ORCID Profile
0000-0002-1594-3189
Current Organisations
University of Basel
,
University of Kentucky
,
USMLE
,
University of Zurich
,
Federal Office of Public Health
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Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-11-2021
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.8266
Abstract: Biotic and abiotic factors interact with dominant plants—the locally most frequent or with the largest coverage—and nondominant plants differently, partially because dominant plants modify the environment where nondominant plants grow. For instance, if dominant plants compete strongly, they will deplete most resources, forcing nondominant plants into a narrower niche space. Conversely, if dominant plants are constrained by the environment, they might not exhaust available resources but instead may ameliorate environmental stressors that usually limit nondominants. Hence, the nature of interactions among nondominant species could be modified by dominant species. Furthermore, these differences could translate into a disparity in the phylogenetic relatedness among dominants compared to the relatedness among nondominants. By estimating phylogenetic dispersion in 78 grasslands across five continents, we found that dominant species were clustered (e.g., co‐dominant grasses), suggesting dominant species are likely organized by environmental filtering, and that nondominant species were either randomly assembled or overdispersed. Traits showed similar trends for those sites ( %) with sufficient trait data. Furthermore, several lineages scattered in the phylogeny had more nondominant species than expected at random, suggesting that traits common in nondominants are phylogenetically conserved and have evolved multiple times. We also explored environmental drivers of the dominant/nondominant disparity. We found different assembly patterns for dominants and nondominants, consistent with asymmetries in assembly mechanisms. Among the different postulated mechanisms, our results suggest two complementary hypotheses seldom explored: (1) Nondominant species include lineages adapted to thrive in the environment generated by dominant species. (2) Even when dominant species reduce resources to nondominant ones, dominant species could have a stronger positive effect on some nondominants by ameliorating environmental stressors affecting them, than by depleting resources and increasing the environmental stress to those nondominants. These results show that the dominant/nondominant asymmetry has ecological and evolutionary consequences fundamental to understand plant communities.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-03-2023
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-023-37395-Y
Abstract: Plant productivity varies due to environmental heterogeneity, and theory suggests that plant ersity can reduce this variation. While there is strong evidence of ersity effects on temporal variability of productivity, whether this mechanism extends to variability across space remains elusive. Here we determine the relationship between plant ersity and spatial variability of productivity in 83 grasslands, and quantify the effect of experimentally increased spatial heterogeneity in environmental conditions on this relationship. We found that communities with higher plant species richness (alpha and gamma ersity) have lower spatial variability of productivity as reduced abundance of some species can be compensated for by increased abundance of other species. In contrast, high species dissimilarity among local communities (beta ersity) is positively associated with spatial variability of productivity, suggesting that changes in species composition can scale up to affect productivity. Experimentally increased spatial environmental heterogeneity weakens the effect of plant alpha and gamma ersity, and reveals that beta ersity can simultaneously decrease and increase spatial variability of productivity. Our findings unveil the generality of the ersity-stability theory across space, and suggest that reduced local ersity and biotic homogenization can affect the spatial reliability of key ecosystem functions.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-06-2020
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15146
Abstract: Microbial processing of aggregate‐unprotected organic matter inputs is key for soil fertility, long‐term ecosystem carbon and nutrient sequestration and sustainable agriculture. We investigated the effects of adding multiple nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium plus nine essential macro‐ and micro‐nutrients) on decomposition and biochemical transformation of standard plant materials buried in 21 grasslands from four continents. Addition of multiple nutrients weakly but consistently increased decomposition and biochemical transformation of plant remains during the peak‐season, concurrent with changes in microbial exoenzymatic activity. Higher mean annual precipitation and lower mean annual temperature were the main climatic drivers of higher decomposition rates, while biochemical transformation of plant remains was negatively related to temperature of the wettest quarter. Nutrients enhanced decomposition most at cool, high rainfall sites, indicating that in a warmer and drier future fertilized grassland soils will have an even more limited potential for microbial processing of plant remains.
