Find research datasets worth reusing

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2023View details →

Dataset of paper "Phosphate recovery from urine-equivalent solutions for fertiliser production for plant growth"

Dataset of paper "Phosphate recovery from urine-equivalent solutions for fertiliser production for plant growth"

opencc-zeroDec 2023View details →

Data and code for: Species-specific effects of production practices on genetic diversity in plant reintroduction programs

Plant production practices can influence the genetic diversity of cultivated plant materials and, ultimately, their potential to adapt to a reintroduction site. A common step in the plant production process is the application of seed pre-treatment to alleviate physiological seed dormancy and successfully germinate seeds. In production settings, the seeds that germinate more rapidly may be favored in order to fill plant quotas. In this study, we investigated how the application of cold-moist stratification treatments with different durations can lead to differences in the genetic diversity of the propagated plant materials. Specifically, we exposed seeds of three Viola species to two different cold stratification durations, and then we analyzed the genetic diversity of the resulting subpopulations through double-digestion restriction site-associated sequencing (ddRADseq). Our results show that, in two out of three species, utilizing a short stratification period will decrease the genetic diversity of neutral and expressed loci, likely due to the imposition of a genetic bottleneck and artificial selection. We conclude that, in some species, the use of minimal stratification practices in production may jeopardize the adaptive potential and long-term persistence of reintroduced populations and suggest that practitioners carefully consider the evolutionary implications of their production protocols. We highlight the need to consider the germination ecology of target species when selecting the length of dormancy-breaking pre-treatments.

opencc-zeroApr 2024View details →

Azole resistance mechanisms and population structure of Aspergillus fumigatus on retail plant products

Aspergillus fumigatus is a ubiquitous saprotroph and human-pathogenic fungus that is life-threatening to the immunocompromised. Triazole-resistant A. fumigatus was found in patients without prior treatment with azoles, leading researchers to conclude that resistance had developed in agricultural environments where azoles are used against plant pathogens. Previous studies have documented azole-resistant A. fumigatus across agricultural environments, but few have looked at retail plant products. Our objectives were to determine if azole-resistant A. fumigatus is prevalent in retail plant products produced in the United States (U.S.), as well as to identify the resistance mechanism(s) and population genetic structure of these isolates. Five hundred twenty-five isolates were collected from retail plant products and screened for azole resistance. Twenty-four isolates collected from compost, soil, flower bulbs, and raw peanuts were pan-azole resistant. Resistant isolates had the TR34/L98H, TR46/Y121F/T289A, G448S, and H147Y cyp51A alleles, all known to underly pan-azole resistance, as well as WT alleles, suggesting that non-cyp51A-mechanisms contribute to pan-azole resistance in some isolates. Minimum spanning networks showed two lineages containing isolates with TR alleles or the F46Y/M172V/E427K allele, and discriminant analysis of principle components (DAPC) identified three primary clusters. This is consistent with previous studies detecting three clades of A. fumigatus and identifying pan-azole-resistant isolates with TR alleles in a single clade. We found pan-azole resistance in U.S. retail plant products, particularly compost and flower bulbs, which indicates the risk of exposure to these products for susceptible populations and that highly resistant isolates are likely distributed worldwide on these products.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2020View details →

Questionnaire on COVID pandemic influence at attitude and prevalence of plant-based food products consumption in Serbia

An anonymous online questionnaire that contained 16 open-ended and closed-ended questions was used to assess the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on 1) eating behavior and dietary habits changes concerning various plant-based foods; 2) frequency of consumption of herbal teas and dietary supplements; 3) quantity of traditionally pickled plant-based food prepared for the winter period, and 4) the general attitude toward diet, plant-based food, natural products, and dietary supplements.

