Media releases (iDiv and partners)

From bacteria to birds: tropical plantations disrupt biodiversity

Mon, 28 Aug 2017 17:01:00 +0200

Scientists have conducted a large-scale study in Indonesia to understand how the conversion of rainforest to rubber and oil palm plantations alters biodiversity of these ecosystems. The researchers found that land-use change directly reduces the number of different species as well as the number of individual plants and animals, especially at the highest trophic levels, and that interactions among different organisms control how the whole ecosystem responds to land use. The study was published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. Among the authors are also scientists from iDiv, Leipzig University and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. Tropical rainforests are under threat from the human demand for natural products like vegetable oils and rubber, which are found in food and common household products around the world. The demand is driving the conversion of tropical biodiversity hotspots to agricultural plantations, and over the past two decades, deforestation rates in South-East Asia have rapidly increased. This has profound consequences for biodiversity, affecting, for example, plants, insects and birds. These different organisms constantly interact with each other, especially through trophic interactions, like when insects eat plants or birds eat insects. Because of these interactions, when one group of organisms is affected by deforestation, this may have negative consequences for another group as well. Ultimately, trophic interactions can determine how whole ecosystems respond to disturbances. The Göttingen researchers investigated the direct and cascading effects of land-use change in Sumatra by collecting data from a range of organisms, among them plants, bacteria, invertebrates and birds. Their research plots were located in rainforest, areas of rubber trees mixed with forest tree species (“jungle rubber”) and monoculture rubber and oil palm plantations. The researchers found that species diversity was as much as 65 percent lower on the study plots in monoculture plantations compared to rainforest plots. This was due to direct effects like higher mortality of insects due to the use of toxic pesticides in plantations, and also to indirect effects which occur through the disruption of organisms at lower trophic levels that serve as resources for organisms higher in the food chain. For example, they found reduced species diversity of invertebrates that eat leaf litter (such as millipedes and cockroaches) in plantations, which then impacted the predators that rely on these invertebrates for food, like spiders. “Essentially, we found that responses of ecosystems to land-use change are highly complex when we look at many taxonomic groups simultaneously,” explains lead author Dr Andrew D. Barnes – now scientist at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and Leipzig University. Dr Kara Allen, the other lead author, points out: “Our results provide important insight into how whole ecosystems react to human disturbances. However, they also suggest that we still have much to learn about how high-diversity systems operate.” The study also revealed other interesting trends: It has often been shown that larger-bodied species at higher trophic levels, such as predatory birds or tigers, tend to be the first to go extinct when natural ecosystems are disturbed by humans. The researchers were able to confirm this theory – the highest trophic levels were indeed the most strongly affected because of the combination of their reliance on organisms at the lower trophic levels for food, along with the simultaneous direct impacts of land-use change. “By pointing to groups that will have the most impact on ecosystem-level conservation, these sorts of insights should help to better inform conservation management decisions,” says Prof Ulrich Brose, senior author of the study. Brose has moved to Leipzig and is now head of the research group “Theory in Biodiversity Science” at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The study was conducted within the collaborative research centre “Ecological and Socioeconomic Functions of Tropical Lowland Rainforest Transformation Systems (Sumatra, Indonesia)” (EFForTS), a larger collaboration between the University of Göttingen and several Indonesian universities funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Further information can be found online at www.uni-goettingen.de/en/310995.html. Original publication:
Andrew D Barnes, Kara Allen et al. Direct and cascading impacts of tropical land-use change on multi-trophic biodiversity. Nature Ecology and Evolution 2017. Doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0275-7. http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0275-7 Contact:
Dr. Andrew Barnes
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Leipzig University
Phone: +49 341 9733-122, Email: andrew.barnes@idiv.de
Internet: www.idiv.de/en/groups_and_people/employees/details/eshow/barnes-andrew.html Dr. Kara Allen
West Virginia University
Department of Biology
Email: kara.allen@mail.wvu.edu
Internet: www.researchgate.net/profile/Kara_Allen2 Prof. Dr. Ulrich Brose
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Phone: +49 341 9733-205, Email: ulrich.brose@idiv.de
Internet: www.idiv.de/en/groups_and_people/employees/details/eshow/brose-ulrich.html

Anthrax: a hidden threat to wildlife in the tropics

Wed, 02 Aug 2017 16:24:00 +0200

Researchers illuminate the epidemiology of a cryptic pathogen

Berlin/ Leipzig/ Glasgow/ Ivory Coast. Anthrax, a disease so far not associated with tropical rain forests, is common in the Ivory Coast’s Taï National Park and is posing a serious threat to wildlife there. The bacterium could soon even cause the extinction of local chimpanzee populations. This is revealed in a study by scientists from the Robert Koch Institute, the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI EVA), the University of Glasgow, and the Ivorian National Animal Health Institute. One of the study authors is iDiv junior group leader Hjalmar Kuehl from the MPI EVA.
“The results demonstrate the importance of long-term studies of infectious diseases and their effects on wildlife”, says Fabian Leendertz from the Robert Koch Institute, the veterinary scientist leading the study. “They help us to better protect endangered species. But at the same time, infections in great apes are often indicators of diseases that can also affect humans”. Lothar H. Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute and co-author, adds: “The work really highlights the One Health approach that sees human and animal health as intimately connected and stresses the need for considering them jointly.” Anthrax is caused by spore-forming bacteria, typically Bacillus anthracis. Especially in the arid regions of Africa, outbreaks are common and can also affect people and their livestock. In 2004, Leendertz’ team at RKI discovered a previously unknown type of the anthrax bacterium in dead chimpanzees in the rainforests of Taï National Park: Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis. Studies conducted since have shown that the same type has also caused mortality in isolated cases in chimpanzees, gorillas, and elephants in Cameroon and the Central African Republic. In their current work, the researchers focused on the distribution of the pathogen within Taï National Park and its effect on wildlife populations. They analysed bone and tissue samples which had been collected over the last 28 years from mammal carcasses found in the park. They also looked at the stomach content of carrion flies: these flies constantly encounter carcasses, pick up the anthrax pathogen, and can thus provide clues about the areas and species it circulates in. Bones and flies from 16 other regions in sub-Saharan Africa were also tested. Sequencing and analysing the pathogen’s genome, which also involved scientists at the University of Glasgow, enabled establishment of how animal cases were linked. Threat for chimps in Taï National Park “To our surprise, almost 40 percent of all animal deaths in Taï National Park we investigated were attributable to anthrax,” reports Emmanuel Couacy-Hymann from the Ivorian Animal Health Institute. The researchers found the pathogen in several monkey species, duikers, mongoose, and a porcupine. Most seriously affected were the chimpanzees: 31 of the 55 individuals whose carcasses were examined had died from the disease. “According to our projections, anthrax could over time contribute to drive chimpanzees in Taï National Park to extinction,” says Roman Wittig, who leads the Taï Chimpanzee project at the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. The scientists are now trying to find out why the pathogen is particularly active in Taï National Park; they also still don’t know where and how animals become infected. In addition, the researchers are searching for ways to protect the chimpanzees, including the possibility of vaccination. Human infections with the atypical type of the anthrax bacterium have so far not been reported. But the probability that it also poses a threat to humans, just like Bacillus anthracis, is high, since both types are highly related. Collaborative studies between Robert Koch Institute and research institutes and agencies in Ivory Coast to investigate this are currently under way. Anthrax in humans can cause death but if recognised early can usually be treated successfully with antibiotics. Degen, Leendertz, Biek/RKI/HR Original publication: Constanze Hoffmann, Fee Zimmerman, Roman Biek, Hjalmar Kuehl, Kathrin Nowak, Roger Mundry, Anthony Agbor, Samuel Angedakin, Mimi Arandjelovic, Anja Blankenburg, Gregory Brazolla, Katherine Corogenes, Emmanuel Couacy-Hymann, Tobias Deschner, Paula Dieguez, Karsten Dierks, Ariane Düx, Susann Dupke, Henk Eshuis, Pierre Formenty, Yisa Ginath Yuh, Annemarie Goedmakers, Jan F. Gogarten, Anne-Céline Granjon, Scott McGraw, Roland Grunow, John Hart, Sorrel Jones, Jessica Junker, John Kiang, Kevin Langergraber, Juan Lapuente, Kevin Lee, Siv Aina Leendertz, Floraine Léguillon, Vera Leinert, Therese Löhrich, Sergio Marrocoli, Kerstin Mätz-Rensing, Amelia Meier, Kevin Merkel, Sonja Metzger, Mizuki Murai, Svenja Niedorf, Hélène De Nys, Andreas Sachse, Joost van Schijndel, Ulla Thiesen, Els Ton, Doris Wu, Lothar H. Wieler, Christophe Boesch, Silke R. Klee, Roman M. Wittig, Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer, Fabian H. Leendertz:Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest. Nature; 3 August, 2017 (DOI: 10.1038/nature23309) Contact: Dr Hjalmar S. Kühl
Head of research Group Sustainability and Complexity in Ape Habitat
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology / German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
Web: http://www.eva.mpg.de/primat/staff/hjalmar-kuehl/index.html
Email: kuehl@eva.mpg.de Dr Tabea Turrini
Media and Communications Department
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
Web: https://www.idiv.de/de/gruppen_und_personen/mitarbeiterinnen/mitarbeiterdetails/eshow/turrini-tabea.html
Email: tabea.turrini@idiv.de

