University of Bayreuth

Collinearity refers to the non independence of predictor variables, usually in a regression‐type analysis. It is a common feature of any descriptive ecological data set and can be a problem for parameter estimation because it inflates the variance of regression parameters and hence potentially leads to the wrong identification of relevant predictors in a statistical model. Collinearity is a severe problem when a model is trained on data from one region or time, and predicted to another with a different or unknown structure of collinearity. To demonstrate the reach of the problem of collinearity in ecology, we show how relationships among predictors differ between biomes, change over spatial scales and through time. Across disciplines, different approaches to addressing collinearity problems have been developed, ranging from clustering of predictors, threshold‐based pre‐selection, through latent variable methods, to shrinkage and regularisation. Using simulated data with five predictor‐response relationships of increasing complexity and eight levels of collinearity we compared ways to address collinearity with standard multiple regression and machine‐learning approaches. We assessed the performance of each approach by testing its impact on prediction to new data. In the extreme, we tested whether the methods were able to identify the true underlying relationship in a training dataset with strong collinearity by evaluating its performance on a test dataset without any collinearity. We found that methods specifically designed for collinearity, such as latent variable methods and tree based models, did not outperform the traditional GLM and threshold‐based pre‐selection. Our results highlight the value of GLM in combination with penalised methods (particularly ridge) and threshold‐based pre‐selection when omitted variables are considered in the final interpretation. However, all approaches tested yielded degraded predictions under change in collinearity structure and the ‘folk lore’‐thresholds of correlation coefficients between predictor variables of |r| >0.7 was an appropriate indicator for when collinearity begins to severely distort model estimation and subsequent prediction. The use of ecological understanding of the system in pre‐analysis variable selection and the choice of the least sensitive statistical approaches reduce the problems of collinearity, but cannot ultimately solve them.

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is thatthere is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the completeprocess including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defined as increasedautophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in manycases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as forreviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multipleassays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation, it is imperative to target by gene knockout or RNA interference more than one autophagyrelated protein. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways implying that not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.

Abstract This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods that separate net ecosystem exchange (NEE) into its major components, gross ecosystem carbon uptake (GEP) and ecosystem respiration ( R eco ). In particular, we analyse the effect of the extrapolation of night‐time values of ecosystem respiration into the daytime; this is usually done with a temperature response function that is derived from long‐term data sets. For this analysis, we used 16 one‐year‐long data sets of carbon dioxide exchange measurements from European and US‐American eddy covariance networks. These sites span from the boreal to Mediterranean climates, and include deciduous and evergreen forest, scrubland and crop ecosystems. We show that the temperature sensitivity of R eco , derived from long‐term (annual) data sets, does not reflect the short‐term temperature sensitivity that is effective when extrapolating from night‐ to daytime. Specifically, in summer active ecosystems the long‐term temperature sensitivity exceeds the short‐term sensitivity. Thus, in those ecosystems, the application of a long‐term temperature sensitivity to the extrapolation of respiration from night to day leads to a systematic overestimation of ecosystem respiration from half‐hourly to annual time‐scales, which can reach >25% for an annual budget and which consequently affects estimates of GEP. Conversely, in summer passive (Mediterranean) ecosystems, the long‐term temperature sensitivity is lower than the short‐term temperature sensitivity resulting in underestimation of annual sums of respiration. We introduce a new generic algorithm that derives a short‐term temperature sensitivity of R eco from eddy covariance data that applies this to the extrapolation from night‐ to daytime, and that further performs a filling of data gaps that exploits both, the covariance between fluxes and meteorological drivers and the temporal structure of the fluxes. While this algorithm should give less biased estimates of GEP and R eco , we discuss the remaining biases and recommend that eddy covariance measurements are still backed by ancillary flux measurements that can reduce the uncertainties inherent in the eddy covariance data.