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

Historical context modifies plant diversity–community productivity relationships in alpine grassland

While most studies yield positive relationships between biodiversity (B) and ecosystem functioning (EF), awareness is growing that BEF relationships can vary with ecological context. The awareness has led to increased efforts to understand how contemporary environmental context modifies BEF relationships, but the role of historical context, and the mechanisms by which it may influence biodiversity effects, remains poorly understood. We examined how historical context alters plant diversity‒community productivity relationships via plant species interactions in alpine grassland. We also tested how historical context modifies interactions between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which can potentially mediate the above processes. We studied biodiversity effects on plant community productivity at two grassland sites with different histories related to grazing intensity — heavy versus light livestock grazing — but similar current management. We assembled experimental communities of identical species composition with plants from each of the two sites in disturbed soil from a contemporary heavily grazed grassland, ranging in species richness from one to two, three and six species. Moreover, we carried out a mycorrhizal hyphae-exclusion experiment to test how plant interactions with AM fungi influence plant responses to historical context. We detected a significantly positive diversity‒productivity relationship that was driven by complementarity effects in communities composed of plants from the site without heavy-grazing history, but no such relationship in plant communities composed of plants from the site with heavy-grazing history. Plants from the site with heavy-grazing history had increased competitive ability and increased yields in low-diversity communities but disrupted complementarity effects in high-diversity communities. Moreover, plants of one species from the site with heavy-grazing history benefitted more from AM fungal communities than did plants from the site without such history. Synthesis: Using the same experimental design and species, communities assembled by plants from two sites with different historical contexts showed different plant diversity‒community productivity relationships. Our results suggest that historical context can alter plant diversity‒community productivity relationships via plant species interactions and potentially plant‒soil interactions. Therefore, considering historical contexts of ecological communities is of importance for advancing our understanding of long-term impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on ecosystem functioning.

opencc-by-4.0Oct 2022View details →

Mining Proteomic Databases of a Model Plant Medicago truncatula for Mosaic Proteins and Other Unconventional Translation Products

How many different proteins can be produced from a single spliced transcript? Genome annotation projects do not consider the coding potential of reading frames other than that of the reference open reading frames (refORFs). Recently, alternative open reading frames (altORFs) and their translational products, alternative proteins (altProts), have been shown to carry out important functions in various organisms. Overlapping altORFs may be involved in one fundamental mechanism so far overlooked. A few years ago, it was proposed that altORFs may act as building blocks for chimeric (mosaic) polypeptides, which are produced via multiple ribosomal frameshifting events from a single mature transcript. We adopt terminology from that earlier discussion and call this mechanism mosaic translation. This way of extracting and combining genetic information may significantly increase proteome diversity. Thus, we hypothesize that this mechanism may have contributed to the flexibility and adaptability of organisms to a variety of environmental conditions. The idea of mosaic translation is a testable hypothesis, although its direct demonstration is technically very challenging. If confirmed, this concept will revolutionize modern genetics. In this project, we would like to follow a unique strategy for the detection of mosaic proteins in proteomic databases publicly available for a very important model plant Medicago truncatula. The proposed analysis will be based on our own preliminary data already generated in the course of an ongoing TÜBİTAK1002 project. Regardless of whether the evidence for mosaic translation is found in this study, this effort will help identify such proteins later when more proteomic data become available. Finally, our approach can reveal unconventional frameshifting products that derive from the omission of several nucleotides by ribosomes (for example, +2 to +16 frameshifts). Regardless of whether such frameshifted products are parts of mosaic proteins, the potential for their detection makes this project very novel, because frameshifts longer than one nucleotide in the forward direction have not been described so far.

opencc-zeroDec 2023View details →

Data from: The functional diversity–productivity relationship of woody plants is climatically sensitive