Climate change: Biodiversity rescues biodiversity in a warmer world

Fri, 14 Jul 2017 18:00:00 +0200

Leipzig, Minnesota. Climate change leads to loss of biodiversity worldwide. However, ecosystems with a higher biodiversity in the first place might be less affected a new study in Science Advances reports. An international research team found that when they experimentally warmed meadows, the diversity of nematode worms living in the soil went down in monocultures, whereas the opposite was true for meadows with many different herbaceous plant species. The last month was recorded as the warmest June ever in many parts of the world. Last year, 2016, was the warmest year in the modern temperature record. Our planet is constantly heating up. This poses direct threats to humans, like extreme weather events and global sea-level rise, but scientists are concerned that it may also affect our well-being indirectly via changes in biodiversity. The variety of life, from plants and animals to microorganisms, is the basis of many services ecosystems provide to us, for example clean drinking water or food. Today, ecologists are challenged by the question: what does a warmer world mean for biodiversity? More species, less species, or no change? A team of ecologists from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig University, and the University of Minnesota found that climate warming can both increase and decrease biodiversity, and that the direction of the effect depends on how much biodiversity there is in the first place. In a long-running field experiment in Cedar Creek, Minnesota, the researchers established more than 30 different meadow plots, some with only one plant species (monocultures), and others with up to 16 different plant species. Then, they warmed the meadows with heating lamps to approximately 3°C above the ambient temperature. Subsequently, the researchers recorded how this affected nematodes, little worms that live in the soil in high abundance and of which many different species exist. Nematodes play important roles for several ecosystem functions, for example they help to make the soil fertile which is crucial for plant production. When the researchers warmed the monoculture plots, the diversity of nematodes substantially declined. However, when they warmed the plots with a high number of different plant species, the number of nematode species increased. Dr Madhav P. Thakur, the lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the iDiv research centre and the Leipzig University, says: “The story is simple; you need biodiversity to conserve biodiversity in a warmer world”. That’s not, however, the end of the story. The researchers also report the limitation of biodiversity in rescuing biodiversity in a warmer world. While they did find a greater number of nematode species in the warmed plots with high plant diversity, those nematode species were also more closely related, or in other words, more similar, to each other. “The reason was that these species had all been selected for a common characteristic, namely tolerance to a warmer environment“, Thakur explains. This increase in similarity can have implications for how well biological communities can respond to future environmental changes, potentially limiting the “insurance” effect inherent in a higher numbers of species,” says Dr Jane Cowles, a co-author and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minnesota. What will be the consequences for the stability of our planet’s ecosystems? The authors encourage future research to solve this puzzle. The monoculture meadow created for the experiment resembled meadows found in intensively managed agricultural land. These new research findings therefore support conservationists who are advocating for maintaining species-rich ecosystems and farmland to sustain biodiversity, and thus human well-being, in a warmer world. This may help to prevent negative effects of climate warming, although likely with some limitations. Publication M. P. Thakur, D. Tilman, O. Purschke, M. Ciobanu, J. Cowles, F. Isbell, P. D. Wragg, N. Eisenhauer (2017): Climate warming promotes species diversity, but with greater taxonomic redundancy, in complex environments. Science Advances 3, e1700866. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700866. Contact Dr Madhav P. Thakur
Postdoctoral researcher at the research group Experimental Interaction Ecology at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and at Leipzig University
Tel. +49 341 9733193
Web: https://www.idiv.de/en/groups_and_people/employees/details/eshow/thakur-madhav-prakash.html Dr Tabea Turrini
iDiv Media and Communications
Web: https://www.idiv.de/en/groups_and_people/employees/details/eshow/turrini-tabea.html

Research on clean drinking water

Fri, 16 Jun 2017 12:26:00 +0200

Jena. In this country, we take clean drinking water for granted. At least 4.5 billion cubic metres are used in Germany each year – equivalent to some 120 litres per person per day. More than two-thirds of this total comes from groundwater. But how secure are these essential subsurface water reservoirs in view of intensive land use, environmental pollution and climate change? Researchers at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, together with partners, are looking into this issue in the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) ‘AquaDiva’. Started in 2013, the research partnership will continue to be supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for the next four years, receiving over 9.5 million euros for the funding period to 2021. AquaDiva is one of iDiv's research platforms.
“We are pleased with the recognition of our work to date and this positive evaluation by the DFG will spur us on in tackling our next research tasks,” says Prof. Kirsten Küsel. The Director of the Institute of Ecology of the University of Jena is one of three speakers of the CRC. The aim of the research partnership is to analyse the connections between ground and subsurface habitats of plants and microorganisms, and the processes that take place in those habitats. The findings will be used to develop recommendations for the sustainable protection of these ecosystems and of the services they provide to people. As well as scientists from the University of Jena, the CRC AquaDiva also includes researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC), the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT) and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). Read more: https://www.uni-jena.de/en/Research+News/FM170616_CRC_AquaDiva_Funding.html
& https://www.idiv.de/en/research/platforms_and_networks/aquadiva.html

"Garten findet Stadt" - Exhibition gives practical advice for balcony, flat roof and allotment

Thu, 15 Jun 2017 10:42:00 +0200

Leipzig. Protecting biodiversity is one of the major challenges of our time. Cities are becoming increasingly into the focus of attention. In cities, diverse green areas offer habitats and foods for animals, in addition to cooling in the summer. iDiv, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, has therefore launched the exhibition "Garten findet Stadt". In the Botanical Garden of Leipzig University, amateur gardeners receive practical tips on how to conserve resources and contribute to biodiversity. The exhibition was inaugurated on Thursday, 15 June. The full text is only available in German.

Islands and coastal regions are threatened the most

Tue, 13 Jun 2017 12:05:00 +0200

Durham/Vienna/Leipzig. The distribution of established alien species in different regions of the world varies significantly. Until now, scientists were uncertain about where the global hotspots for established alien species are located. An international research team that includes Marten Winter and Carsten Meyer from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and Leipzig University is the first to provide an analysis of these hotspots: According to their study, most alien species can be found on islands and coastal regions. The study was published in the renowned journal Nature Ecology and Evolution on 12 June 2017. Humans are responsible for the movement of an increasing number of species into new territories which they previously never inhabited. The number of established alien species varies according to world region. What was previously unclear is where the most established alien species could be found and which factors characterise their distribution.

An international team consisting of 25 researchers under the leadership of Dr Wayne Dawson from the University of Durham (United Kingdom), who began his research on this topic at the University of Konstanz, created a database for eight animal and plant groups (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, spiders, ants and vascular plants) that were found to occur in regions outside of their original habitat. The study of the distribution of these species led the research team to identify 186 islands and 423 mainland regions in total. This project allowed the researchers to illustrate the global distribution of established alien species within a large number of organism groups for the first time.

Most important result: The highest number of alien species can be found on islands and in the coastal regions of continents. The island of Hawaii was found to have the most alien species, followed by the north island of New Zealand and the small Sunda Islands of Indonesia. The researchers also examined the factors responsible for the number of alien species in any one region. Lead author Dr Wayne Dawson, from Durham University’s Department of Biosciences, said: “Our research shows that, islands and mainland coastal regions contain higher numbers of established alien plants and animals, and this may be because these areas have major points of entry like ports. In general, regions that are wealthier, and where human populations are denser also have more alien species, but these effects are stronger for islands.” These factors increase the likelihood of humans introducing many new species to an area. This results in the destruction of natural habitats, which in turn allows non-indigenous species to spread. Islands and coastal regions seem to be particularly vulnerable because they occupy leading roles in global overseas trade.

“Hawaii and New Zealand lead the field for all examined groups”, explains participating ecologist Dr Franz Essl from the University of Vienna: “Both regions are remote islands that used to be very isolated, lacking some groups of organisms altogether - such as mammals, for instance. Today, both regions are economically highly developed countries that maintain intense trade relationships. These have a huge impact on the introduction and naturalisation of non-indigenous species”.

The presence of large numbers of alien species across many regions of the earth comes with serious consequences, especially in cases where indigenous species are driven out and natural habitats are changed. This is very problematic with regard to islands since many indigenous species tend to exist only on the island itself and are therefore particularly vulnerable to the threat of alien invaders. "Islands, such as New Zealand and Hawaii, are often geographically isolated and have, in evolutionary terms, unique flora and faunas, which were not at all prepared for the most diverse types of entrained species," explains the ecologist Marten Winter of iDiv. Various laws and treaties designed to reduce the spread of alien species have been passed around the globe. "That is precisely the reason the Cross-border cooperation in Europe, which has now begun with the EU regulation on invasive species, is important and necessary," says Winter. New Zealand has already passed comprehensive legislation designed to prevent the introduction of further alien species over the past few years. And on some smaller islands, alien predators such as rats or mice have been successfully eliminated. These examples show that it is possible to take successful action. Original publication: W. Dawson, D. Moser, M. van Kleunen, H. Kreft, J. Pergl, P. Pyšek, M. Winter, B. Lenzner, T. Blackburn, E. Dyer, P. Cassey, S. Scrivens, E. Economo, B. Guénard, C. Capinha, H. Seebens, P. Garcia-Diaz, W. Nentwig, E. Garcia-Berthou, C. Casal, N. Mandrák, P. Fuller, C. Meyer, and F. Essl (2017): Global hotspots and correlates of alien species richness across taxonomic groups. Nature Ecology and Evolution. DOI: s41559-017-0186
http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0186
The study was supported by the European Commission (COST Action TD1209), the German Science Foundation (DFG), the Volkswagen Foundation through a Freigeist Fellowship and others. Links:

