Biology subjects

Buse, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Buse, J..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Dung beetles do not profit from enhanced spatial heterogeneity in production forests: a large-scale forest manipulation experiment

O_LICentral European forest management strategies promoting structurally homogeneous closed-canopy forests have led to landscape-level declines in biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality. Conservation-targeted management programs aim at reintroducing structural heterogeneity into production forests, however, it is not well understood if species diversity and ecosystem functions generally profit from management promoting heterogeneity in forest structure. By removing and processing mammalian dung remains, dung beetles play an integral role in ecosystem functions in forests. C_LIO_LIIn one of the largest manipulative forest experiments in Central Europe to date, we analysed the effects of enhanced structural heterogeneity in production forests, climate, and mammalian defecation on dung beetle diversity and dung removal rates at the local and landscape level. We assessed communities of dung beetles and dung removal rates on 234 study patches (50 x 50 m) in eleven paired forest landscapes across a climatic gradient in Germany. Forest landscapes were either managed to conserve a homogeneous closed canopy or to create a heterogeneous forest structure with forest patches varying in canopy coverage and dead wood availability. C_LIO_LIWe did not find that more heterogeneously managed forests had higher dung beetle species diversity and dung removal rates. Canopy openings did not increase species turnover but decreased species diversity. C_LIO_LIAlong the climate gradient, dung beetle average biomass and dung removal decreased with increasing temperature. Canopy openings in combination with higher temperatures negatively impacted all abundant dung beetle species, but especially the large species Anoplotrupes stercorosus, comprising > 90% of the total dung beetle biomass. C_LIO_LISynthesis and application: Our results suggest that dung beetles do not profit from management increasing the structural heterogeneity of forests. Due to a restricted climate and habitat niche of the current Central European dung beetle fauna, future warming and openings in forest structure might have negative effects on dung beetles and consequently on the ecosystem services they provide in Central European production forests. C_LI

ecology↗

bioRxiv2021

Climate, latitude, and land cover predict flying insect biomass across a German malaise trap network

O_LIAmong the many concerns for biodiversity in the Anthropocene, recent reports of flying insect loss are particularly alarming, given their importance as pollinators and as a food source for many predators. Few insect monitoring programs cover large spatial scales required to provide more generalizable estimates of insect responses to global change drivers. C_LIO_LIWe ask how climate and surrounding habitat affect flying insect biomass and day of peak biomass using data from the first year of a new standardized distributed monitoring network at 84 locations across Germany comprising spatial gradient of land-cover types from protected to urban areas. C_LIO_LIFlying insect biomass increased linearly with monthly temperature across Germany. However, the effect of temperature on flying insect biomass flipped to negative in the hot months of June and July when local temperatures most exceeded long-term averages. C_LIO_LILand-cover explained little variation in insect biomass, but biomass was lowest in forested sites. Grasslands, pastures and orchards harbored the highest insect biomass. The date of peak biomass was primarily driven by surrounding land-cover type, with grasslands especially having earlier insect biomass phenologies. C_LIO_LIStandardized, large-scale monitoring is pivotal to uncover underlying processes of insect decline and to develop climate-adapted strategies to promote insect diversity. In a temperate climate region, we find that the benefits of temperature on flying insect biomass diminish in a German summer at locations where temperatures most exceeded long-term averages. These results highlighting the importance of local adaptation in climate change-driven impacts on insect communities. C_LI

ecology↗

bioRxiv2019

Altered brain morphology in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with and without comorbid conduct disorder/oppositional defiant disorder

About 50% of ADHD patients suffer from comorbidity with oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD). Most previous studies on structural morphology did not differentiate between pure ADHD (ADHD-only) and ADHD with comorbid ODD/CD (ADHD+ODD/CD) and only focused on specific measures (e.g. volumetric differences), leading to inconsistent results. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the structural profile of ADHD-only versus ADHD+ODD/CD spanning different indices, i.e. subcortical and cortical volume, cortical thickness, and surface area. We aimed to disentangle disorder-specific etiological contributions regarding structural brain alterations and expected similar and differential alterations between the patient groups. We acquired structural images from an adolescent sample range (11 to 17 years) matched with regard to age, pubertal status, and IQ - including 36 boys with ADHD-only, 26 boys with ADHD+ODD/CD, and 30 typically developing boys (TD). We analyzed subcortical and cortical volume, cortical thickness, and surface area with FreeSurfer. We found reductions in total gray matter and right cerebellar volume as well as total surface area for both patient groups. For the left cerebellar volume ADHD+ODD/CD, but not ADHD only differed from TD. Boys with ADHD+ODD/CD had a thicker cortex than the other groups in a right rostral middle frontal cluster, which was related to stronger ODD/CD symptoms, even when controlling for ADHD symptoms. No group differences in local cortical volume or surface area emerged. Overall, we found similarities but also differences in brain morphology between the two related disorders. Patients with a "double burden" seem to be even more affected than patients with pure ADHD.

neuroscience↗