Plot-scale experiments show that functional diversity (FD) plays a pivotal role in maintaining ecosystem functions such as net primary productivity (NPP). However, how FD affects NPP across larger scales under varying climatic conditions is sparsely studied, yet is important for forest–atmosphere interactions and policy development. Hence, we assess the effects of functional dispersion (FDis) and community-weighted means (CWMs) of woody plant traits on NPP across China and if such effects are modulated by climatic conditions at large scale. Using comprehensive datasets on distribution, functional traits and productivity for 9120 Chinese woody plant species, we evaluated the distribution pattern and the relationships of FDis and CWM (including three orthogonal trait indicators: plant size, photosynthetic capacity and flower duration) with NPP through multiple linear regression models. Structural equation models were used to test the effects of climatic conditions on FDis/CWM–NPP relationships. We found both general FD effects, but also that the magnitude of these could be modified by climate, with CWM and FDis of plant size especially promoting NPP in warm and wet regions, respectively. Climate indirectly increased NPP through positive effects on CWM or FDis, notably via mean photosynthetic capacity. This study provides the first comprehensive evidence for FD effects on NPP under varying climates at large scale. Importantly, our results suggest a general increase in the importance of plant traits for woody vegetation NPP with rising temperatures and wetter climates. Restoration and reforestation actions need to carefully consider not just CWMs and FDis, but, as an additional path, also their interactions with climate, to predict how FD may promote ecosystem functioning under future climatic conditions.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2024View details →

Monthly production and open-circuit string voltage measurements after 10-year operation of three photovoltaic plants in Southern Spain affected by severe potential-induced degradation

Data are formated in a spreadsheet file.  Data are presented from three photovoltaic plants in Southern Spain (Córdoba province - Northern Andalucía) designed and installed by the same person, with the same photovoltaic module and the same model of inverter, deployed at the same time (end 2009). The plants are severely affected by potential-induced degradation (PID), so that secondary effects produce some by-pass diodes to activate, producing three families of open-circuit voltage (Voc) in the modules (~40V), (~26V) and (~12V) of a total of nominal Voc of 42,6V.  Monthly production is shown along 11 years (2010-2021), and the measurements of the open-circuit voltage of the strings after 10 years of operation along with the voltage range of the modules of each string. Sheet 1: configuration of the architecture of the three photovoltaic plants and the features of the photovoltaic module installed. Sheet 2: energy production for 11 years of opetation. In the last years some recovery is shown in plant 1 and 2 because a repowering project. Sheet 3: partial climate data of the towns were the plants are located. Sheet 4: open-circuit voltages of the strings and number of modules in each string with open-circuit voltage in the ranges (~40V) and (<=26V) in plant 1, july-2018. Sheet 5: open-circuit voltages of the strings and number of modules in each string with open-circuit voltage in the ranges (~40V), (~26V) and (~12V) in plant 2, july-2020.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2024View details →

Simulation results for "Integration of Plant and Microbial Oil Processing at Oilcane Biorefineries for More Sustainable Biofuel Production" publication

Simulation results for "Integration of Plant and Microbial Oil Processing at Oilcane Biorefineries for More Sustainable Biofuel Production" publication.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2020View details →

Different sources of natural products from the (a) bacterial, (b) archaeal, (c) fungal, (d) protozoan, (e) chromistan, (f) plant and (g) animal kingdoms, the rationale(s) for screening them for antibacterial activity, and associated advantages and disadvantages

This table of information is from the review article 'Bioprospecting for Antibacterial drugs: A Multidisciplinary Perspective on Natural Product Source Material, Bioassay Selection and Avoidable Pitfalls' (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-020-02849-1">https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-020-02849-1</a>).

