Environmental Shaping Research Articles

Altitude as a key environmental factor shaping microbial communities of tea green leafhoppers (Matsumurasca onukii).

The tea green leafhopper, Matsumurasca onukii Matsuda, is the most destructive insect pest of tea plantations in East Asia. While several microbes in M. onukii have been characterized, the microbial community compositions in wild M. onukii populations and the environmental factors that shape them are mostly unknown. In this study, M. onukii populations were collected from major tea growing regions in China. Following high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene fragments for bacteria and the internal transcribed spacer region for fungi, association analyses were performed within the microbial communities associated with M. onukii and their environmental drivers. We found that the bacterial community structures differed in various regions, and the abundance of dominant bacteria such as Wolbachia, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Pantoea, Enterobacter, and Methylobacterium varied widely. Moreover, wild populations of M. onukii can be infected with facultative symbionts from six genera (Wolbachia, Rickettsia, Asaia, Serratia, Arsenophonus, and Cardinium) with divergent relative abundances. Correlation analysis indicated that altitude was a key environmental factor that shaped bacterial communities of M. onukii. Furthermore, longitude, temperature, and rainfall are also significantly correlated with the bacterial communities. The fungal communities of M. onukii populations were dominated by Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, of which most genera are considered to be plant endophytes or plant pathogens, such as Cladosporium, Fusarium, Alternaria, and Gibberella. We demonstrated that M. onukii carry a complex and variable microbial community, which is influenced by altitude as well as climate-related factors. Our results provide novel insights into the bacteria and fungi of M. onukii.IMPORTANCEHost-associated microbial communities play an important role in the fitness of insect hosts. However, the factors shaping microbial communities in wild populations, including environmental factors and interactions among microbial species, remain largely unknown. The tea green leafhopper has a wide geographical distribution and is highly adaptable, providing a suitable model for studying the effect of ecological drivers on microbiomes. This is the first large-scale culture-independent study investigating the microbial communities of M. onukii sampled from different locations. Altitude as a key environmental factor may have shaped microbial communities of M. onukii by affecting the relative abundance of endosymbionts, especially Wolbachia. The results of this study, therefore, offer not only an in-depth view of the microbial diversity of this species but also an insight into the influence of environmental factors.

Microbial community dynamics and assembly mechanisms across different stages of cyanobacterial bloom in a large freshwater lake

Cyanobacterial bloom caused by eutrophication in lakes has become one of the significant environmental problems worldwide. However, a notable research gap persists in understanding the environmental adaptation and community assembly of microbial dynamics in response to different blooming stages. Therefore, metagenomic sequencing was employed in this study to investigate alterations in the microbial community composition in water and sediment during different stages of cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Taihu. The results indicated significant spatiotemporal variations in physicochemical parameters across the early, medium, and late stages of a complete cyanobacteria bloom cycle. Diversity analysis further revealed that the temporal differences in the microbial community were substantially greater than spatial variations. Notably, during the medium-blooming stages in water, Microcystis emerged as the predominant detected cyanobacteria genus. Interestingly, the content of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and catalase (CAT) in sediment exceeded those in water by over 10 times, indicating that sediment-dwelling Cyanobacteria might constitute a crucial source of water blooms. Moreover, dissolved oxygen, pH, and water temperature were identified as the most influential environmental variables shaping the microbial community in the water. Stochasticity emerged as a prominent factor governing microbial community assembly across different bloom periods. Meanwhile, co-occurrence patterns suggested fewer interactions and instability between species in medium-blooming stages. Notably, the potential keystone phyla occupied crucial ecological niches. This research carries significant theoretical implications for managing cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater ecosystems.

Consistent predictors of microbial community composition across spatial scales in grasslands reveal low context-dependency.

Environmental circumstances shaping soil microbial communities have been studied extensively. However, due to disparate study designs, it has been difficult to resolve whether a globally consistent set of predictors exists, or context-dependency prevails. Here, we used a network of 18 grassland sites (11 of those containing regional plant productivity gradients) to examine (i) if similar abiotic or biotic factors predict both large-scale (across sites) and regional-scale (within sites) patterns in bacterial and fungal community composition, and (ii) if microbial community composition differs consistently at two levels of regional plant productivity (low vs. high). Our results revealed that bacteria were associated with particular soil properties (such as base saturation) and both bacteria and fungi were associated with plant community composition across sites and within the majority of sites. Moreover, a discernible microbial community signal emerged, clearly distinguishing high and low-productivity soils across different grasslands independent of their location in the world. Hence, regional productivity differences may be typified by characteristic soil microbial communities across the grassland biome. These results could encourage future research aiming to predict the general effects of global changes on soil microbial community composition in grasslands and to discriminate fertile from infertile systems using generally applicable microbial indicators.

