Voici les éléments 1 - 10 sur 212
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Assessing the responses of Sphagnum micro-eukaryotes to climate changes using high throughput sequencing
    (2020-9-18) ;
    Seppey, Christophe Victor William
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    Jassey, Vincent E.J.
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    Buttler, Alexandre
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    Slowinska, Sandra
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    Slowinski, Michal
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    Lamentowicz, Mariusz
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    Current projections suggest that climate warming will be accompanied by more frequent and severe drought events. Peatlands store ca. one third of the world’s soil organic carbon. Warming and drought may cause peatlands to become carbon sources through stimulation of microbial activity increasing ecosystem respiration, with positive feedback effect on global warming. Micro-eukaryotes play a key role in the carbon cycle through food web interactions and therefore, alterations in their community structure and diversity may affect ecosystem functioning and could reflect these changes. We assessed the diversity and community composition of Sphagnum-associated eukaryotic microorganisms inhabiting peatlands and their response to experimental drought and warming using high throughput sequencing of environmental DNA. Under drier conditions, micro-eukaryotic diversity decreased, the relative abundance of autotrophs increased and that of osmotrophs (including Fungi and Peronosporomycetes) decreased. Furthermore, we identified climate change indicators that could be used as early indicators of change in peatland microbial communities and ecosystem functioning. The changes we observed indicate a shift towards a more “terrestrial” community in response to drought, in line with observed changes in the functioning of the ecosystem.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Les pesticides: lacunes et alternatives
    Les études de l’impact des néonicotinoïdes sur les abeilles ont permis une prise de conscience sur la toxicité de ces molécules. Mais ces insectes ne sont pas les seuls à subir les conséquences de l’usage massif des pesticides en agriculture conventionnelle. En nous focalisant sur l’abeille, ne risque-t-on pas de négliger les effets sur les autres organismes vivants?
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Ultra-trace level determination of neonicotinoids in honey as a tool for assessing environmental contamination
    (2019-2-5)
    Kammoun, Souad
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    Mulhauser, Blaise
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    Glauser, Gaetan
    Neonicotinoids and the closely related insecticide classes sulfoximines and butenolides have recently attracted growing concerns regarding their potential negative effects on non-target organisms, including pollinators such as bees. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly clear that these effects may occur at much lower levels than those considered to be safe for humans. To properly assess the ecological and environmental risks posed by neonicotinoids, appropriate sampling and analytical procedures are needed. Here, we used honey as reliable environmental sampler and developed an unprecedentedly sensitive method based on QuEChERS and UHPLC-MS/MS for the simultaneous determination of the nine neonicotinoids and related molecules currently present on the market (acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, flupyradifurone, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, sulfoxaflor, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam). The method was validated and provided excellent levels of precision and accuracy over a wide concentration range of 3–4 orders of magnitude. Lowest limits of quantification (LLOQs) as low as 2–20 pg/g of honey depending on the analytes were reached. The method was then applied to the analysis of 36 honey samples from various regions of the World which had already been analysed for the five most common neonicotinoids (acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam) in a previous study. This allowed us to determine the long-term stability (i.e. up to 40 months) of these molecules in honey, both at room temperature and −20 °C. We found that the five pesticides were stable over a period of several years at −20 °C, but that acetamiprid and thiacloprid partially degraded at room temperature. Finally, we also measured the levels of dinotefuran, nitenpyram, sulfoxaflor and flupyradifurone and found that 28% of the samples were contaminated by at least one of these pesticides.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Pesticides: Berne doit jouer la transparence
    OPINION. Deux chercheurs de l’Université de Neuchâtel, Alexandre Aebi et Edward Mitchell, demandent à l’Office fédéral de l’agriculture de publier les informations détaillées sur l’usage des pesticides en Suisse, après une première communication insatisfaisante
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Comment promouvoir une agriculture qui protège et profite de la biodiversité?