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2021View details →

Dataset for: Using plant traits to understand the contribution of biodiversity effects to annual crop community productivity

Dataset for: Using plant traits to understand the contribution of biodiversity effects to annual crop community productivity

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

Dataset from: Warming effects on grassland productivity depend on plant diversity

Aim: Climate warming and biodiversity loss both alter plant productivity, yet we lack an understanding of how biodiversity regulates the responses of ecosystems to warming. In this study, we examine how plant diversity regulates the responses of grassland productivity to experimental warming using meta-analytic techniques. Location: Global Major taxa studied: Grassland ecosystems Methods: Our meta-analysis is based on warming responses of 40 different plant communities obtained from 20 independent studies on grasslands across five continents. Results: Our results show that plant diversity and its responses to warming were the most important factors regulating the warming effects on plant productivity, among all the factors considered (plant diversity, climate and experimental settings). Specifically, warming increased plant productivity when plant diversity (indicated by effective number of species) in grasslands was lesser than 10, whereas warming decreased plant productivity when plant diversity was greater than 10. Moreover, the structural equation modelling showed that the magnitude of warming enhanced plant productivity by increasing the performance of dominant plant species in grasslands of diversity lesser than 10. The negative effects of warming on productivity in grasslands with plant diversity greater than 10 were partly explained by diversity-induced decline in plant dominance. Main Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the positive or negative effect of warming on grassland productivity depends on how biodiverse a grassland is. This could mainly owe to differences in how warming may affect plant dominance and subsequent shifts in interspecific interactions in grasslands of different plant diversity levels.

opencc-by-4.0Feb 2023View details →

Coadaptation of coexisting plants enhances productivity in an agricultural system

Data set for the study Coadaptation of coexisting plants enhances productivity in an agricultural system

opencc-zeroMar 2023View details →

Stronger effect of individual species' traits than shading on aquatic plant community productivity and interspecific competition

Competition is one of the major factors structuring plant communities. Species with similar traits generally compete more intensely and have more similar yield than functionally dissimilar species, which often respond differently to environmental change. Little is known about how the interacting species' traits influence the effect of environmental change on interspecific competition. However, theory predicts that environmental change should lead to more asymmetric competition, by favouring the species best adapted to the particular environmental change. Here we used a mesocosm experiment with three common aquatic plant species from the Baltic Sea (Northern Europe), to test how community productivity and competition asymmetry were affected by functional dissimilarity, individual species' traits, and a common stressor: shading. Competition asymmetry was defined as the absolute difference in reductions in yield relative to monocultures of two interacting species. Community productivity decreased and competition asymmetry increased with functional dissimilarity of the interacting species, possibly explained by the traits of the superior species, which had higher specific leaf area, maximum canopy height, and primary production rate than the subordinate species. Community productivity was not affected by shading, contrary to our expectation, while competition asymmetry was higher in shaded than ambient conditions. Individual species yield depended on species identity and species combination. Only the shortest species was negatively affected by shading. Thus, by favouring tall-growing species, shading can alter interspecific competition. Together, these findings suggest that non-random species loss following environmental change can be caused by competitive exclusion, in addition to a direct effect of abiotic filtering.

opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

Drought neutralizes positive effects of long-term grazing on grassland productivity through altering plant-soil interactions

Livestock grazing is among the most intensive land-use activities in grasslands and can affect plant communities directly or indirectly via grazing-induced soil legacies. Under climate change, grasslands are threatened globally by recurrent drought. However, the extent to which drought influences grazing-induced soil legacy effects on plant biomass production and community composition remains largely unexplored. We grew five naturally co-occurring plant species (three dominants and two subordinates) in mixed communities in a glasshouse experiment in live and sterilized soil that had or had not been subjected to 19 years of grazing; these plant communities were then exposed to a subsequent drought. We tested the treatment effects on plant community biomass, proportional aboveground biomass of individual species, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal root colonization, and soil nutrient availability. Under drought-free conditions, soils from grazed plots produced significantly higher plant aboveground and total community biomass compared to soils from ungrazed plots. In contrast, plant aboveground and total community biomass were similar between grazed and ungrazed soils under drought conditions. Similarly, soils from grazed plots increased the proportional biomass of dominant species but decreased the proportion of subordinate species; however, the proportional biomass of dominant and subordinate species was similar between grazed and ungrazed soils under drought conditions. Soil NO3--N in grazed soil was significantly higher compared to ungrazed soil. Drought dramatically increased soil NO3--N in sterilized soil and had a more pronounced increase in grazed soil than in ungrazed soil. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal root colonization from grazed soil was lower compared to ungrazed soil. Drought significantly increased the soil available phosphorus concentration, as well as plant community AM fungal root colonization. Synthesis. Our study suggests that drought can neutralize positive grazing effects on plant community biomass production via altered plant-soil interactions. Also, we found that drought can alleviate the negative effects of grazing legacies on subordinate species by reducing the competitiveness of dominant species. Our study provides new insights for understanding the underlying mechanisms of grazing effects on grassland productivity under climate change.

