Community Characteristics Research Articles

Effects of Reseeding and Fertilization on Bacterial Communities in Rhizosphere Soil of Alpine Degraded Grassland

Reseeding and fertilization are common ecological restoration measures in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Region for degraded grasslands, yet their impacts on rhizospheric bacterial communities remain unclear. This study utilized high-throughput sequencing technology to systematically investigate the characteristics of rhizospheric soil bacterial communities in degraded high-altitude grasslands managed with reseeding and fertilization. The results indicated a significant decrease in the Shannon and Simpson indices with fertilization treatment, while the reseeding + fertilization treatment exhibited the most pronounced impact on community structure. Actinomycetota, Pseudomonadota, and Acidobacteriota were the dominant phyla in the rhizosphere bacterial community. There was a decrease in network complexity and an increase in stability within bacterial communities with the reseeding, fertilization, and fertilization + reseeding treatments. The networks were predominantly characterized by positive correlations after fertilization, reseeding, and fertilization + reseeding treatments, involving key species like Pseudomonadota, Actinomycetota, and Acidobacteriota. Mantel tests revealed that soil total nitrogen （TN）, total phosphorus （TP）, available potassium （AK）, and nitrate nitrogen （NO3--N） were the key environmental factors in driving bacterial community composition. The study of the rhizosphere soil bacterial community in alpine degraded grassland can provide a theoretical basis for tailored management strategies in the restoration of degraded high-altitude grasslands and lays a scientific foundation for their conservation.

Response and Assembly Process of Soil Microbial Communities Under Different Reclamation Measures

Reclamation is essential for restoring the ecological function of soil in mining areas. However, the microbiological mechanism of soil ecological function reconstruction under different reclamation measures still needs to be clarified. Clarifying the characteristics of soil bacterial and fungal communities, assembly mechanisms, and their relationship with physicochemical properties under different reclamation measures is crucial for reshaping the ecological stability of soil in mining areas. Metagenomic sequencing technology was combined with the null model and neutral model to analyze the differences in soil microbial diversity, community composition, network structure, and community assembly process between the reclaimed natural recovery area （LH） and the reclamation fertilization area （MM）. The results suggested that： ① Compared with that in the LH treatment, the MM treatment significantly increased the soil nutrient content, and the total nitrogen （TN）, total phosphorus （TP）, available phosphorus （AP）, and available potassium （AK） contents increased by 34.70%, 72.72%, 468.98%, and 45.74%, respectively （P<0.05）. ② The dominant bacterial and fungal communities did not change under the LH and MM treatments； however, the abundance of bacterial communities changed significantly. Compared with that in the LH treatment, the relative abundance of Acidobacteria increased significantly by 5.4% in the MM treatment, while the relative abundance of Candidatus Rokubacteria decreased significantly by 235.72% （P<0.05）. Under different reclamation measures, the indicator microorganisms of bacterial and fungal communities changed. ③ Compared with that in the LH treatment, the MM treatment increased the complexity of bacterial networks, decreased the complexity of fungal networks, and increased the number of soil bacterial nodes and links. The reclamation measures transformed the key bacterial groups from Proteobacteria to Candidatus Rokubacteria and Planctomycetes. The key group of fungi was Ascomycota. 4.） The deterministic process dominated the assembly of bacterial and fungal communities. Homogeneous selection contributed the most to the bacterial community assembly in the LH treatment, and heterogeneous selection contributed the most to the MM treatment. The fungal communities were all dominated by heterogeneous selection. These results provide new insights into the soil microbial community structure and ecological function restoration in coal mining subsidence reclamation areas.