Press release of Durham University: https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=31655 Global Naturalized Alien Flora (GloNAF) https://glonaf.org/ Further information:
Dr Wayne Dawson
Durham University’s Department of Biosciences
https://www.dur.ac.uk/research/directory/staff/?mode=staff&id=14650%E2%80%9D
and
Dr Franz Essl
University of Vienna
http://cvl.univie.ac.at/department/Staff/staff_detail.cfm?Nachname=Essl
as well
Dr Marten Winter, Dr Carsten Meyer
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and Leipzig University
https://www.idiv.de/de/gruppen_und_personen/mitarbeiterinnen/mitarbeiterdetails/eshow/winter-marten.html
https://www.idiv.de/de/gruppen_und_personen/mitarbeiterinnen/mitarbeiterdetails/eshow/meyer-carsten.html Media contacts:

Durham University Marketing and Communications Office
https://www.dur.ac.uk/marketingandcommunications/media.relations/informationformedia/
and
Mag. Alexandra Frey
University of Vienna
http://medienportal.univie.ac.at/presse/press-service/
as well as
Dr Tabea Turrini, Tilo Arnhold
iDiv Media and Communications
Tel.: +49 341 9733 -106, -1197
https://www.idiv.de/en/groups_and_people/central_management/media_and_communications/contact.html

"Outstanding research" - Minister-President Tillich visits iDiv

Fri, 09 Jun 2017 11:57:00 +0200

The research centre was one of two priorities during his visit to the Leipzig University

Leipzig. During his visit to the Leipzig University on Friday, the Minister-President of the German Federal State of Saxony, Stanislaw Tillich, got an insight into the work at iDiv, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig. He was welcomed by the Rector of the Leipzig University, Prof Dr Beate Schücking, as well as by iDiv's Managing Director, Prof Dr Christian Wirth, and then was presented ongoing research projects. Scientists at the iDiv research centre opted for an unconventional way to demonstrate to the Minister-President how much abundance and natural wealth the diversity of life provides on Earth – with a 1.5-by-3-metre screen illustrating the relationships of all known genera of animals, plants, fungi and bacteria. However, Prof Christian Wirth stressed, with respect to individual species, we are currently aware of only approximately ten percent of all living things that exist on Earth. Then he moved a blind across the screen, which covered a large part of the biodiversity map. While research is only now being done into which immense services biodiversity also provides for us humans (as an example, Wirth pointed out the pollination of our food crops), due to current human activity, species on Earth are becoming extinct a hundred times as quickly as would naturally be the case. Therefore, the researchers at iDiv aim to provide the scientific basis for the sustainable management of biodiversity on our planet. Tour of the laboratories: Root flies and underground terrarium The subsequent laboratory tour enabled Tillich to gain an idea of the internationally acclaimed research. In one of the laboratories, he was shown the state-of-the-art equipment for sophisticated chemical analytical procedures with which scientists explore, for example, how cabbage plants prevent themselves from being eaten by root flies. In another laboratory Tillich examined what are known as ‘planar cosms’, types of underground terrariums which are used for researching the interactions between earthworms and plants. He said: ‘The iDiv research centre demonstrates the huge potential of outstanding research and productive networking. This is how the Leipzig University, as one of the oldest German-speaking universities, is impressively continuing its over 600-year-long history of scientific work. Its 14 faculties and many renowned professors have turned the university into a magnet for young people, many of whom move to Saxony. More than 28,000 students leave their mark on the city and play a role in establishing Leipzig’s immense appeal.’ The funding of the iDiv research centre was confirmed last year by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The volume of funding has increased, compared with the first period, by 32 percent and is now over 36.5 million euros over a period of four years. iDiv is operated by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Leipzig University, and in cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). Around 280 employees and members from over 30 nations work at the iDiv sites in Halle, Jena and Leipzig. A new iDiv building will be built near the current iDiv site at the Deutscher Platz by early 2020. The research centre is an example of the successful cooperation within the Universitätsbund Halle-Jena-Leipzig [Halle-Jena-Leipzig University Confederation]. Subsequently to his visit at iDiv, the Minister-President met with the rectorate of the Leipzig University and with scientists from other research fields to talk about their draft proposals for the new round of the excellence strategy. Read more about this in the press release of the Leipzig University (German only)> Contact: Dr. Tabea Turrini
iDiv Media and Communications
Tel. +49 341 9733106
https://www.idiv.de/de/gruppen_und_personen/mitarbeiterinnen/mitarbeiterdetails/eshow/turrini-tabea.html Susann Huster
Department of University Communications
Media Relations
Tel. +49 341 97-35020
http://www.uni-leipzig.de/service/kommunikation/medienredaktion/

How does the loss of species alter ecosystems?

Wed, 17 May 2017 14:17:00 +0200

Bad Lauchstädt. The iDiv Ecotron, a central experimental platform of the DFG Research Centre iDiv, was officially launched during a ceremony last Wednesday. Researchers will use this unique facility to better understand the consequences of species loss. The iDiv Ecotron will enable investigations into the interactions within food webs among plants, animals, microbes and the soil under controlled conditions in 24 experimental chambers. Over 3.7 million euros have been invested into this modern platform, which is operated jointly by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), and is anticipated to bridge the gap between simple laboratory experiments and complex ecosystem approaches. The iDiv Ecotron enriches the field research station of the UFZ in Bad Lauchstädt, which is gaining national and international stature as an ecological research station due to the cooperation between the UFZ and iDiv. Basic research of high societal relevance Many human activities are causing species loss. According to a number of estimates, numerous species of invertebrates are becoming extinct daily. Yet, what does this mean for the functioning of ecosystems? The following is clear: high species diversity has a positive effect on numerous functions of ecosystems. Thus, for example, a large number of plant species increases the production of biomass such as hay and wood, or the storage of climate-impacting carbon in the soil. This is demonstrated by experiments from various research platforms such as the Jena Experiment or the Biodiversity Exploratories of the German Research Foundation, which also involve researchers from iDiv and UFZ. Little is known, however, about the role of small herbivores (e.g. snails or caterpillars), predators (e.g. ladybirds or spiders) or animals that live underground (e.g. earthworms or nematodes) and micro-organisms (e.g. bacteria or fungi). We know that these organisms play an important role in the food web and have a positive influence on many functions of ecosystems. Pollinators like bees and bumblebees, for example, are indispensable for the reproduction of many plant species. Other insects such as ants help plants spread their seeds. Decomposers such as earthworms and soil micro-organisms recycle nutrients for plant growth. But such dependencies between different food web components have, so far, been investigated in closer detail in only a few cases. Researchers plan to use the new research platform to change this. The iDiv Ecotron has been designed to find out how the disappearance of species at different locations of the food web impacts the functioning of ecosystems. This fundamental biological research has far-reaching economic relevance: functioning ecosystems are the basis for a series of so-called ecosystem services such as the provision of clean drinking water, food, and energy sources, which nature provides to people. UFZ scientists estimate that insects benefit the global economy in the realm of approximately 150 billion euros per year, just by pollinating cultivated plants in agriculture. Until now, it has been very difficult to make such estimates for other animals or micro-organisms. How many losses can ecosystems cope with? If many species are present, this has positive effects on ecosystems. But what happens when certain species disappear from complex food webs? Can their function be taken over by other species? How many losses can ecosystems take? The iDiv Ecotron chambers carefully examine the food web in all its complexity. In addition, researchers can replace or entirely remove certain animal and plant species in the closed systems. “We can examine, for example, the interplay and the interactions among different species above and below the soil”, explains Prof. Nico Eisenhauer (iDiv and Leipzig University), who manages the facility. “Similar to a climate chamber, which simulates the warmer climate of the future, the iDiv Ecotron enables us to look at a future world which contains fewer species.” Key issues of coexistence In doing so, Eisenhauer and his colleagues wish to investigate three key issues: Does the complexity of the interactions between the species affect the functions of an ecosystem? How dependent are ecosystem functions on the relationships between aboveground and belowground organisms and processes? What are the impacts of global change on biodiversity, interaction networks and ecosystem functions? These environmental issues are of far-reaching importance. The German Research Foundation (DFG) has, for that reason, funded the facility with roughly three million euros and is financing two employees. Also involved financially, the UFZ has modernised the hall of the iDiv Ecotron for three-quarters of a million euros and is financing one employee. A unique high-tech facility The goal of the experimental chambers is to explore ecosystem functions by manipulating complex animal and plant communities. The environmental conditions must be as constant as possible to avoid disruptive events, which could distort the results. The 24 chambers are therefore all structurally identical and deploy extensive technology, which sets and adjusts the light, temperature and precipitation. That means that, for the first time, it will be possible to manipulate aboveground and belowground communities and their interactions on relevant spatial scales. The “EcoUnits” are experimental chambers, which consist of a bottom section filled with soil, a top section, and a technical section, and stand 1.55 x 1.55 metres wide and 3.20 metres high. Each “EcoUnit” can be divided into up to four largely independent compartments, due to aboveground partition walls and underground steel cylinders (lysimeters). All chambers are equipped with extensive technology. This includes, for example, cameras that observe the interactions between animals and plants. “Because such a facility has not yet been built, we have invested a lot of time over the past years in developing and optimising the technology together with the manufacturers. In some areas, we had to enter uncharted territory, which has often not been easy. We’re so much happier that everything is now running and the scientific experiments can finally start”, reported Dr. Manfred Türke from the iDiv and Leipzig University, who is coordinating the work at the facility. After the pilot phase, the facility will also be made available to external scientists. A commission will decide on proposals and applications and allocate the capacities – as is customary for large-scale scientific research equipment of international importance. Bad Lauchstädt as an internationally renowned research station The iDiv Ecotron enriches the field research station of the UFZ in Bad Lauchstädt, which is gaining in national and international stature as an ecological research station due to the cooperation between the UFZ and iDiv. In addition to a multitude of experiments in soil and biodiversity research at this location, since 2013 the UFZ has operated a globally unique outdoor experiment known as the Global Change Experimental Facility (GCEF), in which a seven-hectare test area is used to examine the impact of climate change on different forms of land use. “The research station in Bad Lauchstädt, with a total area of about 40 hectares, has in recent years already made a name for itself among ecologists, thanks to the highly varied range of experiments. The station is now getting a further boost thanks to its collaboration with iDiv. “And actually, many experiments have only just started”, says a delighted Prof. François Buscot, who as head of the UFZ department of soil ecology is jointly responsible for the research station of the UFZ in Bad Lauchstädt, and is also Deputy Director of iDiv. Three platforms are among the new experiments: the MyDiv tree diversity experiment, the NutNet global research initiative to examine changes in nutrient availability and Drought-Net, the global network to examine the effects of extreme drought. With immediate effect, the iDiv Ecotron will complement these field experiments in Bad Lauchstädt and enrich biodiversity research in central Germany. Volker Hahn / Tilo Arnhold Photos: https://portal.idiv.de/owncloud/index.php/s/C7ArpPsWmoGqKCT Links: The iDiv Ecotron
Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research under controlled environmental conditions
https://www.idiv.de/en/research/platforms_and_networks/idiv_ecotron.html
UFZ Experimental research station Bad Lauchstädt
https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=39922
Contacts:
Dr Manfred Türke
Scientific Coordinator iDiv Ecotron / German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig & Leipzig University
https://www.idiv.de/en/groups_and_people/employees/details/eshow/tuerke-manfred.html

