All Ecology articles – Page 3
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NewsStaphylococci compete with other bacteria for biotin in the nasal cavity
A recently published study reveals that competition plays a major role in the nutrient-poor habitat of the human nose. There’s an active contest between S. aureus and nasal commensals for the vitamin biotin, which affects the fitness of S. aureus.
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NewsOceanographers present new conceptual framework to answer age-old question: What happens to carbon as it sinks through the ocean?
New research spanning multiple ocean regions has found upper ocean ecosystem conditions, such as nutrient availability and microbial interactions, play a major role in shaping the composition of carbon-rich particles sinking into the deep ocean.
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NewsNew study reveals how a common antibiotic disrupts nitrogen cycling and boosts greenhouse gas emissions in estuaries
Antibiotics may have far reaching impacts on wetland chemistry, according to a new study that identifies the bacteria responsible for breaking down the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole and links this process to increased emissions of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.
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NewsCircadian rhythms as a modulator of gut microbiota-tumor microenvironment crosstalk
A new review examines how circadian disruption modifies the diversity and metabolic functions of gut microbiota, resulting in alterations of microbial metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids and secondary bile acids.
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NewsFlower to fruit: tracking the changing fungal community on blueberry plants
A study identifies how fungal diversity changes over time and across tissue types in highbush blueberry, revealing dynamic transitions in the phyllosphere from buds to ripe fruits. Early-season buds and flowers harbor the highest fungal diversity, while unripe green fruits display the lowest.
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News$3.7 million awarded for research into sand flies, vectors of parasitic disease leishmaniasis
Professor Gideon Wasserberg at UNC Greensboro has been awarded a prestigious $3.7 million National Institutes of Health R01 grant to advance his research on controlling sand flies, the vectors of the parasitic disease leishmaniasis.
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NewsMedications change our gut microbiome in predictable ways
A study shows that many of the changes to the gut microbiome are driven by competition for nutrients – medications reduce certain bacterial populations and change the availability of nutrients, and the bacteria most able to capitalize on those changes are the ones to survive.
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NewsResearchers identify mangrove tree stems as previously underestimated methane source offsetting blue carbon benefits
A new study reveals that mangrove tree stems represent a significant yet previously underestimated source of methane. Additionally, stem emissions showed a strong correlation with soil methane fluxes, indicating that methane produced by anaerobic microbial activity in mangrove soils is transported upward through specialized aerenchyma tissues within the trees.
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NewsBacterial scents behind oak tree decline may be luring deadly beetles
The deadly decline of Britain’s native oak trees may be driven by an unexpected accomplice: their own smell. Scientists have discovered that trees affected by Acute Oak Decline (AOD) emit distinct odours that are highly attractive to the beetle Agrilus biguttatus, a key contributor to the decline.
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NewsPredicting the development of biological communities in different kinds of ecosystems
Researchers tested a mechanistic consumer-resource model and confirmed its high predictive capacity. Using the model, the researchers refined current rules on the coexistence of species, too. Their findings can be applied to any situation in which communities of organisms compete for resources.
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NewsNew study reveals microbial network restructuring mitigates long-term soil carbon emissions from warming
Scientists conducted a decade-long study that uncovered a previously unrecognized buffering mechanism in subtropical forest soils mitigating the effects of climate warming.
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NewsRainfall and temperature shape mosquito fauna in Atlantic Forest bromeliads, including malaria vectors
Results from a study of mosquito larvae conducted in a natural area in the municipality of São Paulo (Brazil) may help estimate the effects of climate change on disease transmission risk in the biome.
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CareersSummer studentship: Jonas investigates how metals influence bacterial ecosystems
Jonas Flohr from Portsmouth reports back on his AMI-sponsored summer studentship at Durham University investigating how metals influence bacterial ecosystems.
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NewsDestroying crazy ant nest structure makes them vulnerable to pathogens
Scientists have devised a reliable way to introduce a natural pathogen in colonies, so that invasive tawny crazy ant populations collapse and other native species can recover.
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NewsCracking leishmaniasis: new DNA test to track infection
A new study offers an innovative way to track the spread of leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease affecting both animals and humans. Researchers developed a fast, reliable method to identify sand fly species, detect Leishmania parasites, and determine the source of their blood meals from a single sample.
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NewsGrassland degradation reshapes relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality
Grassland degradation fundamentally reshapes how biodiversity supports ecosystem multifunctionality, shifting it from being plant-dominated to being mediated by soil microbes, according to a new study of alpine grassland on the Tibetan Plateau.
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NewsHow are metabolism and cell growth connected? — A mystery over 180 years old
A research team has identified a novel principle in biology that mathematically explains why the growth of organisms slows as nutrients become more abundant—a phenomenon known as “the law of diminishing returns.”
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News Sea stars show surprising resilience after disease outbreak
A decade after sea star wasting disease devastated ochre sea star populations along the U.S. West Coast, new research suggests that the epidemic shifted populations from a stable, adult-dominated state to one marked by fluctuations in sea star sizes and ages.
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NewsUpwelling promotes N-fixing symbiont of Sargassum algae - giving it an edge
An international research team has uncovered the main mechanism behind the algae blooms of the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt. Identification of the climatic conditions that facilitate this phenomenon allows them to predict future stranding events of Sargassum.
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NewsCAROSEL offers new ‘spin’ on monitoring water quality in real time - and tracking harmful algal blooms
Researchers can continuously track the exchanges of different forms of nitrogen between bottom sediments and the overlying water. Their novel approach enables measuring how much ammonium (NH₄⁺) is released from sediments in real time, multiple times a day, over an extended period.