- Topic:Biodiversity
Projecting the continental accumulation of alien species through to 2050
An international team including Jonathan Jeschke provide the first global quantitative projections of future trajectories of alien species numbers. Based on a new model and assuming a business-as-usual scenario, they project that the number of alien species will increase by 36% until 2050 worldwide and by 64% in Europe.
Drivers of spatio-temporal variation in mosquito submissions to the citizen science project ‘Mückenatlas’
A mosquito monitoring programme was initiated in Germany in 2011, which has been complemented by the citizen science project ‘Mückenatlas’ since 2012. The authors analysed the Mückenatlas dataset to investigate causes of variation in submission numbers and to reveal biases induced by opportunistic data collection.
Mesopelagic microbial carbon production correlates with diversity across different marine particle fractions
The vertical flux of marine snow reduces atmospheric CO2. In particular, particle associated prokaryotes are responsible for organic C-loss. Analysis of prokaryotic heterotrophic production a. species richness in the North Atlantic reveal that C- loss a. associated microbial richness are different with particle fractions. Especially large, fast-sinking particles drive C-flux a. -sequestration.
Zooplankton carcasses stimulate microbial turnover of allochthonous particulate organic matter
This study investigated whether the microbial degradation of more refractory organic matter (OM) is stimulated by the addition of well available OM from dead zooplankton. A significantly higher respiration was measured when zooplankton-derived OM was added to ratio of 1:1. Stimulation was stronger in a complex microbial community with eukaryotes than just bacteria.
Speaking their language – Development of a multilingual decision-support tool for communicating invasive species risks to decision makers and stakeholders
Decision-support tools have been developed mostly in English language only. To reduce language-based uncertainty, the “ecology-of-language” paradigm was applied when developing the Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit (AS-ISK), a decision-support tool that offers 32 languages in which to carry out screenings and communicate outcomes to stakeholders.
Heterozygous, polyploid, giant bacterium, Achromatium, possesses an identical functional inventory worldwide across drastically different ecosystems
The largest freshwater bacterium, Achromatium oxaliferum, is highly flexible in its requirements. The bacterial strains from the different ecosystems do not differ in their gene content, but rather choose what to express.
A probabilistic approach to dispersal in spatially explicit meta‑populations
The authors developed a new, probability-based formalism for modeling species distribution.The Network-based Probabilistic Connectivity (NPC) can provide predictions about the distribution and persistence of species at different time scales, and their dependence on patch distribution and patch density in the landscape.
Set ambitious goals for biodiversity and sustainability
The deep biodiversity crisis calls for effective targets for its preservation. The authors argue for a “safety net” made up of multiple interlinked and ambitious goals to tackle nature’s alarming decline. No single target captures the broad range of biodiversity components that are dependent on each other. The study outlines the scientific basis for redesigning the new set of biodiversity goals.
Scientists' warning on invasive alien species
Scientists warn of increasing threats posed by invasive alien species. More effort is needed to prevent, detect and control invasive alien species – this is emphasized by researchers from 13 countries.
How biological invasions affect animal behaviour: a global, cross-taxonomic analysis
In interaction, invasive and native species can change their behaviour. This is a meta-analysis, led by IGB, of which changes in behaviour are studied in invasions, and what is known about the types of behaviour that change, the underlying mechanisms and the speed of behavioural changes.