Prof Dr Nico Eisenhauer Scientific head iDiv Ecotron & Head of Research Group Experimental Interaction Ecology / German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig & Leipzig University
https://www.idiv.de/groups_and_people/employees/details/eshow/eisenhauer-nico.html

Prof Dr François Buscot
Head of the Department of Soil Ecology / Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ & Co-Director German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
https://www.idiv.de/en/groups_and_people/employees/details/eshow/buscot-francois.html as well as Tilo Arnhold, Dr Volker Hahn iDiv Media and Communications Tel.: +49 341 9733 -109, -154
https://www.idiv.de/en/groups_and_people/central_management/media_and_communications/contact.html and Susanne Hufe UFZ Press and Public Relations Tel.: +49 341 235-1630 http://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=36336 iDiv is a central facility of Leipzig University within the meaning of Section 92 (1) of the Act on Academic Freedom in Higher Education in Saxony (Sächsisches Hochschulfreiheitsgesetz, SächsHSFG). It is run together with the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, as well as in cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ. The following non-university research institutions are involved as cooperation partners: the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI BGC), the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (MPI CE), the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI EVA), the Leibniz Institute DSMZ–German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB), the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) and the Leibniz Institute Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz (SMNG). www.idiv.de In the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), scientists conduct research into the causes and consequences of far-reaching environmental changes. Their areas of study cover water resources, biodiversity, the consequences of climate change and possible adaptation strategies, environmental technologies and biotechnologies, bioenergy, the effects of chemicals in the environment and the way they influence health, modelling and social-scientific issues. Its guiding principle: Our research contributes to the sustainable use of natural resources and helps to provide long-term protection for these vital assets in the face of global change. The UFZ employs more than 1,100 staff at its sites in Leipzig, Halle and Magdeburg. It is funded by the federal government, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. www.ufz.de

Picky fruit-eating birds are more flexible

Fri, 12 May 2017 11:39:00 +0200

Frankfurt am Main/ Leipzig. Researchers from Senckenberg and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research have found that South American birds that are seasonally specialized on particular fruit types are the most flexible in switching to different fruit types in other seasons. This flexibility in their diet is good news in view of the predicted loss of plant species under global change. The study is now published in ‘Journal of Animal Ecology’. It was supported by the iDiv flexpool and others. The Plumbeous pigeon is a picky eater. Whereas its relatives on European streets and squares feed on whatever they encounter, its South American relative almost exclusively feeds on certain fruits. Together with other birds such as toucans or the turkey-like guans it belongs to a bunch of large fruit-eating birds that are specialized on particular types of fruits. One might think that being peculiar goes hand-in-hand with being inflexible in food choice – however, it does not. “We compared neotropic fruit-eating birds that are specialized on a small range of fruit resources in a particular season with birds that eat a large ranege of fruits. The specialists are those which are most flexible in adapting their foraging choices across seasons”, explains Irene Bender, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre and German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), lead author of a new study on this topic. She adds “The flexible avian fruit eaters prefer to feed on large fruits. However, their favourite resources are not constantly available throughout the year which forces them to switch.” The researchers’ surprising observations shed light on the question how species might respond to resource fluctuations that are not naturally determined. “This flexibility of consumer species may be an important, but so far widely neglected mechanism that could stabilize consumer-resource relationships, for instance in response to human disturbance and environmental change. Being flexible might mean that specialized foragers are able to adapt to future changes in resource availability.” says Dr. Matthias Schleuning, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre. The study was based on observational records by a team around Irene Bender and Matthias Dehling of the fruit choices of birds in the Manú Biosphere Reserve on the western slopes of the Andes in Peru. The team also measured traits of the plants which provided the fruits, such as plant height and fruit size. The flexibility of bird species was defined as their ability to switch seasonally among plant species with different traits; their specialization was measured by comparing their fruit choices to those of other bird species in the community. Contact Irene M.A. Bender
Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre &
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (idiv)
Phone +49 (0)69- 7542 1875
Irene.bender@senckenberg.de PD Dr. Matthias Schleuning
Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre
Phone +49 (0)69- 7542 1892
Matthias.schleuning@senckenberg.de Sabine Wendler
Press officer
Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre
Phone +49 (0)69- 7542 1818 Sabine.wendler@senckenberg.de Publication Bender, I.M.A. et al. (2017): Functionally specialised birds respond flexibly to seasonal changes in fruit availability. Journal of Animal Ecology, doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.12683
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12683
The study was supported by the iDiv flexpool, University of Amsterdam, LOEWE, Royal Society of New Zealand, DAAD and others. http://www.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?page_id=5210&year=0&kid=2&id=4454 Press images may be used at no cost for editorial reporting, provided that the original author’s name is published, as well. The images may only be passed on to third parties in the context of current reporting. To study and understand nature with its limitless diversity of living creatures and to preserve and manage it in a sustainable fashion as the basis of life for future generations – this has been the goal of the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (Senckenberg Nature Research Society) for 200 years. This integrative “geobiodiversity research” and the dissemination of research and science are among Senckenberg’s main tasks. Three nature museums in Frankfurt, Görlitz and Dresden display the diversity of life and the earth’s development over millions of years. The Senckenberg Nature Research Society is a member of the Leibniz Association. The Senckenberg Nature Museum in Frankfurt am Main is supported by the City of Frankfurt am Main as well as numerous other partners. Additional information can be found at www.senckenberg.de. 200 years of Senckenberg! 2017 marks Senckenberg’s anniversary year. For 200 years, the society, which was founded in 1817, has dedicated itself to nature research with curiosity, passion and involvement. Senckenberg will celebrate its 200-year success story with a colorful program consisting of numerous events, specially designed exhibitions and a grand museum party in the fall. Of course, the program also involves the presentation of current research and future projects. Additional information can be found at: www.200jahresenckenberg. iDiv is a central facility of Leipzig University within the meaning of Section 92 (1) of the Act on Academic Freedom in Higher Education in Saxony (Sächsisches Hochschulfreiheitsgesetz, SächsHSFG). It is run together with the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, as well as in cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ. The following non-university research institutions are involved as cooperation partners: the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI BGC), the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (MPI CE), the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI EVA), the Leibniz Institute DSMZ–German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB), the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) and the Leibniz Institute Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz (SMNG). www.idiv.de

Estimating the size of animal populations from camera trap surveys

Wed, 10 May 2017 08:53:00 +0200

Researchers develop new analytical methods that help them estimate the size of wild animal populations from a distance