    (2018-11-1) ;
    Moinet, Gabriel
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    Le déclin de la biodiversité et l’alté- ration des services écosystémiques mettent en péril la production à long terme de denrées alimentaires et de fourrage. Il est nécessaire de se tourner vers des systèmes de production agricole basés sur l’utili- sation de la diversité biologique et sur des écosystèmes en bon état de fonctionnement. L’agroécologie pro- pose de nouvelles solutions en la matière
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Soil chemistry changes beneath decomposing cadavers over a one-year period
    Decomposing vertebrate cadavers release large, localized inputs of nutrients. These temporally limited resource patches affect nutrient cycling and soil organisms. The impact of decomposing cadavers on soil chemistry is relevant to soil biology, as a natural disturbance, and forensic science, to estimate the postmortem interval. However, cadaver impacts on soils are rarely studied, making it difficult to identify common patterns. We investigated the effects of decomposing pig cadavers (Sus scrofa domesticus) on soil chemistry (pH, ammonium, nitrate, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and carbon) over a one-year period in a sprucedominant forest. Four treatments were applied, each with five replicates: two treatments including pig cadavers (placed on the ground and hung one metre above ground) and two controls (bare soil and bags filled with soil placed on the ground i.e. “fake pig” treatment). In the first two months (15–59 days after the start of the experiment), cadavers caused significant increases of ammonium, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (p < 0.05) whereas nitrate significantly increased towards the end of the study (263–367 days; p < 0.05). Soil pH increased significantly at first and then decreased significantly at the end of the experiment. After one year, some markers returned to basal levels (i.e. not significantly different from control plots), whereas others were still significantly different. Based on these response patterns and in comparison with previous studies, we define three categories of chemical markers that may have the potential to date the time since death: early peak markers (EPM), late peak markers (LPM) and late decrease markers (LDM). The marker categories will enhance our understanding of soil processes and can be highly useful when changes in soil chemistry are related to changes in the composition of soil organism communities. For actual casework further studies and more data are necessary to refine the marker categories along a more precise timeline and to develop a method that can be used in court.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    An update of the Worldwide Integrated Assessment (WIA) on systemic insecticides. Part 2: Impacts on organisms and ecosystems
    (2017-11-9)
    Pisa, Lennard
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    Goulson, Dave
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    Yang, En-Cheng
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    Gibbons, David
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    Sánchez-Bayo, Francisco
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    van der Sluijs, Jeroen
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    MacQuarrie, Chris JK
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    Giorio, Chiara
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    Yim Long, Elizabeth
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    McField, Melanie
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    Bijleveld van Lexmond, Maarten
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    Bonmatin, Jean-Marc
    New information on the lethal and sublethal effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil on organisms is presented in this review, complementing the previous Worldwide Integrated Assessment (WIA) in 2015. The high toxicity of these systemic insecticides to invertebrates has been confirmed and expanded to include more species and compounds. Most of the recent research has focused on bees and the sublethal and ecological impacts these insecticides have on pollinators. Toxic effects on other invertebrate taxa also covered predatory and parasitoid natural enemies and aquatic arthropods. Little new information has been gathered on soil organisms. The impact on marine and coastal ecosystems is still largely uncharted. The chronic lethality of neonicotinoids to insects and crustaceans, and the strengthened evidence that these chemicals also impair the immune system and reproduction, highlights the dangers of this particular insecticidal class (neonicotinoids and fipronil), with the potential to greatly decrease populations of arthropods in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Sublethal effects on fish, reptiles, frogs, birds, and mammals are also reported, showing a better understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity of these insecticides in vertebrates and their deleterious impacts on growth, reproduction, and neurobehaviour of most of the species tested. This review concludes with a summary of impacts on the ecosystem services and functioning, particularly on pollination, soil biota, and aquatic invertebrate communities, thus reinforcing the previous WIA conclusions (van der Sluijs et al. 2015).
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    A worldwide survey of neonicotinoids in honey
    (2017-9-6) ;
    Mulhauser, Blaise
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    Mutabazi, Aline
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    Glauser, Gaétan
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  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Effects of decomposing cadavers on soil nematode communities over a one-year period
    (2016-12-1) ; ; ; ;
    Steel, Hanne
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    Neilson, Roy
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    Griffiths, Bryan S.
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    Amendt, Jens
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    In terrestrial ecosystems decomposing cadavers act as resource patches affecting nutrient cycling and soil communities, but the effects on soil communities are not well known. In this study we investigated nematode community response to decomposing pig cadavers (Sus scrofa) over a one-year period. As nematodes play key roles in soil food webs and are known to respond to disturbances and nutrient enrichment, we hypothesised that they would respond to decomposing cadavers and that this response would change over time. We compared the temporal patterns of nematode density and community structure under pig cadavers, either placed directly on the ground or hung 1 m aboveground (for effects of cadaveric fluids only), with two controls, i.e., bare soil and bags filled with soil placed on the ground (fake pigs e for microclimatic effects only). In the control and fake pig treatments nematode densities, community patterns and maturity indices did not change significantly. In contrast, density increased significantly underneath the ground and hanging pigs two weeks after the beginning of the experiment, and nematode family richness, Simpson diversity and maturity index were sgnificantly reduced in the cadaver treatments. Most nematode families responded negatively to cadavers with the notable exceptions of Rhabditidae, Neodiplogasteridae and Diplogasteroididae. The latter two were found exclusively underneath the decomposing cadavers and are promising bioindicators of vertebrate cadaver decomposition. Even though diversity, density and communities were recovering after one year, the impact of cadavers was still significant for the maturity index. These contrasting patterns illustrate how decomposing cadavers contribute to increasing local biodiversity and suggest that soil nematodes could be used as a tool to document the presence of a decomposing cadaver, or to estimate the time elapsed since death (post-mortem interval). Patterns should, however, be compared in different settings and seasons before such a tool can be validated.