Host phylogeny and environment shape the diversity of salamander skin bacterial communities

The composition and diversity of animal-associated microbial communities are shaped by multiple ecological and evolutionary processes acting at different spatial and temporal scales. Skin microbiomes are thought to be strongly influenced by the environment due to the direct interaction of the host’s skin with the external media. As expected, the diversity of amphibian skin microbiomes is shaped by climate and host sampling habitats, whereas phylogenetic effects appear to be weak. However, the relative strength of phylogenetic and environmental effects on salamander skin microbiomes remains poorly understood. Here, we analysed sequence data from 1164 adult salamanders of 44 species to characterise and compare the diversity and composition of skin bacteria. We assessed the relative contribution of climate, host sampling habitat, and host phylogeny to the observed patterns of bacterial diversity. We found that bacterial alpha diversity was mainly associated with host sampling habitat and climate, but that bacterial beta diversity was more strongly associated with host taxonomy and phylogeny. This phylogenetic effect predominantly occurred at intermediate levels of host divergence (0–50 Mya). Our results support the importance of environmental factors shaping the diversity of salamander skin microbiota, but also support host phylogenetic history as a major factor shaping these bacterial communities.

Multi‐colony tracking of two pelagic seabirds with contrasting flight capability illustrates how windscapes shape migratory movements at an ocean‐basin scale

Migration is a common trait among many animals allowing the exploitation of spatiotemporally variable resources. It often implies high energetic costs to cover large distances, for example between breeding and wintering grounds. For flying or swimming animals, the adequate use of winds and currents can help reduce the associated energetic costs. Migratory seabirds are good models because they dwell in habitats characterized by strong winds while undertaking very long migrations. We tested the hypothesis that seabirds migrate through areas with favourable winds. To that end, we used the SEATRACK dataset, a multi‐colony geolocator tracking dataset, for two North Atlantic seabirds with contrasting flight capabilities, the black‐legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla and the Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica, and wind data from the ERA5 climate reanalysis model. Both species had on average positive wind support during migration. Their main migratory routes were similar and followed seasonally prevailing winds. The general migratory movement had a loop‐shape at the scale of the North Atlantic, with an autumn route (southward) along the east coast of Greenland, and a spring route (northward) closer to the British Isles. While migrating, both species had higher wind support in spring than in autumn. Kittiwakes migrated farther and benefited from higher wind support than puffins on average. The variation in wind conditions encountered while migrating was linked to the geographical location of the colonies. Generally, northernmost colonies had a better wind support in autumn while the southernmost colonies had a better wind support in spring, with some exceptions. Our study helps understanding how the physical environment shapes animal migration, which is crucial to further predict how migrants will be impacted by ongoing environmental changes.

Using YouTube for corporate communication: a comparison between Chinese and American companies

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to compare the communication practices of Chinese and US companies on YouTube and explores the effectiveness of different communication strategies at the topic level.Design/methodology/approachThe author selected 22 Chinese companies and 22 US firms and compared the content of their English language corporate YouTube channels through content analysis, sentiment analysis and cluster analysis.FindingsThe results revealed that the three communication strategies (information, response and involvement) in general were not significantly different regarding their engagement rates, but they generated different comment scores when communicating topics of corporate social responsibility. The results also showed that Chinese companies were more likely than American firms to display the speeches of corporate leaders, use collectivistic references and present human interest messages in YouTube videos.Research limitations/implicationsThis study sheds light on how national institutional environment shapes corporate communication on YouTube.Practical implicationsThis study challenges the infatuation with the involvement strategy and offers some advice for practitioners on topic selection and user comment function management.Originality/valueThis study makes a novel contribution to the literature of corporate communication on YouTube by adopting a cross-national comparative approach. A conceptual framework of major factors influencing stakeholder responses on YouTube was presented.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-02-2023-0061

Illuminating Plant Community Assembly on Karst Mountain Road Slopes through Plant Traits and Environmental Filters