Camera traps are a useful means for researchers to observe the behaviour of animal populations in the wild or to assess biodiversity levels of remote locations like the tropical rain forest. Researchers from the University of St Andrews, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) recently extended distance sampling analytical methods to accommodate data from camera traps. This new development allows abundances of multiple species to be estimated from camera trapping data collected over relatively short time intervals – information critical to effective wildlife management and conservation. Remote motion-sensitive photography, or camera trapping, is revolutionizing surveys of wild animal populations. Camera trapping is an efficient means of detecting rare species, conducting species inventories and biodiversity assessments, estimating site occupancy, and observing behaviour. If individual animals can be identified from the images obtained, camera trapping data can also be used to estimate animal density and population size – information critical to effective wildlife management and conservation. For this reason, camera traps were initially popularized by researchers studying big cats and other species with distinctive coat markings. Since then, thousands of camera traps have been deployed in wildlife habitat across the globe, especially in tropical forest ecosystems where animals are difficult to survey by other means. However, methods for estimating abundances of species which cannot be individually identified are still in development, and none is generally accepted or broadly applied. Researchers from the University of St Andrews, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) recently extended distance sampling analytical methods to accommodate data from camera traps. “Distance sampling is a very well-established statistical framework for estimating animal density and population size that is already familiar to many ecologists”, says Hjalmar Kühl of the MPI-EVA and iDiv. “This development will pave the way for researchers to estimate abundances of multiple species from camera trapping data collected over relatively short time intervals, without identifying individuals, and with minimal additional field work.” Kühl adds: “This new approach can be easily integrated into our ongoing camera trap surveys across a broad range of habitats and species; we will also apply it in our monitoring work." The models are implemented in the free, Windows-based software Distance, and various packages of the statistics software R. Detailed documentation and advice from statisticians is also freely available via the Distance project website (www.distancesampling.org). Further testing and validation are recommended. Nevertheless, this development is an important addition to the set of analytical methods available to researchers conducting camera trap surveys. It can improve the quantity and quality of information about animal abundance and how it varies in space and time, facilitating effective conservation management. Stephen Buckland of the University of St. Andrews states: “Many animal populations are difficult to monitor effectively, but technological advances are opening up new strategies. The challenge for the statistician is to keep pace with the technological advances, and ensure that models are available to exploit fully the resulting data. This work is an important step in that direction.” Eric Howe of the University of St. Andrews ads: “Given the current rates of species extinction and loss of biodiversity, I’m excited to be involved in research that has the potential to provide improved information to wildlife and conservation managers in a timely fashion.” EH, SJ Video 1: A Maxwell's duiker recorded by a camera trap set in Taï National Park, Côte D'Ivoire, 2014 (video: MPI-EVA). Video 2: Reference video from another camera with a researcher demonstrating measured horizontal distances from the camera lens (video: MPI-EVA). Original publication: Howe EJ, Buckland ST, Després-Einspenner M-L, Kühl HS (2017): Distance sampling with camera traps. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, April 2017, DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.12790 Contact: Dr. Hjalmar S. Kühl
Head of research Group Sustainability and Complexity in Ape Habitat
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology / German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
Email: kuehl@eva.mpg.de Marie-Lyne Després-Einspenner
Doctoral researcher
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Web: http://www.eva.mpg.de/primat/staff/marie-lyne-despres-einspenner/index.html
Email: marie_despres@eva.mpg.de Dr. Tabea Turrini
Media and Communications Department
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
Web: https://www.idiv.de/de/gruppen_und_personen/mitarbeiterinnen/mitarbeiterdetails/eshow/turrini-tabea.html
Email: tabea.turrini@idiv.de

Barley Genome Sequenced: A Story of Malting Genes and Vulnerable Diversity

Thu, 27 Apr 2017 14:20:00 +0200

Gatersleben. A ten-nation consortium has reported the first high-quality reference genome sequence of barley, a cereal crop that is used around the world as animal fodder. Moreover, malted barley grains are the raw material for popular beverages such as beer and whisky. The barley genome was sequenced and asembled using an array of state-of-the-art methods, taking ten years. For the first time, scientists can now locate all genes precisely in the genome and analyze complex gene families that play a key role in the malting and resilience. The barley genome sequence also highlighted regions vulnerable to genetic erosion and will help breeders recover genetic diversity in their crop improvements efforts. The first study author is iDiv Junior Group leader Martin Mascher from the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben.
Developing climate-smart and pathogen-resistant crops is the key current challenge of plant breeding. Sequencing the genome sequence of a crop reveals detailed information on the location, structure and function of its genes and thus provides useful knowledge for breeding programs to boost crop improvement. Ten years ago, the International Barley Genome Sequencing Consortium (IBSC) set out to assemble a complete reference sequence of the barley genome. At that time, this seemed a daunting task: the barley genome is almost two times larger than the human genome and 80 % of it is composed of highly complex repeat structures. Now researchers report the outcome of their joint work in the prestigious journal Nature. Sequencing a huge plant genome The past decade saw many advances in sequencing technology and computational algorithms that helped the barley sequencing consortium to produce a nearly complete high-quality reference sequence of the barley genome. “Sequencing and assembling the barley genome was a truly international collaboration”, says Nils Stein, researcher at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben, Germany. Stein has been coordinating IBSC since 2008 and is grateful for the support the consortium has received: “Our thanks go to the public and private funders who believed in the success of our project and have sustained our research over the past ten years”. “Generating and analyzing all the sequence data and complementary resources kept teams around the world – in Germany, the UK, China, Australia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA – busy for a decade”, explains Guoping Zhang, a professor at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou China. The final raw data set included 2.5 terabases in the form of fragmented short sequence reads. Bioinformatics was key to stitching the pieces and construction of a fully ordered sequence assembly. “We used chromosome conformation capture and Bionano optical mapping, two new technologies that can reconstruct the linear order of sequences from the three-dimensional structure of the genome in the nucleus or images of labelled long DNA molecules”, says Martin Mascher, a scientist at IPK Gatersleben and lead author of the Nature paper. All datasets and computational methods have been deposited in public archives and described in a Data Descriptor in the journal Scientific Data. Manuel Spannagl from the Helmholtz Zentrum München, who led the annotation of genes, points out: “The barley genome contains more than 39,000 protein-coding genes, many of them present in multiple copies”. In addition to complex gene families, the barley genome abounds with transposable elements: “These pieces of ‘selfish DNA’ have invaded plant genomes for millions of years, and it seems that in barley some elements evolved a preference for specific regions of the genome”, explains Heidrun Gundlach an international expert on repetitive DNA in plants working at the Helmholtz Zentrum München. A better understanding of malting genes Alcoholic beverages made from malted barley have been known since the Stone Age and some even consider them as one of the reasons why humankind adopted plant cultivation. During malting, amylase proteins decompose starch in germinating grains into fermentable sugars. “It has been known for over twenty years that that there are many genes in the barley genome that code for amylase, but until now, we were unable to determine the exact number because some copies are very similar to each other,” explains Chengdao Li, the Director of Western Barley Genetics Alliance at the Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. Only with the help of the genome sequence could the amylase genes be clustered on the chromosomes and the individual copies be compared. Ilka Braumann, a scientist at the Carlsberg Research Laboratory in Copenhagen, is intrigued by the unexpected evolutionary dynamics of these malting-related genes: “It came as a great surprise to us that there is lots of structural variability in the largest amylase gene cluster, even between elite malting barleys.” Vulnerable genetic diversity Barley was domesticated between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent and has since spread across all temperate regions of the world. The processes of domestication, local adaptation and modern breeding have been accompanied by intense selection pressures that have reduced sequence diversity in the genome. In barley and other cereals, huge regions of the genome are inherited as a single block, suppressing the reassortment of alleles into new combinations. The team of Robbie Waugh at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee, Scotland used the reference sequence to assess genetic diversity in modern elite varieties along the genome. Prof. Waugh describes their findings: “The barley genome sequence enables us, for the first time, to grasp the full extent of the non-recombining regions, and highlights the need for clever approaches to introduce beneficial alleles from exotic genepools to counteract genetic erosion.” Better barley The barley genome sequence is now accessible to the scientific community and private breeding companies for genetic analyses. Andreas Graner, head of the German Federal ex situ Genebank at IPK Gatersleben, is excited about the new sequence assembly: “The reference genome sequence will help us understand the genetic diversity of the 22,000 barley accessions in our collection and guide their targeted utilization to recover lost diversity.” The long-term goal of these efforts is to breed a barley crop that can maintain high yields in a changing environment to safeguard global food security. Press release of the IPK. Original Publication: Martin Mascher, Heidrun Gundlach, Axel Himmelbach, Sebastian Beier, Sven O. Twardziok, Thomas Wicker, Volodymyr Radchuk, Christoph Dockter, Pete E. Hedley, Joanne Russell, Micha Bayer, Luke Ramsay, Hui Liu, Georg Haberer, Xiao-Qi Zhang, Qisen Zhang, Roberto A. Barrero, Lin Li, Stefan Taudien, Marco Groth, Marius Felder,, Alex Hastie, Hana Šimková, Helena Staňková, Jan Vrána, Saki Chan, María Muñoz-Amatriaín, Rachid Ounit, Steve Wanamaker, Daniel Bolser, Christian Colmsee, Thomas Schmutzer, Lala Aliyeva-Schnorr, Stefano Grasso, Jaakko Tanskanen, Anna Chailyan, Dharanya Sampath, Darren Heavens, Leah Clissold, Sujie Cao, Brett Chapman, Fei Dai, Yong Han, Hua Li, Xuan Li, Chongyun Lin, John K. McCooke, Cong Tan, Penghao Wang, Songbo Wang, Shuya Yin, Gaofeng Zhou, Jesse A. Poland, Matthew I. Bellgard, Ljudmilla Borisjuk, Andreas Houben, Jaroslav Doležel, Sarah Ayling, Stefano Lonardi, Paul Kersey, Peter Langridge, Gary J. Muehlbauer, Matthew D. Clark, Mario Caccamo, Alan H. Schulman, Klaus F.X. Mayer, Matthias Platzer, Timothy J. Close, Uwe Scholz, Mats Hansson, Guoping Zhang, Ilka Braumann, Manuel Spannagl, Chengdao, Robbie Waugh & Nils Stein: A chromosome conformation capture ordered sequence of the barley genome', Nature, 27 April 2017, doi:10.1038/nature22043. Sebastian Beier, Axel Himmelbach, Christian Colmsee, Xiao-Qi Zhang, Roberto A. Barrero, Qisen Zhang,, Lin Li, Micha Bayer, Daniel Bolser, Stefan Taudien, Marco Groth, Marius Felder, Alex Hastie, Hana Šimková, Helena Staňková, Jan Vrána, Saki Chan, María Muñoz-Amatriaín, Rachid Ounit, Steve Wanamaker, Thomas Schmutzer, Lala Aliyeva-Schnorr, Stefano Grasso, Jaakko Tanskanen, Dharanya Sampath, Darren Heavens, Sujie Cao, Brett Chapman, Fei Dai, Yong Han, Hua Li, Xuan Li, Chongyun Lin, John K. McCooke, Cong Tan, Songbo Wang, Shuya Yin, Gaofeng Zhou, Jesse A. Poland, Matthew I. Bellgard, Andreas Houben, Jaroslav Doležel, Sarah Ayling, Stefano Lonardi, Peter Langridge, Gary J. Muehlbauer, Paul Kersey, Matthew D. Clark, Mario Caccamo, Alan H. Schulman, Matthias Platzer, Timothy J. Close, Mats Hansson, Guoping Zhang, Ilka Braumann, Chengdao Li, Robbie Waugh, Uwe Scholz, Nils Stein & Martin Mascher: Construction of a map-based reference genome sequence for barley, Hordeum vulgare L., Scientific Data, 27 April 2017, d: 10.1038/sdata.2017.44. Further Information on the IPK: The Leibniz-Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben is one of the world's leading international institutions in the field of plant genetics and crop science. Its research programme and services contribute materially to conserving, exploring and exploiting crop diversity. Its research goals are driven by the need to ensure an efficient and sustainable supply of food, energy and raw materials, thereby addressing a major global ecological challenge. www.ipk-gatersleben.de Press Contact: Regina Devrient, IPK
Managing Office I Public Relations
Tel. +49 039482 5837
http://www.ipk-gatersleben.de/en/presspublic-engagement/presseinformationen/