FLUXNET is a global network of micrometeorological flux measurement sites that measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy between the biosphere and atmosphere. At present over 140 sites are operating on a long-term and continuous basis. Vegetation under study includes temperate conifer and broadleaved (deciduous and evergreen) forests, tropical and boreal forests, crops, grasslands, chaparral, wetlands, and tundra. Sites exist on five continents and their latitudinal distribution ranges from 70°N to 30°S. FLUXNET has several primary functions. First, it provides infrastructure for compiling, archiving, and distributing carbon, water, and energy flux measurement, and meteorological, plant, and soil data to the science community. (Data and site information are available online at the FLUXNET Web site, http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/FLUXNET/.) Second, the project supports calibration and flux intercomparison activities. This activity ensures that data from the regional networks are intercomparable. And third, FLUXNET supports the synthesis, discussion, and communication of ideas and data by supporting project scientists, workshops, and visiting scientists. The overarching goal is to provide information for validating computations of net primary productivity, evaporation, and energy absorption that are being generated by sensors mounted on the NASA Terra satellite. Data being compiled by FLUXNET are being used to quantify and compare magnitudes and dynamics of annual ecosystem carbon and water balances, to quantify the response of stand-scale carbon dioxide and water vapor flux densities to controlling biotic and abiotic factors, and to validate a hierarchy of soil–plant–atmosphere trace gas exchange models. Findings so far include 1) net CO2 exchange of temperate broadleaved forests increases by about 5.7 g C m−2 day−1 for each additional day that the growing season is extended; 2) the sensitivity of net ecosystem CO2 exchange to sunlight doubles if the sky is cloudy rather than clear; 3) the spectrum of CO2 flux density exhibits peaks at timescales of days, weeks, and years, and a spectral gap exists at the month timescale; 4) the optimal temperature of net CO2 exchange varies with mean summer temperature; and 5) stand age affects carbon dioxide and water vapor flux densities.

Summary Mechanisms for C stabilization in soils have received much interest recently due to their relevance in the global C cycle. Here we review the mechanisms that are currently, but often contradictorily or inconsistently, considered to contribute to organic matter (OM) protection against decomposition in temperate soils: (i) selective preservation due to recalcitrance of OM, including plant litter, rhizodeposits, microbial products, humic polymers, and charred OM; (ii) spatial inaccessibility of OM against decomposer organisms due to occlusion, intercalation, hydrophobicity and encapsulation; and (iii) stabilization by interaction with mineral surfaces (Fe‐, Al‐, Mn‐oxides, phyllosilicates) and metal ions. Our goal is to assess the relevance of these mechanisms to the formation of soil OM during different stages of decomposition and under different soil conditions. The view that OM stabilization is dominated by the selective preservation of recalcitrant organic components that accumulate in proportion to their chemical properties can no longer be accepted. In contrast, our analysis of mechanisms shows that: (i) the soil biotic community is able to disintegrate any OM of natural origin; (ii) molecular recalcitrance of OM is relative, rather than absolute; (iii) recalcitrance is only important during early decomposition and in active surface soils; while (iv) during late decomposition and in the subsoil, the relevance of spatial inaccessibility and organo‐mineral interactions for SOM stabilization increases. We conclude that major difficulties in the understanding and prediction of SOM dynamics originate from the simultaneous operation of several mechanisms. We discuss knowledge gaps and promising directions of future research.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in soils plays an important role in the biogeochemistry of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, in pedogenesis, and in the transport of pollutants in soils. The aim of this review is to summarize the recent literature about controls on DOM concentrations and fluxes in soils. We focus on comparing results between laboratory and field investigations and on the differences between the dynamics of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrogen (DON), and phosphorus (DOP). Both laboratory and field studies show that litter and humus are the most important DOM sources in soils. However, it is impossible to quantify the individual contributions of each of these sources to DOM release. In addition, it is not clear how changes in the pool sizes of litter or humus may affect DOM release. High microbial activity, high fungal abundance, and any conditions that enhance mineralization all promote high DOM concentrations. However, under field conditions, hydrologic variability in soil horizons with high carbon contents may be more important than biotic controls. In subsoil horizons with low carbon contents, DOM may be adsorbed strongly to mineral surfaces, resulting in low DOM concentrations in the soil solution. There are strong indications that microbial degradation of DOM also controls the fate of DOM in the soil. Laboratory experiments on controls of DOM dynamics have often contradicted field observations, primarily because hydrology has not been taken into account. For example, laboratory findings on the effects of plant species (conifer vs. deciduous) on DOM release from forest floors and on the effects of substrate quality (e.g.: C/N ratio) or pH on DOC concentrations were often not confirmed in field studies. The high adsorption capacity of soil clay minerals and oxides for DOM shown in laboratory studies may not control the transport of DOM in soils in the field if macropore fluxes dominate under field conditions. Laboratory findings about the biodegradability of DOM also await verification under field conditions. Studies that include DON and DOP dynamics in addition to DOC are few. The rate of release and the fate of DOC, DON, and DOP in soils may differ to a far greater extent than previously assumed. Controls established for DOC might thus be not valid for DON and DOP. Despite intensive research in the last decade, our knowledge of the formation and fate of DOM in soils and its response to changing environmental conditions is still fragmented and often inconsistent. Predictions at the field scale are still very uncertain, and most of the information available today is the result of studies on temperate soils and forest ecosystems. Thus, future research on controls of DOM dynamics should be extended to soils under different land uses and in other climate zones. Emphasis should also be given to: (i) the effects of soil organic matter properties on the release of DOM (ii) environmental factors controlling DOM quantity and quality (iii) the assessment of biological versus physico-chemical controls on the release and retention of DOM in soils, and (iv) the differences between DOC, DON, and DOP. Finally, if our goal is to predict DOM concentrations and fluxes in soils, future research on the controls of DOM dynamics should have a strong focus on field studies.

