climate change is increasingly recognized not only as an environmental issue but also as a major public health threat, becoming more evident through the rising frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Immediate exposure to climate-related hazards-such as extreme heat, wildfires, storms, and floods-results in direct health impacts, while indirect effects emerge through ecosystem disruptions and socioeconomic shifts. Climate change can introduce or intensify health risks in regions that were previously unaffected.

Exotic Invasive Plant Species Increase Primary Productivity, but Not in Their Native Ranges.

Ecosystem net primary productivity is thought to occur near the maximum that abiotic constraints allow; but exotic invasive plants often correlate with increased productivity. However, field patterns and experimental evidence for this come only from the non-native ranges of exotic species. Thus, we do not know if this pattern is caused by exotic invasions per se or whether successful exotic species are disproportionately productive or colonise more productive microsites.

The TonB-Dependent Transport System Facilitates the Uptake of Inorganic Metal Mediators in Pseudomonas putida KT2440 in a Bioelectrochemical System.

Mediator-based extracellular electron transfer (EET) in a bioelectrochemical system is a unique approach to regulate the microbial redox and energy metabolism of Pseudomonas putida KT2440, which enables a new-to-nature high product yield under anaerobic conditions. Previous studies identified respiratory complex III in the inner membrane as a key redox protein involved in mediator (ferricyanide) interactions, but the exact mechanism through which the mediator crosses the outer membrane to extract electrons from membrane-bound redox proteins and transfer them to the anode remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated the critical role of the TonB-dependent system, a widespread transportation system in gram-negative bacteria, in the mediator-based EET process.

Comprehension of the age-dependent gut and brain interaction of honey bee workers by integration of multi omics approaches.

Introduction: In honey bees, division of labour is a key feature, with age-related behavioural transitions being closely associated with molecular changes in the brain, gut, and microbiota. Despite evidence of both microbiome and brain changes in honey bees, most studies focus on either aspect or a single method of investigation, limiting our understanding of their interconnected roles in development and task differentiation.

Objectives: In this study, we investigated the molecular changes in the gut and brain in honey bee workers of different ages using (meta-)proteomics and metabolomics to better understand their contribution to behavioural responses and modulation.

Upstream considerations for gas fermentation processes.

Gas fermentation enables the production of fuels, chemicals, and foods from gaseous carbon sources and could serve as a technology for valorizing carbon that may otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere. In this review, we focus on upstream feedstock considerations: the supply of carbon and the supply of electrical power. Electrical power serves a dual role, providing both process energy and biochemical redox potential (via hydrogen or reduced intermediates).

sp. nov., a new alphaproteobacterium isolated from the slime flux of a tree () in the Sonoran Desert (Arizona, USA).

The bacterial strain PA1-206B is a Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile and non-spore-forming bacterium with an irregular rod shape. It was isolated from a tree wound exudate of the trunk in the Sonoran Desert (USA), and its taxonomic position was investigated by a polyphasic approach. Strain PA1-206B grew optimally at 28-30 °C and from pH 6 to 10 without NaCl.

Sulfidic toluene mineralization by aquifer microbial communities at different temperatures.

High-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage (HT-ATES) is a carbon-neutral technology in the heating and cooling sector particularly suitable for urban areas, where aquifers are often contaminated with hydrocarbons. How HT-ATES could influence the natural degradation of contaminants such as hydrocarbons has hardly been investigated. Here, we determined the effects of temperature and temperature shifts on the capability of aquifer microbial communities to mineralize the model hydrocarbon toluene at sulfate-reducing conditions.

CAMELSH: A Large-Sample Hourly Hydrometeorological Dataset and Attributes at Watershed-Scale for CONUS.

We present CAMELSH (Catchment Attributes and Hourly HydroMeteorology for Large-Sample Studies), the first large-sample hydrometeorological dataset at the hourly scale for the contiguous United States. CAMELSH intergrates hourly meteorological time series, catchment attributes and boundaries from GAGES-II and HydroATLAS for 9,008 catchments across diverse climatic, hydrological, and anthropogenic conditions. In addition, hourly streamflow time series is provided for 3,166 catchments.