Effects of Different Fertilization Treatments on Bacterial Community and Citrus Quality in Yellow Soils of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau

To investigate the intrinsic driving mechanism of citrus yield and quality enhancement under different fertilizer applications, a field experiment was conducted to study the effects of biochar （SW）, organic fertilizer （YJ）, farmyard manure （NJ）, chemical fertilizer （HF）, and no fertilizer as the control （CK） on soil physical and chemical properties, bacterial community characteristics, and citrus quality of citrus orchards in the yellow soil area of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The results showed that compared with those in the CK treatment, the yield, single fruit weight, edible rate, juice rate, vitamin C content, and soluble solids of citrus increased under the different fertilization treatments. In contrast, the titratable acid content of citrus decreased, resulting in an increase in the solid-acid ratio of citrus. Among the different fertilization treatments, the most significant effective treatment was SW. The SW and YJ treatments significantly increased the soil pH value, while the HF treatment decreased soil pH. Different fertilization treatments could increase the contents of soil organic matter, hydrolyzable nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium. The SW treatment exhibited the most obvious effect on the contents of soil hydrolyzable nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium. The YJ treatment exhibited the most obvious effect on the soil organic matter content. The different fertilization treatments significantly affected soil bacterial community diversity and community structure, among which the SW treatment significantly increased the soil Chao1 index, observed species index, and Shannon index； optimized soil bacterial community structure； and made the bacterial symbiotic network simple and stable. By contrast, the HF treatment significantly decreased the soil Chao1 index, observed species index, and Simpson index and had less effect on bacterial community structure. Redundancy analysis showed that soil available potassium （96.47%）, Chao1 index （73.80%）, and Chujaibacter （55.92%） were the key factors in improving citrus yield and quality. Variance decomposition analysis indicated that the soil bacterial community structure was the largest contributor （17.00%） to the improvement in citrus yield and quality. In conclusion, fertilization can effectively improve soil physical and chemical properties, increase soil nutrient supply level, optimize bacterial community structure, and improve citrus yield and quality. Of these, biochar can be used as a priority for the fertilization and improvement of the soil in citrus orchards in the yellow soil area of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.

Microbiota dynamics and source tracing during the growing, aging, and decomposing processes of Eucommia ulmoides leaves

Eucommia ulmoides, an important tree, faces serious threat to its growth from environmental stress, particularly climate change. Using plant microbes to enhance host adaptation to respond climate change challenges has been recognized as a viable and sustainable strategy. However, it is still unclear how the perennial tree microbiota varies across phenological stages and the links between respective changes in aboveground and belowground niches. Here, we sequenced 27 root and 27 leaf samples of E. ulmoides using 16S rRNA and ITS amplicon sequencing techniques. These samples were obtained from the three main phenological stages of leaves, including leaf growing, aging and decomposing stages. Results showed that the diversity, composition, and function of the leaf microbiota of E. ulmoides showed more obvious changes at three phenological time points compared to roots. Regarding alpha diversity, the root microbiota showed no difference across three sampling stages, while the leaf microbiota varied with sampling stages. Regarding beta diversity, the root microbiota clustered from different sampling stages, while the leaf microbiota exhibited distinct separation. Regarding composition and function, the dominant taxa and main functions of the root microbiota were the same in three sampling stages, while the leaf microbiota in the decomposing stage was obviously different from the remaining two stages. Additionally, taxa overlap and source-sink relationship existed between E. ulmoides microbiota. Specifically, the degree of overlap among root microbiota was higher than that of leaf microbiota in three sampling stages. The bidirectional source-sink relationship that existed between the root and leaf niches varied with sampling stage. During the leaf growing and aging stages, the proportion of microbial members migrating from roots to leaves was higher than the proportion of members migrating from leaves to roots. During the leaf decomposing stage, the migration characteristics of the fungal community between the root and leaf niches maintained the same as in the remaining two stages, but the proportion of bacterial members migrating from leaves to roots was significantly higher than that of members migrating from roots to leaves. Our findings provide crucial foundational information for utilizing E. ulmoides microbiota to benefit their host under climate change challenges.

Development of an evidence- and consensus-based Digital Healthcare Equity Framework.

To develop an evidence- and consensus-based Digital Healthcare Equity Framework (the Framework) that guides users in intentionally considering equity in healthcare solutions that involve digital technologies. We conducted an environmental scan including a scoping review of the literature and key informant interviews with health equity and digital healthcare technology thought leaders and convened a technical expert panel (TEP). We grouped similar concepts from the scoping review and key informant interviews, synthesized them into several primary domains and subdomains, and presented the composite list of domains and subdomains to the TEP for their input. From those, we derived the following domains for the Framework: (1) Patient and Community Characteristics, (2) Health System Characteristics, and (3) Health Information Technology Characteristics. We structured the Framework around the following 5 phases of the digital healthcare lifecycle: planning, development, acquisition, implementation/maintenance, and monitoring/improvement/equity assessment. The proposed Framework is designed to specify the aspects that need to be considered in a systematic and intentional approach to ensure digital healthcare solutions improve, and not exacerbate, healthcare inequities. The proposed Framework serves as a tool to help users and other stakeholders assess whether their healthcare solutions that involve digital technologies are equitable at every phase of the digital healthcare lifecycle.

