As the human footprint expands, ecologists and resource managers are increasingly challenged to explain and manage abrupt ecosystem transformations (i.e., regime shifts). In this study, we investigated the role of a mechanical disturbance that has been used to restore and maintain local wetland diversity after a monotypic regime shift in northwestern Costa Rica [specifically, an abrupt landscap...

The mechanism of furrow opener-soil interaction plays an important role in analyzing the process no-till planting opener. In order to study disturbance effect opener on loam soil, firstly, three-dimensional model was established by using SolidWorks. Secondly, 3D discrete element EDEM software. Combined with indoor soil bin test bench and high-speed camera technology, micro-disturbance macro-dis...

Disturbance is an important component o f many ecosystemg and variations in disturbance regime can affect ecosystem and communi ty structure and functioning. The "'intermediate disturbance hypothesis" suggests that species diversity should be highest at moderate levels o f disturbance. However, disturbance is also known to increase the invasibility o f communities. Disturbance therefore poses a...

We assess the spatial and geomorphic fragmentation from the recent Eagle Ford Shale play in La Salle County, Texas, USA. Wells and pipelines were overlaid onto base maps of land cover, soil properties, vegetation assemblages, and hydrologic units. Changes to continuity of different ecoregions and supporting landscapes were assessed using the Landscape Fragmentation Tool (a third-party ArcGIS ex...

The effect of plant species composition on soil microbial communities was studied at the multiregional level. We compared the soil microbial communities of alpine natural grasslands dominated by Carex curvula and anthropogenic subalpine pastures dominated by Nardus stricta. We conducted paired sampling across the Carpathians and the Alps and used Illumina sequencing to reveal the molecular dive...

Past land use can impart soil legacies that have important implications for ecosystem function. Although these legacies have been linked with microbially mediated processes, little is known about the long-term influence of land use on soil microbial communities themselves. We examined whether historical land use affected soil microbial community composition (lipid profiles) and whether communit...

Bark beetle outbreaks are widespread in western North American forests, reducing primary productivity and transpiration, leading to forest mortality across large areas and altering ecosystem carbon cycling. Here the carbon isotope composition (δ(13) C) of soil respiration (δJ ) was monitored in the decade after disturbance for forests affected naturally by mountain pine beetle infestation and a...

In this study, we examined the response of surface soils to increased leaf and wood litter input within adjacent successional forests recovering from agricultural disturbance at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), Maryland, USA. Previous studies at this site demonstrated an arrested development of O-horizon, even after 130 years of forest growth, and an annual loss of leaf lit...

Forest disturbance often results in changes in soil properties and microbial communities. In the present study, we characterized a soil bacterial community subjected to disturbance using 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. The community was from a disturbed broad-leaved, low mountain forest ecosystem at Huoshaoliao (HSL) located in northern Taiwan. This locality receives more than 4,000 mm annual pr...

The factors that influence the invasion of natural habitats by nonnative plants remain poorly understood. We investigated abiotic, biotic, and human influences on the distribution and abundance of nonnative species in coastal upland habitats of southern New England and adjacent New York, US. We censused vegetation and sampled soils in 776, 20 · 20 m plots in natural areas and constructed a spat...