At eight European field sites, the impact of loss of plant diversity on primary productivity was simulated by synthesizing grassland communities with different numbers of plant species. Results differed in detail at each location, but there was an overall log-linear reduction of average aboveground biomass with loss of species. For a given number of species, communities with fewer functional groups were less productive. These diversity effects occurred along with differences associated with species composition and geographic location. Niche complementarity and positive species interactions appear to play a role in generating diversity-productivity relationships within sites in addition to sampling from the species pool.

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.

Maintained at the Universitat Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany, the Compilation of tRNA Sequences and Sequences of tRNA Genes is accessible at the URL http://www.tRNA.uni-bayreuth.de with mirror site located at the Institute of Protein Research, Pushchino, Russia (http://alpha.protres.ru/trnadbase). The compilation is a searchable, periodically updated database of currently available tRNA sequences. The present version of the database contains a new Genomic tRNA Compilation including the sequences of tRNA genes from genomic sequences published up to July 2003. It consists of about 5800 tRNA gene sequences from 111 organisms covering archaea, bacteria, higher and lower eukarya. The former Compilation of tRNA Genes (up to the end of 1998) and the updated Compilation tRNA Sequences (561 entries) are also supported by the new software. The database can be explored by using multiple search criteria and sequence templates. The database provides a service that allows to obtain statistical information on the occurrences of certain bases at given positions of the tRNA sequences. This allows phylogenic studies and search for identity elements in respect to interactions of tRNAs with various enzymes.

The cubic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation is one of the most-studied nonlinear equations in the physics community. It describes a vast variety of phenomena from nonlinear waves to second-order phase transitions, from superconductivity, superfluidity, and Bose-Einstein condensation to liquid crystals and strings in field theory. The authors give an overview of various phenomena described by the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation in one, two, and three dimensions from the point of view of condensed-matter physicists. Their aim is to study the relevant solutions in order to gain insight into nonequilibrium phenomena in spatially extended systems.

, water, and energy exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and other meteorological and biological measurements, from 212 sites around the globe (over 1500 site-years, up to and including year 2014). These sites, independently managed and operated, voluntarily contributed their data to create global datasets. Data were quality controlled and processed using uniform methods, to improve consistency and intercomparability across sites. The dataset is already being used in a number of applications, including ecophysiology studies, remote sensing studies, and development of ecosystem and Earth system models. FLUXNET2015 includes derived-data products, such as gap-filled time series, ecosystem respiration and photosynthetic uptake estimates, estimation of uncertainties, and metadata about the measurements, presented for the first time in this paper. In addition, 206 of these sites are for the first time distributed under a Creative Commons (CC-BY 4.0) license. This paper details this enhanced dataset and the processing methods, now made available as open-source codes, making the dataset more accessible, transparent, and reproducible.