Light affects the resistance of native plant communities to Solidago canadensis with low invasion degrees

Light is an important factor for plant growth, and native plant communities are frequently invaded by alien plants to varying degrees. However, little is known about the effect of lighting on the resistance of native plant communities to alien plants with different degrees of invasion. We assessed the interactive effects of light condition and invasion degree on the growth of the invasive plant Solidago canadensis, the characteristics of the native plant communities and the invasion success of S. canadensis through both a field survey and greenhouse experiment. The field survey data showed that shading decreased the biomass of both S. canadensis and the native plant communities. However, it improved the relative dominance and thus, the invasion success of S. canadensis under the low and moderate invasion degrees but not at the high invasion degree. The data of the greenhouse experiment also showed that the native plant communities under shade were more susceptible to invasion by S. canadensis than the unshaded communities, particularly under the low and moderate invasion degree. In summary, we found that shading can weaken the resistance of native plant communities to alien plant invasions when there is a minimal invasion degree. These results underscore that managers need to be more attentive to the invasion of S. canadensis in sheltered environments. These findings provide a scientific reference to manage and control invasion by S. canadensis.

Study on substrates purification effect and microbial community structure of vertical subsurface flow constructed wetland under siphon effect

To explore the pollutants removal effects of siphon composite vertical flow constructed wetlands (Sc-VSsFCW), alongside the characteristics of microbial communities and the varying trends of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) content across substrate layers. Two kinds of distinct Sc-VSsFCW, with loess sphere and clay ceramic grain as substrate materials, respectively, were established. During the experiment, water quality of influent and effluent were detected to investigate system pollutant removal efficiency, routine index detection, microbial diversity analysis and EPS content determination, and substrates were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results indicated that both substrate systems exhibited good pollutant removal effect, with the average removal rate of 90 % for ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate within the range of 60–70 %. The long-term re‑oxygenation process inherent in the system successfully augmented the dissolved oxygen (DO) content within the wastewater, and facilitate relative high abundance of Nakamurella, Bacillus, and Nitrospira in these two substrate systems, which enhanced organic matter degradation and nitrification processes. Moreover, the hydraulic conductivity and EPS content in both substrate systems displayed a declining trend, suggesting that the system's unique hydraulic conditions strategies effectively mitigated EPS accumulation and diminished the likelihood of biological clogging. Consequently, the system's distinctive re‑oxygenation and siphon drainage methods boast advantages over traditional vertical flow constructed wetlands in terms of enhancing dissolved oxygen levels and mitigating the risk of biological clogging. This study contributes theoretical underpinnings for the application of constructed wetlands in wastewater treatment and clogging mitigation.

Pembinaan Karakter Santri dan Masyarakat di Pondok Pesantren di Kota Banjarbaru Melalui Pendidikan Biologi: Meningkatkan Kesadaran Lingkungan dan Kesehatan

This study aims to investigate the role of biology education in fostering the character of students and communities in Islamic Boarding Schools in Banjarbaru City. The main focus of the research is on increasing environmental and health awareness through biology learning methods. The research methods used involved surveys, interviews, and observations of students and communities involved in the biology education program at the boarding school. The results showed that character building through biology education has a positive impact on environmental and health awareness. Students and the community became more aware of the importance of protecting the environment and had better knowledge of good health practices. In addition, this study also identified factors that support or hinder the implementation of biology education as a means of character building in a boarding school environment. The findings provide an important contribution to the development of character education in the boarding school environment, particularly through the implementation of biology education as a means to increase environmental and health awareness. The implications of this study can be used as a foundation for the improvement and development of character building programs in boarding schools and also as an inspiration for other educational institutions that want to integrate character values through special subjects such as biology.