Understanding how assembly processes shape local plant assemblages from the potential species pool is crucial for biodiversity conservation and revegetation. Mountainous regions are global biodiversity hotspots with high levels of diversity, concentration, and vulnerability. Road construction in these areas poses ecological challenges, including habitat loss and reduced biodiversity. Feature-based ecology highlights non-biological filtering as a key driver of habitat-specific community formation. Analyzing trait structures and their association with the environment can reveal community assembly processes under specific environmental conditions. However, quantifying species-environment-traits interactions during community assembly on roadside slopes is still underexplored. In our study, 76 naturally recovered roadside slopes, 656 self-established plant communities and 113 plant species across ten functional traits, along with their environmental associations, in the karst mountain region of southwestern China, were examined. Our findings show that there are still abundant native plants with colonization potential settled on steep roadside slopes in karst mountain areas. Diffusion constraints stemming from distance to the core species pool, elevation, and differences in adjacent vegetation types emerged as key factors causing variations in species composition of self-established communities. The slope environment exerts strong selective pressures leading to a convergence pattern in traits related to dispersal and colonization while showing a divergence pattern in traits linked to competitive strategies and regeneration. These findings identify critical functional traits and environmental factors shaping roadside plant communities and illustrate the predictability of environmental filtering and fundamental community assembly. Overall, our study sheds light on the intricate interactions among assembly processes, functional traits, and environmental factors driving local plant assemblages in mountainous regions, providing insights for effective diversity conservation and revegetation strategies.

How does Leadership Manage Network-Level Tensions in a Turbulent Environment? A Case Study on the Antwerp Fire Service Network Leadership during the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACTA crucial topic is how network leadership recognizes and responds to network-level tensions. However, when we focus on how leadership manages these tensions, we favor a one-sided view by focusing predominantly on how leadership manages tensions within the network, implicitly adopting a closed system assumption. In this article, we propose that why a specific network-level behavior is enacted can (partially) be explained by how network leadership is embedded within an organizational field and how environmental and population dynamics shape network tensions. The Social Network Analysis showed that the Antwerp Fire Service crisis response network developed from a core–periphery network to a smaller, denser network. Based on the thematic analysis, we provide insights into network leadership practices to recognize and respond to network tensions that arose during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic due to internal network characteristics and the organizational field's environmental and population dynamics.MAD statementThis article aims to Make a Difference (MAD) by positioning the notion of network tensions and network leadership at the core of leadership theory and practice. This is done by introducing network tensions before suggesting that network leadership needs to respond to and manage network tensions shaped and constrained by an organizational field's environmental and population dynamics. The contributions show how leadership dealt with network tensions, and as a result, the article may help inform leadership practice and scholarship on how to deal with multiple network memberships, overlapping network involvement, and broader network-environment relationships that characterize collective goods.

Home literacy environment and early biliteracy engagement and attainment: A gendered perspective

ABSTRACT This mixed-methods study was designed to examine how different home literacy environments shape gender differences in Chinese-Canadian first graders’ (N = 76) bilingual lexical attainment and literacy engagement. Quantitative analyses indicated that girls outperform boys in both Chinese (L1) and English (L2) vocabulary. Gender differences were not associated with the quantity of language exposure at home in either language but rather with the quality of home language input. Home Language Quality was found to be differentially associated with gender, with boys receiving quality input in both languages at home. Results reveal that parents engaged in more quality home literacy practices with girls than boys. Parental expectations and beliefs in gender differences, particularly girls’ superiority in language learning and self-regulation, shaped gendered home literacy engagement.

Environmental gradients shape microbiome assembly and stability in the East China sea

Microbiomes play a key role in marine ecosystem functioning and sustainability. Their organization and stability in coastal areas, particularly in anthropogenic-influenced regions, however, remains unclear compared with an understanding of how microbial community shifts respond to marine environmental gradients. Here, the assembly and community associations across vertical and horizontal gradients in the East China Sea are systematically researched. The seawater microbial communities possessed higher robustness and lower fragmentation and vulnerability compared to the sediment microbiomes. Spatial gradients act as a deterministic filtering factor for microbiome organization. Microbial communities had lower phylogenetic distance and higher niche breadth in the nearshore and offshore areas compared to intermediate areas. The phylogenetic distance of microbiomes decreased from the surface to the bottom but the niche breadth was enhanced in surface and bottom environments. Vertical gradients destabilized microbial associations, while the community diversity was enhanced. Multivariate regression tree analysis and canonical correspondence analysis indicated that depth, distance from shore, nutrient availability, temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll a, affected the distribution and co-occurrence of microbial groups. Our results highlight the crucial roles of environmental gradients in determining microbiome association and stability. These results improve our understanding of the survival strategies/adaptive mechanisms of microbial communities in response to environmental variation and provide new insights for protecting the ecosystems and maintaining the sustainability of ecological functions.