The mid‐, near‐, and far‐infrared (IR) spectra of synthetic, single‐phase calcium silicate hydrates (C‐S‐H) with Ca/Si ratios (C/S) of 0.41–1.85, 1.4 nm tobermorite, 1.1 nm tobermorite, and jennite confirm the similarity of the structure of these phases and provide important new insight into their H 2 O and OH environments. The main mid‐IR bands occur at 950–1100, 810–830, 660–670, and 440–450 cm −1 , consistent with single silicate chain structures. For the C‐S‐H samples, the mid‐IR bands change systematically with increasing C/S ratio, consistent with decreasing silicate polymerization and with an increasing content of jennite‐like structural environments of C/S ratios >1.2. The 950–1100 cm −1 group of bands due to Si‐O stretching shifts first to lower wave number due to decreasing polymerization and then to higher wave numbers, possibly reflecting an increase in jennite‐like structural environments. Because IR spectroscopy is a local structural probe, the spatial distribution of the jennite‐like domains cannot be determined from these data. A shoulder at ∼1200 cm −1 due to Si‐O stretching vibrations in Q 3 sites occurs only at C/S lessthan equal to 0.7. The 660–670 cm −1 band due to Si‐O‐Si bending broadens and decreases in intensity for samples with C/S > 0.88, consistent with depolymerization and decreased structural order. In the near‐IR region, the combination band at 4567 cm −1 due to Si‐OH stretching plus O‐H stretching decreases in intensity and is absent at C/S greater than ∼1.2, indicating the absence of Si‐OH linkages at C/S ratios greater than this. The primary Si‐OH band at 3740 cm ‐1 decreases in a similar way. In the far‐IR region, C‐S‐H samples with C/S ratio greater than ∼1.3 have increased absorption intensity at ∼300 cm −1 , indicating the presence of CaOH environments, even though portlandite cannot be detected by X‐ray diffraction for C/S ratios <1.5. These results, in combination with our previous NMR and Raman spectroscopic studies of the same samples, provide the basis for a more complete structural model for this type of C‐S‐H, which is described.

Abstract Aims Vegetation classification consistent with the Braun‐Blanquet approach is widely used in Europe for applied vegetation science, conservation planning and land management. During the long history of syntaxonomy, many concepts and names of vegetation units have been proposed, but there has been no single classification system integrating these units. Here we (1) present a comprehensive, hierarchical, syntaxonomic system of alliances, orders and classes of Braun‐Blanquet syntaxonomy for vascular plant, bryophyte and lichen, and algal communities of Europe; (2) briefly characterize in ecological and geographic terms accepted syntaxonomic concepts; (3) link available synonyms to these accepted concepts; and (4) provide a list of diagnostic species for all classes. Location European mainland, Greenland, Arctic archipelagos (including Iceland, Svalbard, Novaya Zemlya), Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Caucasus, Cyprus. Methods We evaluated approximately 10 000 bibliographic sources to create a comprehensive list of previously proposed syntaxonomic units. These units were evaluated by experts for their floristic and ecological distinctness, clarity of geographic distribution and compliance with the nomenclature code. Accepted units were compiled into three systems of classes, orders and alliances (EuroVegChecklist, EVC ) for communities dominated by vascular plants ( EVC 1), bryophytes and lichens ( EVC 2) and algae ( EVC 3). Results EVC 1 includes 109 classes, 300 orders and 1108 alliances; EVC 2 includes 27 classes, 53 orders and 137 alliances, and EVC 3 includes 13 classes, 24 orders and 53 alliances. In total 13 448 taxa were assigned as indicator species to classes of EVC 1, 2087 to classes of EVC 2 and 368 to classes of EVC 3. Accepted syntaxonomic concepts are summarized in a series of appendices, and detailed information on each is accessible through the software tool EuroVegBrowser. Conclusions This paper features the first comprehensive and critical account of European syntaxa and synthesizes more than 100 yr of classification effort by European phytosociologists. It aims to document and stabilize the concepts and nomenclature of syntaxa for practical uses, such as calibration of habitat classification used by the European Union, standardization of terminology for environmental assessment, management and conservation of nature areas, landscape planning and education. The presented classification systems provide a baseline for future development and revision of European syntaxonomy.