Bio-augmentation driven sulfur autotrophic denitrification process: Focusing on denitrification performance, microbial community and gene characteristics

Bio-augmentation driven sulfur autotrophic denitrification process: Focusing on denitrification performance, microbial community and gene characteristics

Bacterial wilt alters the microbial community characteristics of tobacco root and rhizosphere soil

Bacterial wilt alters the microbial community characteristics of tobacco root and rhizosphere soil

Rational eucalypt logging site management patterns enhance soil phosphorus bioavailability and reshape phoD-harboring bacterial community structure

Continuous planting of eucalypt plantations negatively affects soil nutrient effectiveness, especially soil phosphorus (P) availability. Therefore, exploring the response characteristics of soil P-mineralising microbial communities and the distribution mechanism of soil P fractions under different transformation patterns on eucalypts logging sites holds great practical significance for improving soil nutrient effectiveness in plantations. This experiment investigated the effects and correlations between four different transformation patterns on soil phoD-harboring bacterial communities, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and P fractions. Management patterns mainly included non-forest area formed upon eucalypt stump germination suppression after two generations of Eucalyptus afforestation (TWE), the third generation of pure plantation planting (THE), mixing of Eucalyptus with Manglietia glauca (EM), and rotation of pure M. glauca plantation (MM), with previous mixed coniferous and broadleaf forest (CK) as the control. The results showed that, TWE and THE significantly reduced soil (0–10 cm and 10–20 cm) organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), bioavailable P, and labile Po, and increased the occluded P and ALP activity compared to CK; however, SOC, TN, bioavailable P, and labile Po indices improved in plantations of EM or MM compared to TWE and THE. Meanwhile, the four management patterns on the logging site caused significant differences in phoD gene community structure and diversity. TWE and THE significantly increased the relative abundances (RAs) of Pseudomonadaceae and Comamonadaceae, which correlated negatively with soil bioavailable P and HCl-P and positively with ALP activity, suggesting a positive effect on Po mineralization and insoluble P mobilization. In contrast, Streptomycetaceae and Oxalobacteraceae were significantly enriched in EM or MM, implying that not all microorganisms carrying phoD genes play important roles in synthesizing ALP. The structure equation model showed that TN, resin-Pi, NaHCO3-Pi, and HCl-P had indirect effects on ALP through phoD-harbouring bacterial diversity and community composition. These findings provide a basis for understanding the soil P cycling mechanism after eucalypt plantations logging site transformation.

Changes in soil microbial community and carbon use efficiency in freeze-thaw period restored after growth season under warming and straw return

Microbial communities and metabolic activities play key roles in carbon (C) turnover in terrestrial ecosystems, which are directly and indirectly affected by freeze-thaw cycles. However, the immediate and legacy effects of freeze-thaw periods on soil microbial community structure and C metabolic activity in agricultural ecosystems were still not fully understood. In this study, we evaluated the changes in soil microbial community structure and C metabolic activity during the freeze-thaw period and the growth season under the condition of warming and straw return. The results showed that the microbial biomass and the ratio of fungi to bacteria (F/B) were sensitive to freeze-thaw cycles and straw return. Both gradually decreased during the freeze-thaw period. The ratio of gram-positive to gram-negative bacteria (GP/GN) gradually increased during the freeze-thaw period. Then all these changes recovered during the growth season. Microorganisms have a certain self-regulating ability to deal with freeze-thaw stress. In contrast, microbial C use efficiency (CUE) did not significantly change during the freeze-thaw period, but increased during the growth season. Microbial CUE had no significant correlations with microbial biomass, the F/B, and the GP/GN, while it was negatively related with the ratio of dissoluble organic C to dissoluble total nitrogen (N) and the imbalance ratio between resources and microorganisms (C:N imbalance). These findings suggested that soil stoichiometric ratio played important role in regulating microbial CUE, instead of microbial community characteristics.

SERS-AI Based Detection and Bioanalysis of Malodorous Components in Kitchen Waste.

