Human interferon-β (IFN-β), a type I IFN, is critical for effective innate immunity and is also an approved disease-modifying therapeutic. While genetic variations in several components of the type I ...

An analysis of habitat fragmentation using a dataset of more than 4,000 species worldwide shows that fragmentation reduces biodiversity at all scales, and that increases in β diversity do not compensa...

We analyzed a global dataset of 3117 bee assemblages across 157 studies to assess how bee diversity varies among natural, agricultural, and urban habitats. We measured diversity using both the number...

The authors develop a new mathematical model to sample species composition from a metacommunity (a, b). The model effectively predicts β-diversity in communities of different species abundance distri...

Context Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) create invisible chemical landscapes that influence ecosystem processes. Yet whether VOC β-diversity (i.e., variability in VOC composition between patches) responds to structural heterogeneity and reflects silvicultural habitat management remains unclear. Objectives In a large field experiment, we quantified how enhanced structural beta complexity (ESBC) affects VOC β-diversity patterns and investigated potential drivers and ecological effects in temperate production forests. Methods We sampled VOCs in ambient forest air using Tenax/Carboxen adsorbent traps at forest floor and 1 m heights across 234 treatment and control forest patches in six German regions. We analyzed VOCs via thermal desorption-gas chromatography mass-spectrometry (TD-GCMS) and examined environmental drivers including deadwood characteristics, canopy cover, tree species dissimilarity, and herb layer dissimilarity. We tested potential ecological relevance by analyzing saproxylic beetle community responses. Results VOC β-diversity increased significantly at 1 m height in heterogeneous forests compared to homogeneous forests, but we found no significant change at the forest floor. Deadwood volume and deadwood structural diversity, rather than canopy openness, were identified as the main drivers of increasing VOC β-diversity. Dissimilarity in beetle community composition was associated with VOC β-diversity, but only for forest floor VOCs, suggesting these chemical patterns may correlate with variables beetles respond to. Conclusions Our findings suggest that volatile β-diversity represents an overlooked dimension of habitat heterogeneity, one that creates invisible chemical heterogeneity influencing inter- and intra-species interactions and ecosystem processes. We demonstrate that enhancing forest heterogeneity through deadwood retention increases both structural heterogeneity and volatile β-diversity.

Various studies have shown that local loss of plant species within patches (i.e., α-diversity loss) hampers plant biomass production, raising concerns about the consequences of biodiversity loss. How....

An analysis of habitat fragmentation using a dataset of more than 4,000 species worldwide shows that fragmentation reduces biodiversity at all scales, and that increases in β diversity do not compensa...

An analysis of habitat fragmentation using a dataset of more than 4,000 species worldwide shows that fragmentation reduces biodiversity at all scales, and that increases in β diversity do not compensa...

An analysis of habitat fragmentation using a dataset of more than 4,000 species worldwide shows that fragmentation reduces biodiversity at all scales, and that increases in β diversity do not compensa...

An analysis of habitat fragmentation using a dataset of more than 4,000 species worldwide shows that fragmentation reduces biodiversity at all scales, and that increases in β diversity do not compensa...

Loss of early-life microbial diversity is correlated with diabetes, yet mechanisms by which microbes influence disease remain elusive. We report a critical neonatal window in mice when microbiota disr...

There is considerable interest in understanding patterns of β-diversity that measure the amount of change in species composition through space or time. Most hypotheses for β-diversity evoke nonrandom...

Loss of early-life microbial diversity is correlated with diabetes, yet mechanisms by which microbes influence disease remain elusive. We report a critical neonatal window in mice when microbiota disr...