Network ecology: Tie fitness in social context(s)

Social relations are embedded in material, cultural, and institutional settings that affect network dynamics and the resulting topologies. For example, romantic entanglements are subject to social and cultural norms, interfirm alliances are constrained by country-specific legislation, and adolescent friendships are conditioned by classroom settings and neighborhood effects. In short, social contexts shape social relations and the networks they give rise to. However, how and when they do so remain to be established. This paper presents network ecology as a general framework for identifying how the proximal environment shapes social networks by focusing interactions and social relations, and how these interactions and relations in turn shape the environment in which social networks form. Tie fitness is introduced as a metric that quantifies how well particular dyadic social relations would align with the setting. Using longitudinal networks collected on two cohorts each in 18 North American schools, i.e., 36 settings, we develop five generalizable observations about the time-varying fitness of adolescent friendship. Across all 252 analyzed networks, tie fitness predicted new tie formation, tie longevity, and tie survival. Dormant fit ties cluster in relational niches, thereby establishing a resource base for social identities competing for increased representation in the relational system.

Predicting Suitable Habitats for China’s Endangered Plant Handeliodendron bodinieri (H. Lév.) Rehder

Demarcating a plant species’ actual and potential biogeographical distribution is crucial for understanding the key environmental variables shaping its habitat conditions. We used MaxEnt and species distribution modeling to predict the likely range of China’s endangered species, Handeliodendron bodinieri (H. Lév.) Rehder, based on forty-four validated distribution records and eight selected environmental variables. Combined with percentage contribution and permutation importance, the jackknife statistical method was applied to test and evaluate pertinent factors restricting the potential distribution of H. bodinieri. The response curves of critical bioclimatic factors were employed to determine the potential species range. The generated MaxEnt model was confirmed to have excellent simulation accuracy. The current core potential distribution areas are concentrated in the Guangxi and Guizhou provinces of Southwest China, with a significant inter-regional difference. The precipitation of the warmest quarter (Bio18) and minimum temperature of the coldest month (Bio6) had the greatest impact on the distribution area of H. bodinieri. The findings could provide useful information and a reasonable reference for managers to enhance the protection of this declining species.

Youth Lens methodology: Critical participatory action research with youth in Cleveland, Ohio

Research on youth well-being is often driven by adult researcher voices, while youth experiences are neglected. Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is a distinct and powerful approach to capture youth experiences unique to particular social settings and leverage these voices to produce action and change through research. YPAR can be used to challenge oppression, mitigate the researcher-participant hierarchy, and build a social justice-oriented methodology, particularly when it uses a critical and intersectionality lens, rooted in a wider understanding of racial oppression. This methodology paper analyzes our Youth Lens methodology, which uses Critical YPAR to explore African American youth perceptions of how the neighborhood environment shapes health and well-being in Cleveland, Ohio. We describe, in detail, our methodology which was used to examine the history of redlining and systemic racism in the city and how it has driven present-day health and socioeconomic disparities. Further, we reflect in this paper not only on the methodology, but on our own role in the research. We end with implications for collaborative research with youth.

Gut microbiota parallelism and divergence associated with colonisation of novel habitats.

An organism's gut microbiota can change in response to novel environmental conditions, in particular when colonisation of new habitats is accompanied by shifts in the host species' ecology. Here, we investigated the gut microbiota of three lizard species (A. inornata, H. maculata and S. cowlesi) from their ancestral-like habitat in the Chihuahuan desert and two colonised habitats with contrasting geological and ecological compositions: the White Sands and Carrizozo lava flow. The host species and the lizards' environment both shape gut microbiota composition, but host effects were overall stronger. Further, we found evidence that colonisation of the same environment by independent host species led to parallel changes of the gut microbiota, whereas the colonisation of two distinct environments by the same host species led to gut microbiota divergence. Some of the gut microbiota changes that accompanied the colonisation of the White Sands were associated with shifts in diet (based on diet information from previous studies), which is congruent with the general observation that trophic ecology has a strong effect on gut microbiota composition. Our study provides insights into how shifts in host ecology accompanying colonisation of novel environments can affect gut microbiota composition and diversity.