The prevention and control of odor gas generated from kitchen waste are significant missions in research on environmental pollution. Because of the high complexity and variability of kitchen waste, the development of a suitable technique with high sensitivity for the accurate detection of odor gas is an urgent and core task in this frontier field. Here, a technique combining surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and artificial intelligence (AI) is explored for detecting malodorous components in the leachate of kitchen waste. Initially, 1706 SERS spectra were collected from synthetic kitchen waste under various fermentation parameters. Several AI algorithms were used to classify three levels of odor intensity based on SERS spectra, among which the Random Forest Classifier algorithm model showed a high prediction accuracy of 86.5%. Then, by integrating Raman data, the AI algorithm model identified hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and ammonia (NH3) as the dominant malodorous components in the odor gas. Finally, the structural characteristics of the microbial communities are investigated. With the help of Raman's intensities of malodorous components, many more insights into microorganisms in the fermentation process are revealed, which has important research value in the prevention and controlling of odor gas generated from kitchen waste. Furthermore, the microbial metabolic pathways of sulfur and nitrogen are discussed here. This SERS-AI-based novel technique not only has a broad potential for odor pollution but also could be applied to another complicated biochemical system with functional bacteria.

Allies or foes? Does the inclusion of new minorities undermine or strengthen the European system of minority protection?

AbstractThis article analyses how the European minority rights system can be applied to migrant communities, and what implications such an extension of the scope of the system might have for the preservation of minority identities and the integration of European societies. Currently, most European states rely on an artificial distinction between old and new minorities, which is becoming untenable in practice. Therefore the article assesses three options of how recently arrived migrants can be incorporated into the European minority rights system: 1. maintaining the existing separation of old and new minorities, which does not promote the rights of migrant communities and is also not the most effective for integration; 2. incorporating migrant communities to the existing European system of minority rights, which provides little benefit to migrant communities and also has the potential to decrease the protection provided to autochthonous minorities; and 3. redesigning the system by including all minorities, but differentiating in the content of rights. The article argues that under the third approach, integration is possible without giving up minority languages and other essential characteristics of migrant communities' culture. It is therefore possible and desirable to extend the European minority rights system to recently arrived migrant communities.

Biotic Interaction Underpins the Assembly Processes of the Bacterial Community Across the Sediment–Water Interface in a Subalpine Lake

The sediment–water interface is the most active region for biogeochemical processes and biological communities in aquatic ecosystems. As the main drivers of biogeochemical cycles, the assembly mechanisms and the distribution characteristics of microbial communities at this boundary remain unclear. This study investigated the microbial communities across the sediment–water interface in a natural subalpine lake in China. The results indicated that the diversity of bacterial communities in middle sediment was significantly higher than that in overlying water and other sediments (p < 0.001). Pearson’s correlation analysis indicated that the diversity was significantly influenced by biotic factors (e.g., diversity of fungus, protozoan and alga) and physicochemical parameters (e.g., total carbon, total organic carbon, nitrate, ammonium and pH) (p < 0.01). Null model analysis revealed that the homogeneous selection dominated the assembly of the bacteria community in sediment, whereas the heterogeneous selection dominated that in overlying water. The least squares path analysis showed that interactions between protozoa and bacteria had a greater impact on bacterial community assembly (p < 0.001). Important taxa influence the assembly by regulating biotic interactions. These findings provided a basis for understanding the importance of biotic interactions in maintaining subalpine lakes’ ecosystems across the sediment–water interface.

EXPRESS: Transforming Hotel Lobbies via Community-Centered Design: Crafting a Vibrant Social Hub for Guests

Recent trends in hotel design shift lobbies from their traditional check-in and check-out functions towards a vision of lobbies as vibrant social hubs. This study explores guests’ preferred hotel lobby designs using choice-based conjoint analysis, focusing on elements that integrate local community characteristics through visual, functional, and activity design. Our findings demonstrate how these preferred design elements contribute to a sense of place and community among both local and non-local guests. Furthermore, the study reveals that combining various design elements creates synergistic effects, enhancing their impact on guests' sense of place and community. These insights highlight the importance of community-centered integration in hotel design, offering a theoretical framework that bridges the gap between design attributes and guest well-being. This study also provides practical guidelines for creating sustainable and inclusive hotel environments.