Global biogeochemical models have improved dramatically in the last decade in their representation of the biosphere. Although leaf area data are an important input to such models and are readily available globally, global root distributions for modeling water and nutrient uptake and carbon cycling have not been available. This analysis provides global distributions for fine root biomass, length, and surface area with depth in the soil, and global estimates of nutrient pools in fine roots. Calculated root surface area is almost always greater than leaf area, more than an order of magnitude so in grasslands. The average C:N:P ratio in living fine roots is 450:11:1, and global fine root carbon is more than 5% of all carbon contained in the atmosphere. Assuming conservatively that fine roots turn over once per year, they represent 33% of global annual net primary productivity.

Many ecosystem services are delivered by organisms that depend on habitats that are segregated spatially or temporally from the location where services are provided. Management of mobile organisms contributing to ecosystem services requires consideration not only of the local scale where services are delivered, but also the distribution of resources at the landscape scale, and the foraging ranges and dispersal movements of the mobile agents. We develop a conceptual model for exploring how one such mobile-agent-based ecosystem service (MABES), pollination, is affected by land-use change, and then generalize the model to other MABES. The model includes interactions and feedbacks among policies affecting land use, market forces and the biology of the organisms involved. Animal-mediated pollination contributes to the production of goods of value to humans such as crops; it also bolsters reproduction of wild plants on which other services or service-providing organisms depend. About one-third of crop production depends on animal pollinators, while 60-90% of plant species require an animal pollinator. The sensitivity of mobile organisms to ecological factors that operate across spatial scales makes the services provided by a given community of mobile agents highly contextual. Services vary, depending on the spatial and temporal distribution of resources surrounding the site, and on biotic interactions occurring locally, such as competition among pollinators for resources, and among plants for pollinators. The value of the resulting goods or services may feed back via market-based forces to influence land-use policies, which in turn influence land management practices that alter local habitat conditions and landscape structure. Developing conceptual models for MABES aids in identifying knowledge gaps, determining research priorities, and targeting interventions that can be applied in an adaptive management context.

The global presence of microplastic (MP) in aquatic ecosystems has been shown by various studies. However, neither MP concentrations nor their sources or sinks are completely known. Waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered as significant point sources discharging MP to the environment. This study investigated MP in the effluents of 12 WWTPs in Lower Saxony, Germany. Samples were purified by a plastic-preserving enzymatic-oxidative procedure and subsequent density separation using a zinc chloride solution. For analysis, attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FT-IR) and focal plane array (FPA)-based transmission micro-FT-IR imaging were applied. This allowed the identification of polymers of all MP down to a size of 20 μm. In all effluents MP was found with quantities ranging from 0 to 5 × 101 m−3 MP > 500 μm and 1 × 101 to 9 × 103 m−3 MP < 500 μm. By far, polyethylene was the most frequent polymer type in both size classes. Quantities of synthetic fibres ranged from 9 × 101 to 1 × 103 m−3 and were predominantly made of polyester. Considering the annual effluxes of tested WWTPs, total discharges of 9 × 107 to 4 × 109 MP particles and fibres per WWTP could be expected. Interestingly, one tertiary WWTP had an additionally installed post-filtration that reduced the total MP discharge by 97%. Furthermore, the sewage sludge of six WWTPs was examined and the existence of MP, predominantly polyethylene, revealed. Our findings suggest that WWTPs could be a sink but also a source of MP and thus can be considered to play an important role for environmental MP pollution.

This paper gives an overview of 20 years of research on the energy balance closure problem. It will be shown that former assumptions that measuring errors or storage terms are the reason for the unclosed energy balance do not stand up because even turbulent fluxes derived from documented methods and calibrated sensors, net radiation, and ground heat fluxes cannot close the energy balance. Instead, exchange processes on larger scales of the heterogeneous landscape have a significant influence. By including these fluxes, the energy balance can be approximately closed. Therefore, the problem is a scale problem and has important consequences to the measurement and modeling of turbulent fluxes.