The differences in the implications of participative decision-making and paternalistic leadership for teachers' perceived stress in the education system of the Israeli Arab minority

PurposeStudies have shown that teachers' perceptions and expectations of their working environment shape their perceived stress. The present study draws upon implicit leadership theory and builds on the job demands-control (JD-C) model to investigate whether there are differences in the implications of participative decision-making and paternalistic leadership for teachers' perceived stress in the Israeli Arab education system.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through validated questionnaires returned by a two-stage cluster random sampling of 350 teachers randomly chosen from 70 Israeli Arab elementary schools. Paternalistic leadership and participative decision-making were considered as group-level variables to lower the risk of common method variance. The proposed model was tested through hierarchical regression analysis. Finally, to test the hypothesis that paternalistic leadership and participative decision-making standardized beta weights were statistically significantly different from each other, their corresponding 95% confidence intervals were estimated via bias corrected bootstrap (1000 re-samples).FindingsThe findings indicated differences in the levels of the principal's paternalistic leadership and participative decision-making as perceived by the Israeli Arab teachers. Also, the results indicated that participative decision-making was negatively correlated with teachers' perceived stress beyond the influence of paternalistic leadership.Originality/valueExamining teachers' working conditions and resources can be important since they affect teachers' perceived stress, which may in turn affects school results in the Arab education system in Israel. This study can contribute to the development of training programs for teachers to improve and adapt principals' leadership practices to the sociocultural context of the Arab education system in Israel.

Deforestation strengthens environmental filtering and competitive exclusion in Neotropical streams and rivers.

Understanding how anthropization impacts the assembly of species onto communities is pivotal to go beyond the observation of biodiversity changes and reveal how disturbances affect the environmental and biotic processes shaping biodiversity. Here, we propose a simple framework to measure the assembly processes underpinning functional convergence/divergence patterns. We applied this framework to northern Amazonian fish communities inventoried using environmental DNA in 35 stream sites and 64 river sites. We found that the harsh and unstable environmental conditions characterizing streams conveyed communities towards functional convergence, by filtering traits related to food acquisition and, to a lower extent, dispersal. Such environmental filtering also strengthened competition by excluding species having less competitive food acquisition traits. Instead, random species assembly was more marked in river communities, which may be explained by the downstream position of rivers facilitating the dispersion of species. Although fish assembly rules differed between streams and river fish communities, anthropogenic disturbances reduced functional divergence in both ecosystems, with a reinforcement of both environmental filtering and weaker competitor exclusion. This may explain the substantial biodiversity alterations observed under slight deforestation levels in Neotropical freshwater ecosystems and underlines their vulnerability to anthropic disturbances that not only affect species persistence but also modify community assembly rules.

Bayesian analyses indicate bivalves did not drive the downfall of brachiopods following the Permian-Triassic mass extinction

Certain times of major biotic replacement have often been interpreted as broadly competitive, mediated by innovation in the succeeding clades. A classic example was the switch from brachiopods to bivalves as major seabed organisms following the Permian-Triassic mass extinction (PTME), ~252 million years ago. This was attributed to competitive exclusion of brachiopods by the better adapted bivalves or simply to the fact that brachiopods had been hit especially hard by the PTME. The brachiopod-bivalve switch is emblematic of the global turnover of marine faunas from Palaeozoic-type to Modern-type triggered by the PTME. Here, using Bayesian analyses, we find that unexpectedly the two clades displayed similar large-scale trends of diversification before the Jurassic. Insight from a multivariate birth-death model shows that the extinction of major brachiopod clades during the PTME set the stage for the brachiopod-bivalve switch, with differential responses to high ocean temperatures post-extinction further facilitating their displacement by bivalves. Our study strengthens evidence that brachiopods and bivalves were not competitors over macroevolutionary time scales, with extinction events and environmental stresses shaping their divergent fates.