How to avoid being eaten by your pollinators

Fri, 21 Apr 2017 17:09:00 +0200

The volatile compound bergamotene increases the moths’ pollination success and protects tobacco leaves against their voracious offspring

The tobacco hawkmoth Manduca sexta is an important pollinator of the wild tobacco species Nicotiana attenuata; yet hungry larvae hatch from the eggs these moths lay on the leaves. An interdisciplinary team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (MPI-CE) in Jena, Germany, has described a gene in Nicotiana attenuata which enables the plant to solve the dilemma that arises when a pollinator is also a dangerous herbivore. The gene NaTPS38 regulates the production of the volatile compound (E)-α-bergamotene. At night, the tobacco flowers produce this odor which is attractive to adult tobacco hawkmoths, while during the day, the tobacco leaves emit the compound to lure predatory bugs to feed on Manduca sexta larvae and eggs. The results have been published in the journal Current Biology. Among the authors is iDiv Junior Group Leader Meredith Schuman and two iDiv members, all from the MPI-CE. Flowering plants depend on pollen vectors in order to reproduce. Yet a plant has a problem if a pollinator, which is attracted by the odors of sweet flowers, lays its eggs on the plant after pollination is complete, and from these eggs hatch voracious caterpillars ready to attack the tasty leaves with their enormous appetite.
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology have discovered a gene in the wild tobacco species Nicotiana attenuata called NaTPS38, which regulates the production of an aromatic compound, the sesquiterpene (E)-α-bergamotene, in both flowers and leaves. “We observed that Nicotiana attenuata plants emit (E)-α-bergamotene in flowers at night to lure Manduca sexta moths as pollinators. The compound makes a moth keep its proboscis longer in a flower and pollination success is increased. The emission of the same compound in leaves attacked by Manduca sexta larvae during the day, however, attracts the predators of the larvae and acts as an indirect defense,” first author Wenwu Zhou summarizes. In this way, the tissue-specific emission of one compound helps the wild tobacco plants to interact most advantageously with Manduca sexta.
The study involved researchers from four different groups. Originally, Wenwu Zhou and project leader Shuqing Xu from the Department of Molecular Ecology wanted to study the genetic basis of (E)-α-bergamotene emission after herbivory. They found that the terpene synthase NaTPS38 was activated when insects attacked tobacco plants. Researchers from the Department of Biochemistry were able to confirm that NaTPS38 is indeed involved in the production of (E)-α-bergamotene. When the researchers examined the expression of NaTPS38 in different parts of the tobacco plants, they found to their surprise that the gene was also highly expressed in the flowers. However, the ecological function of (E)-α-bergamotene emission in flowers was still unclear. The fact that floral (E)-α-bergamotene was mainly emitted at night led to the hypothesis that the compound interacts with nocturnal pollinators, especially Manduca sexta moths.
Further analyses in the Department of Neuroethology demonstrated that the purified (E)-α-bergamotene activated neural receptors at the tip of the proboscis of Manduca sexta moths. Tent experiments with tobacco plants and hawkmoths performed by researchers from the Department of Molecular Ecology revealed that pollination success was increased when the flowers emitted high amounts of (E)-α-bergamotene.
Although the gene NaTPS38 is very similar to a monoterpene synthase, it is nevertheless responsible for the production of the sesquiterpene (E)-α-bergamotene. Usually a gene from the sesquiterpene synthase family regulates the production of such a compound, but in this case, it appears that the gene NaTPS38 violated this general rule. Analyzing the function and evolutionary history of NaTPS38 revealed that this gene originated from a duplication of a monoterpene synthase which then evolved the ability to produce (E)-α-bergamotene, a sesquiterpene compound. This unique evolutionary process likely occurred before the divergence of different Solanaceae species, the plant family which includes tobacco.The fact that a single gene in Nicotiana attenuata mediates both pollination and defense by producing tissue-specific (E)-α-bergamotene is an example of a phenomenon called ecological pleiotropy. “Accumulating evidence suggests that ecological pleiotropy may be quite common in plants. Our work demonstrates that interactions between different ecological factors, such as pollinators and herbivores, are important for plant evolution. However, we know little about the extent to which these interactions can affect the plant’s adaptation to its environment,” explains Shuqing Xu. The scientists are currently developing a new research program that aims to address this question systematically. [AO/KG]
Original Publication (iDiv Junior Group Leader and iDiv members in bold):
Zhou, W., Kügler A., McGale, E., Haverkamp, A., Knaden, M., Guo, H., Beran, F., Yon, F., Li, R., Lackus, N., Köllner, T. G., Bing, J., Schuman, M. C., Hansson, B. S., Kessler, D., Baldwin, I. T., Xu, S. (2017). Tissue-specific emission of (E)-α-bergamotene helps resolve the dilemma when pollinators are also herbivores. Current Biology, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.017
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.017
Further Information:
Dr. Shuqing Xu, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Straße 8, 07745 Jena, Germany, +49 3641 57-1122, E-Mail sxu@ice.mpg.de Contact and Media Requests:
Angela Overmeyer M.A., Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Str. 8, 07743 Jena, +49 3641 57-2110, E-Mail overmeyer@ice.mpg.de

When peaceful coexistence turns into competition

Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:00:00 +0200

Impacts of climate change on the natural world

Biologists agree that climate change causes not only more heat waves and flooding, but also reduces biological diversity. The specific processes that ultimately cause species to go extinct have, however, been little studied so far. Scientists at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Leipzig University have now discovered one of the possible causes for species loss due to climate change thanks to an intriguing experiment: When temperatures rise, the complex relationships between species are changing. Prey species not only become stronger competitors for scarce resources, but also more preyed upon. These findings have now been published in the renowned journal "Proceedings of the Royal Society B". To find out how rising temperatures could affect species diversity, biologists from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Leipzig University have developed a simple experiment: they covered the bottom of different Petri dishes with litter material, then put in two species of springtails, that is, arthropods only a few millimetres in size, and then added mites feeding on springtails. Subsequently, for some of the Petri dishes they increased the ambient temperature from originally 13.5°C to 18.5°C and for some other Petri dishes to 23.5°C. In those Petri dishes, the temperatures were hence five, respectively ten degrees higher than the conditions to which the animals had been exposed to in long-term cultures over years. This created simplified miniature ecosystems under climate change conditions, in which the springtail species that peacefully coexist in the wild represented the prey, and the mites represented the predators. For two months, the researchers then observed how the interactions between the three species would develop with different temperatures. Madhav P. Thakur, the lead author of the study, explains the initial hypothesis of the Leipzig scientists: “We had actually been expecting that the smaller of the two springtail species would cope better with higher temperatures than the larger species. Their need for food is generally lower, so that it should increase less sharply under the new conditions". The actual results took the researchers by surprise: After two months, the smaller springtail species had completely disappeared in the warmer Petri dishes, whereas the larger species had managed to survive. The study authors suspect that the smaller species was doomed due to two reasons: On the one hand, it was under a higher risk of being eaten. At higher temperatures, the predator’s need for food also increases due to the generally elevated metabolism. Smaller prey are probably easier pickings than larger animals, because it is harder for them to escape from predators. On the other hand, the members of the smaller species were clearly and significantly less successful at adapting to the altered conditions – even though it is generally advantageous at higher temperatures to have a small body size. "This apparent paradox could be explained by the fact that the smaller springtail species was less able to acclimate to warmer environments, that is, to adapt its metabolism to the higher temperature, and simultaneously suffered a heavy predation. In contrast, the larger prey species could cope better with the new conditions and also more successfully escaped predation.” says Thakur, who is a scientist at the iDiv research centre and the Leipzig University. If these findings were extrapolated to the natural world, this could mean that in the future some animal species will not only be burdened by increasing energy needs through rising temperatures, but will also be under threat due to the changing interactions between species. Thus, there is not only an increased competition for scarce resources among species on the same tier of the food chain, but also a higher probability of being eaten by predators as climate continues to warm. "This study once again demonstrates how little we understand about and can predict the complex interactions between species under future environmental conditions. Further studies with more complex communities and various model systems are urgently required here, to generate a comprehensive understanding", believes Prof Dr Nico Eisenhauer, the senior author of the study, who is a group leader at the iDiv research centre and Professor of Experimental Interaction Ecology at the Leipzig University. The scientists had deliberately opted for using springtails in their study. These animals are not only easy to keep in the laboratory, but also play a crucial role in nature as decomposers of dead animal and plant material. If their species richness decreases due to climate change, some of their functions could be lost, and many processes within the ecosystems might unravel. Video: A mite attacks a larger prey species – without success. Then it goes for a smaller prey species ... (Video: Tom Künne). Original study: Madhav P. Thakur, Tom Künne, John N. Griffin, Nico Eisenhauer (2017) Warming magnifies predation and reduces prey coexistence in a model litter arthropod system. Proc. R. Soc. B 2017 284 20162570; DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2570 Funding: German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) DFG (Ei 862/2 and FZT 118 – German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig). Similar News: How threatened are soil animals? iDiv News 05.04.2017: https://www.idiv.de/en/news/news_single_view/news_article/how-threaten.html Further information: Prof Dr Nico Eisenhauer
Head of the research group Experimental Interaction Ecology at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig and Professor at Leipzig University
Tel. +49 341 9733167
Web: https://www.idiv.de/groups_and_people/employees/details/eshow/eisenhauer-nico.html Dr Madhav Thakur
Postdoctoral researcher at the research group Experimental Interaction Ecology at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig and at Leipzig University
Tel. +49 341 9733193
Web:https://www.idiv.de/en/groups_and_people/employees/details/eshow/thakur-madhav-prakash.html