Pollination by bees and other animals increases the size, quality, or stability of harvests for 70% of leading global crops. Because native species pollinate many of these crops effectively, conserving habitats for wild pollinators within agricultural landscapes can help maintain pollination services. Using hierarchical Bayesian techniques, we synthesize the results of 23 studies - representing 16 crops on five continents - to estimate the general relationship between pollination services and distance from natural or semi-natural habitats. We find strong exponential declines in both pollinator richness and native visitation rate. Visitation rate declines more steeply, dropping to half of its maximum at 0.6 km from natural habitat, compared to 1.5 km for richness. Evidence of general decline in fruit and seed set - variables that directly affect yields - is less clear. Visitation rate drops more steeply in tropical compared with temperate regions, and slightly more steeply for social compared with solitary bees. Tropical crops pollinated primarily by social bees may therefore be most susceptible to pollination failure from habitat loss. Quantifying these general relationships can help predict consequences of land use change on pollinator communities and crop productivity, and can inform landscape conservation efforts that balance the needs of native species and people.

Abstract We summarize progress with respect to (1) different approaches to isolate, extract, and quantify organo‐mineral compounds from soils, (2) types of mineral surfaces and associated interactions, (3) the distribution and function of soil biota at organo‐mineral surfaces, (4) the distribution and content of organo‐mineral associations, and (5) the factors controlling the turnover of organic matter (OM) in organo‐mineral associations from temperate soils. Physical fractionation achieves a rough separation between plant residues and mineral‐associated OM, which makes density or particle‐size fractionation a useful pretreatment for further differentiation of functional fractions. A part of the OM in organo‐mineral associations resists different chemical treatments, but the data obtained cannot readily be compared among each other, and more research is necessary on the processes underlying resistance to treatments for certain OM components. Studies using physical‐fractionation procedures followed by soil‐microbiological analyses revealed that organo‐mineral associations spatially isolate C sources from soil biota, making quantity and quality of OM in microhabitats an important factor controlling community composition. The distribution and activity of soil microorganisms at organo‐mineral surfaces can additionally be modified by faunal activities. Composition of OM in organo‐mineral associations is highly variable, with loamy soils having generally a higher contribution of polysaccharides, whereas mineral‐associated OM in sandy soils is often more aliphatic. Though highly reactive towards Fe oxide surfaces, lignin and phenolic components are usually depleted in organo‐mineral associations. Charred OM associated with the mineral surface contributes to a higher aromaticity in heavy fractions. The relative proportion of OC bound in organo‐mineral fractions increases with soil depth. Likewise does the strength of the bonding. Organic molecules sorbed to the mineral surfaces or precipitated by Al are effectively stabilized, indicated by reduced susceptibility towards oxidative attack, higher thermal stability, and lower bioavailability. At higher surface loading, organic C is much better bioavailable, also indicated by little 14 C age. In the subsurface horizons of the soils investigated in this study, Fe oxides seem to be the most important sorbents, whereas phyllosilicate surfaces may be comparatively more important in topsoils. Specific surface area of soil minerals is not always a good predictor for C‐stabilization potentials because surface coverage is discontinuous. Recalcitrance and accessibility/aggregation seem to determine the turnover dynamics in fast and intermediate cycling OM pools, but for long‐term OC preservation the interactions with mineral surfaces, and especially with Fe oxide surfaces, are a major control in all soils investigated here.

Animal movement is fundamental for ecosystem functioning and species survival, yet the effects of the anthropogenic footprint on animal movements have not been estimated across species. Using a unique GPS-tracking database of 803 individuals across 57 species, we found that movements of mammals in areas with a comparatively high human footprint were on average one-half to one-third the extent of their movements in areas with a low human footprint. We attribute this reduction to behavioral changes of individual animals and to the exclusion of species with long-range movements from areas with higher human impact. Global loss of vagility alters a key ecological trait of animals that affects not only population persistence but also ecosystem processes such as predator-prey interactions, nutrient cycling, and disease transmission.