Housing-based syringe services programs to improve access to safer injecting equipment for people who inject drugs in Vancouver, Canada: a spatially oriented qualitative study

BackgroundHousing environments shape injection drug-related risks and harms and thus represent a critical implementation setting for syringe services programs (SSPs). As critical harm reduction measures, SSPs provide safe injecting equipment to people who inject drugs (PWID). Vancouver, Canada, has well-established syringe distribution programs through which PWID have low-threshold access to unlimited syringes and related injecting equipment, including through non-profit operated supportive housing and single-room occupancy hotels. This study examines the role of housing-based SSPs in distributing injecting equipment to PWID in Vancouver.MethodsBetween January and March 2020, semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted in Vancouver with 26 PWID. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded. Salient themes were identified using inductive and deductive approaches.ResultsMany participants accessed SSPs in housing facilities and expressed preference for these programs over those offered at other locations and through other health and social services. Three major themes emerged to explain this preference. First, most participants injected in the buildings where they resided, and housing-based SSPs made injecting equipment available when and where it was most needed. Second, many participants preferred to avoid carrying syringes outside of the places where they inject due to fears that syringe possession may lead to criminal charges or confiscation of syringes and/or illicit drugs by police. Third, for some participants, anti-drug user stigma and concerns over unwillingly disclosing their drug use hindered access to SSPs outside of housing settings. Programs operated within housing facilities often offered greater client anonymity along with more supportive and less stigmatizing environments, particularly in the presence of peer staff.ConclusionThe current study advances understanding of access to injecting equipment in a setting with city-wide syringe distribution programs. Our findings underscore the benefits of housing-based SSPs and encourage the expansion of such services to maximize access to harm reduction supports for PWID.

Urbanization, climate and species traits shape mammal communities from local to continental scales.

Human-driven environmental changes shape ecological communities from local to global scales. Within cities, landscape-scale patterns and processes and species characteristics generally drive local-scale wildlife diversity. However, cities differ in their structure, species pools, geographies and histories, calling into question the extent to which these drivers of wildlife diversity are predictive at continental scales. In partnership with the Urban Wildlife Information Network, we used occurrence data from 725 sites located across 20 North American cities and a multi-city, multi-species occupancy modelling approach to evaluate the effects of ecoregional characteristics and mammal species traits on the urbanization-diversity relationship. Among 37 native terrestrial mammal species, regional environmental characteristics and species traits influenced within-city effects of urbanization on species occupancy and community composition. Species occupancy and diversity were most negatively related to urbanization in the warmer, less vegetated cities. Additionally, larger-bodied species were most negatively impacted by urbanization across North America. Our results suggest that shifting climate conditions could worsen the effects of urbanization on native wildlife communities, such that conservation strategies should seek to mitigate the combined effects of a warming and urbanizing world.

Structural and Psychosocial Challenges Among Underserved Patients Receiving Hemodialysis During and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States are disproportionately affected by chronic kidney disease and progressive kidney failure and face significantly more socioeconomic and psychosocial challenges. However, how such patients' social environment and stigmatization shape their illness experiences and abilities to cope before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has not been well documented, even as social scientific research predicts these groups' exponential vulnerability. Qualitative study using semistructured interviews to elicit individual patient narratives about their personal illness experiences before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, any challenges they faced, and their sources of support. Using purposive sampling, we recruited 20 adult patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis from centers affiliated with a safety-net hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic content analysis to identify patients' challenges and supports before and during the pandemic. Of the 20 patients in the study, 9 were women, and 18 self-identified as Black or African American. Three main themes emerged, whereby most patients described: (1) stigma and stigmatization as a central element of their life experience; (2) the pandemic as a difficult experience but not a complete rupture from their prepandemic life; and (3) social networks, particularly family, friends, and religious communities, as sources of support crucial to coping with their debilitating illness. Whether the findings apply to other settings is unknown, as participants were recruited from centers in a single safety-net urban hospital setting. Psychosocial and environmental factors, including institutional racism and stigmatization, play significant roles in amplifying the burdens shouldered by racial and ethnic minority individuals with kidney disease who now also face the COVID-19 pandemic that has since turned endemic. The results of this study can inform the development of policy interventions aimed at alleviating tensions and structural conditions that impinge on kidney disease patients' wellbeing and health outcomes. Members of racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States experience the highest rates of progressive kidney failure and face significantly more socioeconomic and psychosocial challenges. We interviewed 20 patients who receive maintenance hemodialysis treatment from centers affiliated with a safety-net hospital. Patients described stigmatization as a central element of their life experience and the pandemic as a difficult challenge (but not a complete rupture) that added to their struggles with illness-related, race-related, and class-related stigmas. Social networks, particularly family, friends, and religious communities, are key sources of support crucial to coping with illness. Findings from this study can inform health care providers and community workers and guide the development of policy interventions to provide better support for these patients.