Does a history of population co-occurrence predict plant performance, community productivity, or invasion resistance?

A history of species co-occurrence in plant communities is hypothesized to lead to greater niche differentiation, more efficient resource partitioning, and more productive, resistant communities as a result of evolution in response to biotic interactions. A similar question can be asked of co-occurring populations: do individual species or community responses differ when communities are founded with plants sharing a history of population co-occurrence (sympatric) or originating from different locations (allopatric)? Using shrub, grass, and forb species from six locations in the western Great Basin, USA, we compared establishment, productivity, reproduction, phenology, and resistance to invaders for experimental communities with either sympatric or allopatric population associations. Each community type was planted with six taxa in outdoor mesocosms, measured over three growing seasons, and invaded with the annual grass Bromus tectorum in the final season. For most populations, the allopatric or sympatric status of neighbors was not important. However, in some cases, it was beneficial for some species from some locations to be planted with allopatric neighbors, while others benefited from sympatric neighbors, and some of these responses had large effects. For instance, the Elymus population that benefited the most from allopatry grew 50% larger with allopatric neighbors than in single origin mesocosms. This response affected invasion resistance, as B. tectorum biomass was strongly affected by productivity and phenology of Elymus spp., as well as Poa secunda. Our results demonstrate that while community composition can affect plant performance in semi-arid plant communities, assembling communities from sympatric populations is not sufficient to ensure high productivity and invasion resistance. Instead, we observed an idiosyncratic interaction between sampling effects and evolutionary history, with the potential for seed source of individual populations to have community-level effects.

A dataset of nectar sugar production for flowering plants found in urban greenspaces

<ol> <li>Nectar and pollen are floral resources that provide food for insect pollinators, so quantifying their supplies can help us to understand and mitigate pollinator declines. However, most existing datasets of floral resource measurements focus on native plants found in rural landscapes, so cannot be used effectively for estimating supplies in urban green spaces, where non-native ornamental plants often predominate.</li> <li>We sampled floral nectar sugar in 225 plant taxa found in UK residential gardens and other urban green spaces, focussing on the most common species. The vast majority (94%) of our sampled taxa are non-native, filling an important research gap and ensuring these data are also relevant outside of the UK.</li> <li>Our dataset includes values of daily nectar sugar production for all 225 taxa and nectar sugar concentration for around half (102) of those sampled. Nectar extraction was conducted according to published methods, ensuring our values can be combined with other datasets.</li> <li>We anticipate that the two main uses of these data are (1) to estimate the nectar production of habitats and landscapes, and (2) to identify high-nectar plants of conservation importance. To increase the utility of our data we provide guidance for scaling nectar values up from single flowers to floral units, as is commonly done in field studies.</li> </ol>

Divergent responses of grassland productivity and plant diversity to intra-annual precipitation variability across climate regions: A global synthesis

