Amplicon length heterogeneity PCR (LH-PCR) was investigated for its ability to distinguish between microbial community patterns from the same soil type under different land management practices. Natural sagebrush and irrigated mouldboard-ploughed soils from Idaho were queried as to which hypervariable domains, or combinations of 16S rRNA gene domains, were the best molecular markers. Using stan...

Pika species generally fall into two ecotypes, meadow-dwelling (burrowing) or talus-dwelling, a classification that distinguishes a suite of different ecological, behavioral, and life history traits. Despite these differences, little morphological variation has previously been documented to distinguish among ecotypes. The aim of this study was to test whether postcranial features related to bur...

The increased atmospheric temperatures resulting from the increased concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) have had a profound influence on global rice production. China serves as an important area for producing and consuming rice. Therefore, exploring the effects of the simultaneously rising levels of atmospheric CO2 and temperatures on rice growth and quality in the future is very ...

The conflicting needs of water managers (i.e., quick relevant operational responses) and ecologists (i.e., time consuming in-depth research) have been noted in freshwater biomonitoring and exist even today. To contribute to solving this dilemma, we are proposing a novel biomonitoring approach, which among many others, could be successfully used in this field and further developed in the future....

The theoretical framework andmethodology of a water ecological–economic system (WEES) assessment based on emergy synthesis are proposed in this paper. Through calculating ecological and economic inputs and outputs within and outside the complex system, this paper discusses the system’s economic situation, water resources development and system sustainability based on a series of emergy indicato...

The biological diversity of the Earth is being rapidly depleted due to the direct and indirect consequences of human activities. Specialist or rare species are generally thought to be more extinction prone than generalist or common species. Testing this assumption however requires that the rarity and ecological specialization of the species are quantified. Many indices have been developed to cl...

In the winter-spring of 2001, South Florida experienced one of the worst droughts in its recorded history. Out of a myriad of ecological concerns identified during this time, the potential for catastrophic peat fire and negative impacts to wading bird reproduction emerged as critical issues. Water managers attempted to strike a balance between the environment and protection of water supplies fo...

Using recent indices developed, in part, for use under the European Water Framework Directive (AMBI, BENTIX, BOPA, BQI, I2EC and the trophic index ITI), the ecological quality status of two highly contaminated environments--the Bay of Seine and the Seine estuary (Eastern English Channel)--was determined on several spatial and temporal scales. Data from 604 observations gathered over a 14-year p...

In this study we propose a novel method for the estimation of ecological indices describing the habitat suitability of brown trout (Salmo trutta). Traditional hydrological tools are coupled with an innovative regional geostatistical technique, aiming at the prediction of the brown trout habitat suitability index where partial or totally ungauged conditions occur. Several methods for the assessm...