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Tessler M, David FJ, Cunningham SW, Herstoff EM. Rewilding in Miniature: Suburban Meadows Can Improve Soil Microbial Biodiversity and Soil Health. Microb Ecol 2023; 85:1077-1086. [PMID: 36725750 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-023-02171-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Lawns are a ubiquitous, human-made environment created for human enjoyment, leisure, and aesthetics. While net positive for carbon storage, lawns can have negative environmental impacts. Lawns require frequent mowing, which produces high levels of CO2 pollution and kills off native plants. Lawn fertilizing creates its own environmental pollution. One (presumed) ecologically-friendly alternative to lawns is restoration, or rewilding, of these spaces as meadows, which need less maintenance (e.g., infrequent mowing). However, little work has compared lawns against small-scale meadows for biodiversity outside of pollinator studies. Here, we tested the hypotheses that compared to lawns, meadows have (1) unique and higher levels of soil microbial biodiversity and (2) different soil physical and chemical characteristics. We conducted bacterial (16S) and fungal (ITS2) metabarcoding, and found that both bacteria and fungi are indeed more diverse in meadows (significantly so for bacteria). Species composition between meadows and lawns was significantly different for both types of microbes, including higher levels of mycorrhizal fungi in meadows. We also found that chemistry (e.g., potassium and metrics relating to pH) differed significantly between lawns and meadows and was more optimal for plant growth in the meadows. We believe these differences are caused by the different organisms dwelling in these habitats. In summary, these findings point to notable-positive-shifts in microbial and chemical compositions within meadows, further indicating that meadow restoration benefits biodiversity and soil health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Tessler
- Department of Biology, St. Francis College, Brooklyn, NY, 11201, USA.
- Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA.
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA.
| | - Felix J David
- Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA
- Institute of Animal Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Hannover, Germany
| | - Seth W Cunningham
- Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, NY, 10458, USA
| | - Emily M Herstoff
- Department of Biology, St. Francis College, Brooklyn, NY, 11201, USA
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Meunier CL, Herstoff EM, Geisen C, Boersma M. A matter of time and proportion: the availability of phosphorus-rich phytoplankton influences growth and behavior of copepod nauplii. J Plankton Res 2020; 42:530-538. [PMID: 32939155 PMCID: PMC7484934 DOI: 10.1093/plankt/fbaa037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 07/17/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Although consumers may use selective feeding to cope with suboptimal resource quality, little work has examined the mechanisms that underlie selective feeding, the efficiency of this behavior or its influence on consumer growth rate. Furthermore, a consumer's exposure to suboptimal resources may also influence the consumer's behavior and life history, including growth rate. Here, we studied how the availability of P-rich and P-poor phytoplankton influences the growth and behavior of copepod nauplii. We observed that copepod nauplii preferentially feed on P-rich prey. We also found that even relatively short exposure to P-rich phytoplankton yielded higher nauplii growth rates, whereas the presence of P-poor phytoplankton in a mixture impaired growth. Overall, we observed that swimming speed decreased with increasing phytoplankton P-content, which is a behavioral adjustment that may improve utilization of heterogeneously distributed high-quality food in the field. Based on our results, we propose that the optimal prey C: P ratio for copepod nauplii is very narrow, and that deviations from this optimum have severe negative consequences for growth.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Emily M Herstoff
- DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION, STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY, 650 LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING, STONY BROOK, NY 11794-5245 USA
| | - Carla Geisen
- ALFRED-WEGENER-INSTITUT HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM FüR POLAR- UND MEERESFORSCHUNG, BIOLOGISCHE ANSTALT HELGOLAND, POSTFACH 180, 27483 HELGOLAND, Germany
| | - Maarten Boersma
- ALFRED-WEGENER-INSTITUT HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM FüR POLAR- UND MEERESFORSCHUNG, BIOLOGISCHE ANSTALT HELGOLAND, POSTFACH 180, 27483 HELGOLAND, Germany
- University of Bremen, Naturwissenschaften 2, Leobener Straβe, 28359 Bremen, Germany
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