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The search for predictors of plant diversity has challenged scientists for decades. Here we identify intense photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) as a major factor constraining plant species richness in global grasslands. We show that the strength of the negative relationship between species richness and PAR increases with increasing elevation and that species richness is more strongly correl
Questions: How did α-, β- and γ- plant diversity of coastal dune slack plant communities change over 37 years during a period of significant changes in conservation management practices?. Location: Ainsdale Sand Dunes National Nature Reserve, England. Methods: We surveyed plant communities in dune slacks at Ainsdale Sand Dunes National Nature Reserve at two time points: in 1985 and in 2022. This p
Effective governance and management of ecosystem functions to promote human well-being and social equity require a clear understanding of supply and demand dynamics. While this is widely acknowledged in assessments of ecosystem services, it remains largely neglected for ecosystem disservices, despite many ecosystem functions generating both services (benefits) and disservices (costs) depending on
Current advancements in molecular techniques for identifying multiple species from bulked soil samples have expanded our capacity for large-scale soil biodiversity assessments. However, these methods often lack validation and contextualization. Recent cross-European studies based on environmental DNA (eDNA) have reported unexpectedly high biodiversity in intensively managed agricultural soils comp
Human–nature relationships are often framed positively, but research rarely addresses biophobia, the aversion to nature. However, negative relationships with nature are likely to become more widespread following societal and environmental changes, with serious implications for public health and conservation efforts. Here, we performed a systematic review of 196 studies on biophobia, revealing a fr
Direct lineage reprogramming of glial cells to induced neurons has the potential for restoring brain circuits and function in neuronal disorders and states. We introduce three-dimensional (3D) human glia reprogramming into neurons with a GABAergic interneuron phenotype using stem cell-derived human glia. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing of the converted cells demonstrates distinct neuronal clusters w
AbstractAim: This study sought to investigate the hypothesis that children dying outside a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) after PICU discharge have a limitation of medical treatment (LOMT) order in place, limiting PICU readmission at the time of death.Methods: A cohort was identified of all children (n=3890; 5019 admissions) treated in a PICU in Sweden over 3 consecutive years between Januar
Many small farmland ponds are built for nutrient retention, the conservation of biodiversity or both, yet they are relatively neglected habitats. For example, little is known about the potential for ponds to influence populations of beneficial terrestrial insects, deliver ecosystem services across the aquatic-terrestrial boundary and affect crop yield in insect-pollinated cash crops.We assessed wh
Agricultural fertilization significantly affects arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) community composition. However, the functional implications of community shifts are unknown, limiting understanding of the role of AMF in agriculture. We assessed AMF community composition at four sites managed under the same nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizer regimes for 55 yr. We also established a glass
The spatial extent of ecological processes has consequences for the generation of ecosystem services related to them. However, management often fails to consider issues of scale when targeting ecological processes underpinning ecosystem services generation. Here, we present a framework for conceptualizing how the amount and spatial scale (here discussed in terms of extent) of management interventi
Previous studies have shown that the functional efficacy of intrastriatal transplants of fetal dopamine (DA) neurons in the rat Parkinson model depends on their ability to establish a new functional innervation of the denervated striatum. Here we report that the survival, growth, and function of the grafted DA neurons greatly depend on the severity of the lesion of the host nigrostriatal system. F
Understanding the effects of neonicotinoid insecticides on bees is vital because of reported declines in bee diversity and distribution and the crucial role bees have as pollinators in ecosystems and agriculture. Neonicotinoids are suspected to pose an unacceptable risk to bees, partly because of their systemic uptake in plants, and the European Union has therefore introduced a moratorium on three
From a theoretical point of view, result-based agri-environmental payments are clearly preferable to action-based payments. However, they suffer from two major practical disadvantages: costs of measuring the results and payment uncertainty for the participating farmers. In this paper, we propose an alternative design to overcome these two disadvantages by means of modelling (instead of measuring)
The collective impacts of farmers' land management decisions on above ground ecosystem services (ES) and their implications for agriculture are poorly understood. Managing habitat to provide ES is costly but at the same time it can support higher yields through, e.g., pollination or natural pest control. Due to the mobility of ES-providers (bees, natural enemies) farmers providing habitat might al
Agricultural intensification and extreme weather events can represent considerable stress to soil microorganisms and their functions by influencing the key players behind the degradation of soil organic matter. A better understanding of the diversity and abundance of microbial functional genes that predict the functional potential of soils, can link the microbial communities to their key ecosystem
Background and aims – Agricultural intensification and loss of farmland heterogeneity have contributed to population declines of wild bees and other pollinators, which may have caused subsequent declines in insect-pollinated wild plants. Material and methods – Using data from 37 studies on 22 pollinator-dependent wild plant species across Europe, we investigated whether flower visitation and seed
Are there indications for the neoliberal hegemony in economy and society to come to an end? Are people already imagining a future within environmental limits and beyond the growth imperative? Theoretically, building upon Marx and Bourdieu, we reconstruct the ideological impact that capitalism, in general, and neoliberalism, in particular, has on the ways we think, feel and make sense of our enviro
Background: Neoadjuvant and/or adjuvant treatment has led to an improved survival in patients with resectable gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (GEAC). Nevertheless, survival rates remain poor and, hence, there is a great need to identify novel treatment strategies and relevant complementary diagnostics. Immunotherapies targeting the PD‐1/PD‐L1 checkpoints have shown promising results, but simultane
This study investigates the challenges and potential pathways for improved science communication, particularly in regards to research on the topic of smallholder food security and for science being generated by universities in sub-Saharan Africa. Questions asked in this study include those that aim to identify the academic substrate from which a university based in Africa must navigate. It also i