Displacement Into New York City’s Shelter System: Exploring the Roles of Neighborhood-Level Housing Dynamics

This study examines the associations between neighborhood-level housing dynamics and displacement rates into the homeless shelter system in New York City (NYC). We analyze a novel dataset obtained from NYC’s Department of Homeless Services that tracks the neighborhood of origin for shelter entrants. Using descriptive methods, mapping, and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, we examine the relationships between community characteristics and rates of shelter entry, shedding light on an under-studied level of analysis in homelessness research—neighborhoods. This article proposes two potential mechanisms that could contribute to shelter entry at the neighborhood level beyond the aggregation of individual risk: an increased risk of displacement and limited housing choices for displaced households. We find that neighborhood-level eviction rates, poverty rates, and proportions of African American/Black residents are positively associated with rates of displacement into the shelter system, with evictions being the strongest predictor of shelter entry. The study provides the first comprehensive examination of neighborhood-level correlates of shelter entry in NYC in nearly 30 years and fills a gap in the very small empirical literature examining the relationship between housing insecurity indicators and homelessness at the neighborhood level. Findings support policy recommendations that address homelessness at the neighborhood level and curb eviction and displacement to reduce instances of shelter entry.

Characteristics of Bacterial Communities in Rhizosphere and Non-Rhizosphere Soil of the Relict Plant Diplandrorchis sinica S. C. Chen

Characteristics of Bacterial Communities in Rhizosphere and Non-Rhizosphere Soil of the Relict Plant Diplandrorchis sinica S. C. Chen

Treatment-related characteristics of communities in districts characterized by persistent trachoma: an exploratory descriptive study

Abstract Background Despite the implementation of surgery, antibiotics mass administration, facial cleanliness and environmental improvement, commonly known as the SAFE strategy for several years, the persistence and recrudescence of trachoma is a prevailing challenge in Ethiopia. This study explores the treatment-related characteristics of communities within districts characterized by persistent trachoma in southern Ethiopia. Methods Nyangatom and Uba Debretsehay districts are predominantly inhabited by pastoralist and farming communities, respectively. A community-based, exploratory descriptive qualitative study was conducted from June to October 2023. A total of 11 key informant interviews and six focus group discussions were conducted. The interviews and discussions were digitally recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed using Atlas ti. 23. Results Districts characterized by persistent trachoma are characterized by segments of populations that have never been treated or suboptimally treated. This is due to the competing priorities faced by providers, the nature of campaigns and the limited ability of logistics to reach the ‘must reach’ population. Other barriers include limited social support and terrain hindering full geographical and population coverage. Treatment slippage is of particular concern because of treatment fatigue, misinformation and the unavailability of treatments for routine care. Conclusions Communities in districts characterized by persistent and recrudescent trachoma face various socioecological barriers that impact the outcome of SAFE strategy implementation. A mix of both random and systematic omissions of people who need treatment most, such as children and women, was evident.

What's missing? A multi-method approach to gaining a fuller understanding of early care and education decision-making

In the absence of large-scale investments of public resources, families in many communities are faced with making early care and education (ECE) decisions within a set of limited options. There is a need to better understand how families make decisions in these environments, the factors that influence their decisions, the information they need and how specific program or community characteristics may play a role in their decisions. This study used a mixed methods approach, integrating administrative, survey and qualitative interview data to provide an in-depth look at family decision-making and access to ECE within one community. We found that families were using multiple types of ECE arrangements for their children. Families considered many factors and engaged in multiple activities. These factors and activities included informal networks and formal local resources, often used simultaneously to garner access to the ECE situations needed. Complicating the decision-making context is that decisions about care change over time, and across children in families with more than one child. In addition, families found accessing information to make their decisions challenging, time consuming, and that universal information was limited. These findings have implications for policy and practice as well as for how the field continues to study ECE access and decision-making. We found that all three data sources alone provided insights, each with their own benefits and limitations. However, deep understanding of a family's ECE decision-making over time and across the family was only gained through multiple data sources and with important insights gleaned through in-depth qualitative interviews. Future research can consider different combinations of methods to use to study ECE decision-making while weighing what is gained and lost when different methods are used.