Dr Tabea Turrini
Department Media and Communications at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Tel. +49 341 9733106
Web: https://www.idiv.de/en/groups_and_people/central_management/media_and_communications/contact.html

Scientists reveal core genes involved in honey bee immunity

Thu, 02 Mar 2017 10:34:00 +0100

University Park, Pa./Leipzig/Halle(Saale). An international team of researchers has identified a core set of genes involved in the responses of honey bees to multiple diseases caused by viruses and parasites. The findings provide a better-defined starting point for future studies of honey bee health, and may help scientists and beekeepers to breed honey bees that are more resilient to stress. The study was carried out by an international working group at the iDiv research centre. Among the authors are also scientists of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. The findings appear in the 2 March issue of BMC Genomics. "In the past decade, honey bee populations have experienced severe and persistent losses across the Northern Hemisphere, mainly due to the effects of pathogens, such as fungi and viruses," said Vincent Doublet, who coordinated the research at sDiv, the synthesis centre of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Exeter. "The genes that we identified offer new possibilities for the generation of honey bee stocks that are resistant to these pathogens." An essential part played two workshops organized by sDiv in 2013/14 where the international research team met in Leipzig as part of the "TRANs-BEE" project. According to the researchers, recent advances in DNA sequencing have prompted numerous investigations of the genes involved in honey bee responses to pathogens. Yet, until now, this vast quantity of data has been too cumbersome and idiosyncratic to reveal overarching patterns in honey bee immunity. "While many studies have used genomic approaches to understand how bees respond to viruses and parasites, it has been difficult to compare across these studies to find the core genes and pathways that help the bee fight off stressors," said Christina Grozinger, Distinguished Professor of Entomology, Penn State. The Bioinformatics Unit of iDiv created a new bioinformatics tool that has enabled the team to integrate information from 19 different genomic datasets to identify the key genes involved in honey bees’ response to diseases. Specifically, the team of 28 researchers, representing eight countries, created a new statistical technique, which they termed directed rank-product analysis. The technique allowed them to identify the genes that were expressed similarly across the 19 datasets, rather than just the genes that were expressed more than others within a dataset. The scientists found that these similarly expressed genes included those that encode proteins responsible for the response to tissue damage by pathogens, and those that encode enzymes involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates from food, among many others. A decrease in the latter, they suggested, may illustrate the cost of the infection on the organism. "Honey bees were thought to respond to different disease organisms in entirely different ways, but we have learned that they mostly rely on a core set of genes that they turn on or off in response to any major pathogenic challenge," said Robert Paxton, professor of zoology at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and a member of iDiv. "We can now explore the physiological mechanisms by which pathogens overcome their honey bee hosts, and how honey bees can fight back against those pathogens." The implications of the findings are not limited to honey bees. The team found that the core genes are part of conserved pathways -- meaning they have been maintained throughout the course of evolution among insects and therefore are shared by other insects. According to Doublet, this means that the genes provide important knowledge for understanding pathogen interactions with other insects, such as bumble bees, and for using pathogens to control insect pests, such as aphids and certain moths. "This analysis provides unprecedented insight into the mechanisms that underpin the interactions between insects and their pathogens," said Doublet. "With this analysis, we generated a list of genes that will likely be an important source for future functional studies, for breeding more resilient honey bee stocks and for controlling emerging bee diseases." This research was supported by iDiv, the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research, located in Leipzig, Germany. Publication (iDiv employees and members in bold): Vincent Doublet, Yvonne Poeschl, Andreas Gogol-Döring, Cédric Alaux, Desiderato Annoscia, Christian Aurori, Seth M. Barribeau, Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina, Mark J. F. Brown, James C. Bull, Michelle L. Flenniken, David A. Galbraith, Elke Genersch, Sebastian Gisder, Ivo Grosse, Holly L. Holt, Dan Hultmark, H. Michael G. Lattorff, Yves Le Conte, Fabio Manfredini, Dino P. McMahon, Robin F. A. Moritz, Francesco Nazzi, Elina L. Niño, Katja Nowick, Ronald P. van Rij, Robert J. Paxton and Christina M. Grozinger (2017): Unity in defence: honeybee workers exhibit conserved molecular responses to diverse pathogens. BMC Genomics, online, 02 Mar 2017. doi: 10.1186/s12864-017-3597-6
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12864-017-3597-6
Funding:
This study was supported by sDiv, the Synthesis Centre for Biodiversity Sciences within the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, funded by the German Science Foundation (FZT 118). New datasets were performed thanks to the Insect Pollinators Initiative (IPI grant BB/I000100/1 and BB/I000151/1), with participation of 640 the UK-USA exchange funded by the BBSRC BB/I025220/1. The IPI is funded jointly by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Natural Environment Research Council, the Scottish Government and the Wellcome Trust, under the Living with Environmental Change Partnership. Pictures: https://portal.idiv.de/owncloud/index.php/s/RloNfI7oHscA8B3 Links: sDiv working group TRANs-BEE (Synthesising transcriptome data to explore interspecies bee-pathogen molecular interactions that may underpin pollinator decline)
https://www.idiv.de/de/sdiv/arbeitsgruppen/wg_pool/trans_bee.html Further information: Dr. Vincent Doublet (English)
siDiv - Synthesis Centre of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
now: University of Exeter (UK)
Tel.: -
Web: http://biosciences.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Vincent_Doublet
http://www.zoologie.uni-halle.de/allgemeine_zoologie/staff/vincent_doublet/?lang=de
Mail: and
Prof. Christina Grozinger (English)
Distinguished Professor of Entomology & Director, Center for Pollinator Research
Penn State University (Pa., USA)
Tel. +1-814-865-2214
Web: http://ento.psu.edu/directory/cmg25
Mail: and
Prof. Robert Paxton (English, German)
Professor for General Zoology at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Tel.: +49-345-55-26451
Web: http://www.zoologie.uni-halle.de/allgemeine_zoologie/staff/prof._dr._robert_paxton/?lang=en
Mail: as well as
Tilo Arnhold (English, German)
iDiv Outreach
Tel.: +49 341 9733 109
Web: https://www.idiv.de/en/groups_and_people/central_management/outreach_department/contact.html iDiv is a central facility of Leipzig University within the meaning of Section 92 (1) of the Act on Academic Freedom in Higher Education in Saxony (Sächsisches Hochschulfreiheitsgesetz, SächsHSFG). It is run together with the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, as well as in cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ.
The following non-university research institutions are involved as cooperation partners: the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI BGC), the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (MPI CE), the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI EVA), the Leibniz Institute DSMZ–German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB), the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) and the Leibniz Institute Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz (SMNG).