Global warming intensifies the hydrological cycle and may result in changes in the frequency and intensity of precipitation events. Although the effects of changes in precipitation amount and inter-annual precipitation variability on terrestrial plant productivity and carbon sequestration have been well studied, how intra-annual precipitation variability affects terrestrial ecosystem function remains unclear. Here, we synthesized field manipulative experiments from 71 publications to quantify the effects of intra-annual precipitation variability increases (IPVI) on community biomass and plant diversity in grasslands worldwide. At the global scale, we found that IPVI generally increased grassland community aboveground biomass (AGB) by 6%, and decreased grass biomass and soil ammonium nitrogen by 12% and 31%, respectively. IPVI stimulated AGB, belowground biomass, and plant species richness in arid regions, but not changed them in humid regions. Changes in AGB under IPVI were related to changes in the biomass of plant functional groups, species richness, and soil moisture. Structural equation modelling demonstrated that that climate conditions (mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation) and background soil properties (soil sand content and soil organic carbon content) jointly regulated grassland AGB responses to IPVI across climate types. Synthesis: Overall, our study shows that grassland productivity and diversity may increase under IPVI in arid climates, and that humid grasslands may be highly resistant to the effects of IPVI. These findings have important implications for understanding ecosystem carbon cycling under global precipitation change scenarios.

Drought intensity alters productivity, carbon allocation, and plant nitrogen uptake in fast versus slow grassland communities

Grasslands face more frequent and extreme droughts, yet their responses to increasing drought intensity are poorly understood. Increasing drought intensity likely triggers abrupt shifts (thresholds) in grassland ecosystem functioning which can implicate recovery trajectories. Here, we determined how drought intensity affects plant productivity, and plant-soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. We exposed model grassland plant communities with contrasting resource acquisition strategies (a fast- vs a slow-strategy plant community), to a gradient of drought intensity. The drought gradient ranged from well-watered to severely water-limited conditions. We identified thresholds of plant community productivity (above-ground biomass) at peak drought and two months after re-wetting, and measured net ecosystem exchange and ecosystem respiration of carbon throughout the drought and recovery phases. At peak drought and one week after re-wetting, we traced recently acquired C from plants to the soil and into microbial biomass and fatty acids using 13C pulse labelling, and measured plant and soil N. At peak drought, slow-strategy plant communities were more drought resistant than fast-strategy communities, as the threshold in plant productivity occurred at a higher drought intensity for the slow- than the fast-strategy community. Shortly after re-wetting, microbial uptake of recent plant-assimilated C increased with increasing past drought intensity, coinciding with an increase in soil N availability and leaf N. Threshold responses to drought intensity at peak drought translated into non-linear recovery responses, with greater compensatory growth in the fast-strategy community. At peak drought, increasing drought intensity reduced C uptake and increased relative C partitioning to leaves and microbial biomass. Upon re-wetting, plant community strategy mediated drought intensity effects on plant and soil C and N dynamics and plant recovery trajectories. The fast strategy community recovered quickly, with higher leaf N than the slow community, while the slow community increased C allocation to microbial biomass. Synthesis: Our findings highlight that C and N dynamics in the plant-soil system display non-linear responses to increasing drought intensity both during and after drought, which has implications for trajectories of plant community recovery.

Plant productivity response to inter- and intra-symbiont diversity: mechanisms, manifestations, and meta-analyses

Symbiont diversity can have large effects on plant growth but the mechanisms generating this relationship remain opaque. We identify three potential mechanisms underlying symbiont diversity-plant productivity relationships: provisioning with complementary resources, differential impact of symbionts of varying quality, and interference between symbionts. We connect these mechanisms to descriptive representations of plant responses to symbiont diversity, develop analytical tests differentiating these patterns, and test them using meta-analysis. We find generally positive symbiont diversity-plant productivity relationships, with relationship strength varying with symbiont type. Inoculation with symbionts from different guilds (e.g. mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobia) yields strongly positive relationships, consistent with complementary benefits from functionally distinct symbionts. In contrast, inoculation with symbionts from the same guild yields weak relationships, with co-inoculation not consistently generating greater growth than the best individual symbiont, consistent with sampling effects. The statistical approaches we outline, along with our conceptual framework, can be used to further explore plant productivity and community responses to symbiont diversity, and we identify critical needs for additional research to explore context-dependency in these relationships.