No description available.

No description available.

Tardigrades are small water-dwelling invertebrates that can live almost anywhere in the world. Even though they are well-known our knowledge about them is still scarce. The aim of this study was therefore to explore our current knowledge about tardigrades by: (1) explore their global phylogeny and biogeography based on bioinformatics (2) screen for tardigrades in select locations of northern Sweden and compare with other Swedish locations, and (3) identify at least one tardigrade from northern Sweden and explore the published biomarkers for further identification. The bulk of this thesis was based on evaluation of the Silva database for analyzing SSU (small subunit) and LSU (large subunit) tardigrade sequences and create phylogenetic trees. Some initial lab work was performed using samples of moss and lichen from Piteå, Vindeln and Öland. Results show that only few countries have been explored with regard to tardigrades, and in Sweden more research have been performed in the south compared to the north. The phylogenetic trees give a rough overview of tardigrade relatedness but many of the sequences need to be improved and more sequence work from additional environments is needed. In the lab tardigrades were only found from the Piteå samples, and one of those was identified as Macrobiotus hufelandi, for which a new biomarker was created. Overall, tardigrade research need to continue and expand to other regions in order to understand how these organisms differ between different environments, and more work is needed to ensure higher quality of sequences added to databases.

No description available.

The successful management for conservation and restoration of semi-natural ecosystems may be achieved only after the factors which regulate plant biodiversity and species composition have been identified. This study investigates the floristic composition and site characteristics of old permanent semi-natural grasslands in North-east Scotland and tests using pot and field experiments the role of soil fertility in determining vascular plant species richness, relative abundance and dynamics of communities. Results from field surveys show that, of the site characteristics quantified, vascular plant species richness is most strongly correlated (negative relationship) with extractable soil phosphorus. Where species richness is high (>40 in a study stand and >17 in a 1 m2 quadrat) extractable soil phosphorus levels (determined by ammonium acetate-acetic acid/polyacrylamide solution extraction and using inductively coupled radio frequency plasma spectrometry by the atomic emission method) are consistently very low (<1.9 mg 1-1 soil) by local agricultural standards. In pot experiments using soil from a site where high species richness is maintained, the loss of forb and graminoid species from synthesised communities may be shown to increase along a nutrient gradient created by incorporating increments of phosphorus. Despite a general increase in the above ground biomass of species which survive, those with the ability to form nitrogen-fixing nodules grow to dominate the community. By comparison, a nutrient gradient created by the incorporation of potassium has little effect on the species richness of synthesised communities. At field sites where the level of extractable soil phosphorus approaches that above which species-rich semi-natural grassland communities are not found to exist, the addition of nitrogen leads to species loss through the dominance of graminoid species. This effect may be intensified by applying phosphorus.

Les pratiques artistiques, notamment depuis l’époque des Grandes Découvertes, ont été en liaison étroite avec les avancées scientifiques et technologiques. Les richesses naturelles qui s’offraient aux explorateurs furent l’origine d’une tradition des représentations naturalistes, sans cesse renouvelée par la description de nouvelles espèces animales et végétales. Or, au XXIe siècle, l'humanité est contemporaine d’une baisse sans précédent de la diversité biologique mondiale, dont elle est l’observatrice mais aussi la responsable. La biodiversité est une notion qui prend actuellement toute son importance dans un contexte d’inquiétude face aux problèmes environnementaux en éveillant des volontés écologiques, notamment dans les milieux artistiques. Cette recherche propose deux visions complémentaires : celle qui suppose que la diversité biologique porte en elle une manifestation artistique, et celle qui évoque une forme d’art dont la source est la biodiversité. L'ensemble de ces investigations est soutenu et alimenté par une pratique de plasticien naturaliste développée depuis une dizaine d'années. Des illustrations botaniques aux représentations multimédia, des descriptions zoologiques aux démarches conceptuelles de l’art écologique, des cabinets de curiosité aux créations biotechnologiques, les liens entre les pratiques passées et contemporaine sont la source d’une étude hybride, entre arts plastiques et sciences du vivant. / The artistic practices, in particular since the 15th century, were in narrow connection with the scientific and technological advances. The natural resources discovered by navigators were the origin of a tradition of naturalist artworks, always renewed by the discovery of new animal and vegetal species. Yet, the 21th century humanity is contemporary of an unprecedented reduction of the worldwide biological diversity. Biodiversity is a notion which takes nowadays all its importance because of environmental problems, and we can observe an awakening of the ecological wills, particularly in artistic circles. This thesis proposes two visions of the subject : the one who supposes that the biological diversity carries itself an artistic manifestation, and the one who evokes a kind of art which the source is biodiversity. All these investigations are supported and fed by naturalist art practices developed since a decade. From botanical illustrations to multimedia representations, from zoological descriptions to ecological art, from curiosity cabinets to biotechnological creations, the links between the past and the contemporary practices are the source of a hybrid study, between visual arts and biology.

No description available.

Graduation date: 2005

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: John Byrne, School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy. Includes bibliographical references.

A major objective of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BDEF) research is to determine the consequences of species loss, caused both naturally and anthropogenically, on the functioning of ecosystems. The impact of plant species loss on the soil microbial community has not received much attention even though soil microbes influence many important ecosystem functions such as decomposition and nutrient cycling. The objective of this research was to investigate how the functional group composition of the aboveground plant community influenced the belowground microbial community. Plant functional groups (graminoids, legumes and non-leguminous forbs) were removed from a northern grassland system in the Yukon Territory, Canada. One metre square plots had one of the three functional groups removed or left intact as a control and this was crossed with a fertilizer treatment and a fungicide treatment that targeted mycorrhizal fungi. After five seasons (2003-07) of implementing treatments the soil microbial community was analyzed using substrate-induced respiration (SIR, a measure of metabolic diversity) and phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA, a measure of community composition). Plant functional group removal had almost no effect on the soil microbial community. The only response detected was an increase in stress (indicated by the PLFA stress ratio of cy19:0 to 18:1ω7c) which occurred when legumes were removed and fertilizer was not added, indicating that legumes had a positive effect on the nutrient status of microbes. Likewise, soil properties (total carbon, pH, moisture and nutrients) showed limited response to plant removals. Fertilization decreased the metabolic diversity of the soil microbial community. We detected no soil microbial or plant biomass response to the fungicide indicating that mycorrhizae had little influence in this system. Based on the low-productivity of the grassland, and the lack of response in both the soil properties and the microbial community, we hypothesize that the main determinants of the microbial community may be litter input. When litter decomposition rates are slow, such as in this northern system, five growing seasons may not be sufficient to detect the impact of a changing plant community on the soil microbes.