Carnivores more seriously threatened by roads than previously acknowledged

Wed, 08 Feb 2017 11:08:00 +0100

Publication of first global study of the effects of roads on carnivores Leipzig/Halle (Saale)/Porto. The effects of roads on carnivores have obviously been underestimated in worldwide species conservation. This is the conclusion of the first comprehensive global study on this topic, which has been published in the scientific journal “Global Ecology and Biogeography” by an international research team from Germany and Portugal. The protection status of several species that are severely affected by roads cut through their habitat should be reconsidered, the researchers say. The first global overview of the effects of roads on carnivores offers new insights for the protection of well-known species such as the puma (Puma concolor), the American black bear (Ursus americanus) and the brown bear (Ursus arctos). According to the study, they are among the species whose survival in the long term is most seriously threatened by roads, but for which this hazard has not been fully acknowledged so far. Among the 5% of carnivores (17 species) that are most affected by roads, nine are currently categorised as “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which means that they are regarded as not endangered. “Our results show the necessity of updating the protection status of these species, whose threat from roads has previously been underestimated,” insists Prof Henrique Pereira from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Portugal Infrastructures Biodiversity Chair/Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO-InBIO). Particularly under threat is the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), which lives only in Spain and Portugal; according to estimates, only a few hundred animals remain. The projection in the current study suggests that the species will have died out in 114 years. But while the Iberian lynx is IUCN-classified as “endangered”, other species threatened by roads are not. For example, two species in Japan: According to the projection, the Japanese badger (Meles anakuma) and the Japanese marten (Martes melampus) will have died out in nine and 17 years, respectively, because of the threat from roads. Those 5% of carnivores (17 species) that are influenced most heavily worldwide by roads include the mammal families of cats, bears, martens, dogs and raccoons. Four species of bear are affected – half of all existing bear species. Surprising for the researchers was that also the stone marten (Martes foina) is among the 17 species most exposed to roads. Although the stone marten is widely distributed and not categorised as endangered by the IUCN, it is often killed by cars. Another species in Germany, the wolf (Canis lupus), is among the top 25% of carnivores (55 species) most exposed to roads globally. It belongs to those predator species that for long-term survival require a large area but whose habitat is cut by roads. For their study, the researchers considered a total of 232 carnivore species around the world (out of a total of ca. 270 existing species) and assessed how severely these are affected by roads cut through their habitat. To do this, they considered for example the natural mortality rate, the number of offspring and the movement behaviour of a species. From these factors, they calculated the maximum density of roads that a species can cope with. Furthermore, they determined the minimum area of unbroken habitat that a species needs to maintain an enduring healthy population. Finally, they compared these numbers with road network data. “Our results show that North America and Asia are the regions with the highest number of species most negatively influenced by roads, followed by South America and Europe,” explains Ana Ceia Hasse from iDiv, the MLU and Portugal Infrastructures Biodiversity Chair/CIBIO-InBIO. “But while we had already expected that carnivores would suffer particularly in regions with greater road density, we were surprised to find that even in regions with relatively low road density there are species that are threatened by roads.” In Africa, for example, roads have a significant effect on the habitats of leopards (Panthera pardus). This is because sensitive species that naturally cover greater distances can be restricted by comparatively few roads. “We did not simply lay roads and habitats of species over one another, but also considered the specific characteristics and requirements of the species in our calculations. In this way we could also identify species that react sensitively to even only a few roads,” says Ceia-Hasse. The methods established in the new study can be used in future for applied purposes – for example for local protection measures, for environmental assessments by authorities, or to integrate the long-term effects of road building into scenarios of the World Bank regarding global biodiversity changes. Tilo Arnhold, Tabea Turrini (iDiv) Link to press release:
https://www.idiv.de/news/news_single_view/news_article/carnivores-m.html Pictures:
https://portal.idiv.de/owncloud/index.php/s/sNtzWXp2ZmdlW1l Publication (iDiv/MLU scientists in bold):
Ceia-Hasse, A., Borda-de-Água, L., Grilo, C. and Pereira, H. M. (2017), Global exposure of carnivores to roads. Global Ecology and Biogeography. doi:10.1111/geb.12564. Published online 26.01.2017: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb.12564 The study was financially supported by the German Science Foundation (DFG), the European Regional Development Fund (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006821) as well the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UID/BIA/50027/2013, PTDC/AAC-AMB/117068/2010, SFRH/BPD/64205/2009). Further information: Ana Ceia Hasse (speaks English and Portuguese)
Doctoral Researcher at the Research Group Biodiversity Conservation at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig (iDiv) and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and Research assistant
Portugal Infrastructures Biodiversity Chair
Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO/InBIO), University of Porto
Mobile: + 351 965 232 458 (currently in Portugal)
https://cibio.up.pt/people/details/hasseac Prof Henrique Miguel Pereira (speaks English and Portuguese)
Head of Research Group Biodiversity Conservation at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig (iDiv), Professor at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and Chair of the Portugal Infrastructures Biodiversity Chair
Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO/InBIO), University of Porto
https://www.idiv.de/groups_and_people/employees/details/eshow/pereira-henrique-miguel.html Currently:
Tinker Visiting Professor
Center for Latin-American Studies
Stanford University
Mobile: +1 650 250 9798 (currently in the USA; reachable every day after 5pm CET)
as well as Dr Tabea Turrini, Tilo Arnhold
iDiv press office
Phone: +49 341 9733 197
http://www.idiv.de/de/presse/mitarbeiterinnen.html Related press releases: 22.12.2016
Earth cut into 600,000 pieces (press release of the HNEE)
https://www.idiv.de/en/news/news_single_view/news_article/earth-in-600.html 14.09.2016
Damages caused by bears: Humans determine frequency
https://www.idiv.de/news/news_single_view/news_article/damages-caus.html 05.09.2016
Major update of IUCN Red List - “necessary, but not sufficient” says Henrique M. Pereira (German only)
https://www.idiv.de/de/news/news_single_view/news_article/major-update-1.html Further Links: Red List Spatial Data: http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/spatial-data OpenStreetMap Data Extracts: http://download.geofabrik.de/

Plants smell different when they are eaten by exotic herbivores

Tue, 31 Jan 2017 15:05:00 +0100

When they are chewed by insects or other small animals, many plants react by releasing odours to attract the insects’ enemies. A new study published in the scientific journal New Phytologist reveals that the odour bouquet changes depending on the type of herbivore that eats the plant. This helps the plant to specifically attract natural enemies that feed on the herbivores eating them. To the surprise of the researchers involved, native plants can even recognise when they are eaten by exotic herbivores. In this case, they emit a specific odour bouquet. When they are attacked by herbivores, many plants call in reinforcements. To this end, they emit odours. These odours attract wasps, for example, that are parasites and in search for host animals. The wasps lay their eggs into the caterpillars, thereby killing them: This means fewer butterflies and voracious caterpillars in the next generation. An international research team has tested the effects of twelve types of herbivores on field mustard (Brassica rapa). The researchers found that the plants consistently adapt the odours they emit upon attack to the characteristics of the respective herbivore. Most surprisingly, they emit different odour bouquets in response to exotic as opposed to native herbivores. Different herbivores induce different odour bouquets Among the twelve different herbivores tested were caterpillars, aphids and even a slug, and the herbivore selection included specialist and generalist, sucking and chewing, as well as exotic and native species. The researchers identified subtle differences in the odours emitted by the mustard plants using a gas chromatograph with a highly accurate mass spectrometer. They found that the reactions to exotic and native herbivore species were not defined by a single volatile substance, but by the ratio of different volatiles. "This is consistent with what we know about the perception and behaviour of parasitic wasps and other predators. They use a bouquet of odours released by the plant to obtain information about their prey," says study leader Nicole van Dam, who is a professor at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany). She is also affiliated with Radboud University (Netherlands), where two of the other study authors work and were the research was carried out. Communicating plants Many exotic herbivore species have been introduced to Europe, a process facilitated by globalisation and climate change. The problem with exotic herbivores is that they may induce similar odours as native herbivores, thereby confusing native enemies that may not be able to handle the new hosts. This was not the case in the study of van Dam and her colleagues: exotic herbivores, even if they had a similar way of feeding as their native counterparts, induced significantly different odour profiles. Van Dam sees the results as "spectacular proof" of how specifically plants respond to their environment. "The plants may not have a nervous system, eyes, ears, or mouths, but they are capable of determining who is attacking them. Based on this, they can transmit reliable information to specialized parasitic wasps that can learn the odours to find their preferred host. What I find truly amazing is that they're even capable of distinguishing between a native and an exotic herbivore." The impressive capability of plants to identify their herbivores has recently also been demonstrated by another study with the involvement of iDiv scientists (see below). This study showed that trees are able to recognise when roe deer are feeding, using the roe deer saliva as a cue. Iris Roggema / Tabea Turrini Publication: Holger Danner, Gaylord A. Desurmont, Simona M. Cristescu and Nicole M. van Dam (2017): Herbivore-induced plant volatiles accurately predict history of coexistence, diet breadth, and feeding mode of herbivores. New Phytologist. doi: 10.1111/nph.14428 Funding: This study was financially supported by the ESF-EuroVOL programme funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO-ALW), grant number 855.01.172 NWO-ALW, and the Swiss National Fund (SNF) FN 31VL30-134413 – EUROCORE project InvaVol. N.M.v.D was supported by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig funded by the German Research Foundation (FZT 118). Pictures: https://portal.idiv.de/owncloud/index.php/s/XAms8BuLSk3ndza Related press releases: 14.11.2016
With a little help from my fungus: tomato plants are more resistant against nematodes when colonized by a fungus
https://www.idiv.de/press/press_releases/press_release_single_view/news_article/with-a-littl.html 12.09.2016
Trees recognise roe deer by their saliva: Smart defence mechanisms against browsing
https://www.idiv.de/press/press_releases/press_release_single_view/news_article/trees-recogn.html Further information: Prof Nicole van Dam (English, German, Dutch)
Group leader of the Department Molecular Interaction Ecology at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and Professor for Molecular Interaction Ecology at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU)
Tel.: +49 341 9733165
Web: https://www.idiv.de/the_centre/employees/details/eshow/van-dam-nicole.html and Dr Tabea Turrini (English, German)
iDiv Outreach
Tel.: +49 341 9733 106
Web: http://www.idiv.de/de/presse/mitarbeiterinnen.html