Publisher: Rockefeller University Press
Date: 25-07-2016
DOI: 10.1084/JEM.20150598
Abstract: Chronic infections induce T cells showing impaired cytokine secretion and up-regulated expression of inhibitory receptors such as PD-1. What determines the acquisition of this chronic phenotype and how it impacts T cell function remain vaguely understood. Using newly generated recombinant antigen variant-expressing chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) strains, we uncovered that T cell differentiation and acquisition of a chronic or exhausted phenotype depend critically on the frequency of T cell receptor (TCR) engagement and less significantly on the strength of TCR stimulation. In fact, we noted that low-level antigen exposure promotes the formation of T cells with an acute phenotype in chronic infections. Unexpectedly, we found that T cell populations with an acute or chronic phenotype are maintained equally well in chronic infections and undergo comparable primary and secondary expansion. Thus, our observations contrast with the view that T cells with a typical chronic infection phenotype are severely functionally impaired and rapidly transition into a terminal stage of differentiation. Instead, our data unravel that T cells primarily undergo a form of phenotypic and functional differentiation in the early phase of a chronic LCMV infection without inheriting a net survival or expansion deficit, and we demonstrate that the acquired chronic phenotype transitions into the memory T cell compartment.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2023
DOI: 10.1002/ECS2.4542
Abstract: Human activities are altering ecological communities around the globe. Understanding the implications of these changes requires that we consider the composition of those communities. However, composition can be summarized by many metrics which in turn are influenced by different ecological processes. For ex le, incidence‐based metrics strongly reflect species gains or losses, while abundance‐based metrics are minimally affected by changes in the abundance of small or uncommon species. Furthermore, metrics might be correlated with different predictors. We used a globally distributed experiment to examine variation in species composition within 60 grasslands on six continents. Each site had an identical experimental and s ling design: 24 plots × 4 years. We expressed compositional variation within each site—not across sites—using abundance‐ and incidence‐based metrics of the magnitude of dissimilarity (Bray–Curtis and Sorensen, respectively), abundance‐ and incidence‐based measures of the relative importance of replacement (balanced variation and species turnover, respectively), and species richness at two scales (per plot‐year [alpha] and per site [gamma]). Average compositional variation among all plot‐years at a site was high and similar to spatial variation among plots in the pretreatment year, but lower among years in untreated plots. For both types of metrics, most variation was due to replacement rather than nestedness. Differences among sites in overall within‐site compositional variation were related to several predictors. Environmental heterogeneity (expressed as the CV of total aboveground plant biomass in unfertilized plots of the site) was an important predictor for most metrics. Biomass production was a predictor of species turnover and of alpha ersity but not of other metrics. Continentality (measured as annual temperature range) was a strong predictor of Sorensen dissimilarity. Metrics of compositional variation are moderately correlated: knowing the magnitude of dissimilarity at a site provides little insight into whether the variation is driven by replacement processes. Overall, our understanding of compositional variation at a site is enhanced by considering multiple metrics simultaneously. Monitoring programs that explicitly incorporate these implications, both when designing s ling strategies and analyzing data, will have a stronger ability to understand the compositional variation of systems and to quantify the impacts of human activities.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-09-2020
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15308
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-08-2012
DOI: 10.1096/FJ.12-206177
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-08-2021
DOI: 10.1002/ECY.3504
Abstract: Spatial rarity is often used to predict extinction risk, but rarity can also occur temporally. Perhaps more relevant in the context of global change is whether a species is core to a community (persistent) or transient (intermittently present), with transient species often susceptible to human activities that reduce niche space. Using 5-12 yr of data on 1,447 plant species from 49 grasslands on five continents, we show that local abundance and species persistence under ambient conditions are both effective predictors of local extinction risk following experimental exclusion of grazers or addition of nutrients persistence was a more powerful predictor than local abundance. While perturbations increased the risk of exclusion for low persistence and abundance species, transient but abundant species were also highly likely to be excluded from a perturbed plot relative to ambient conditions. Moreover, low persistence and low abundance species that were not excluded from perturbed plots tended to have a modest increase in abundance following perturbance. Last, even core species with high abundances had large decreases in persistence and increased losses in perturbed plots, threatening the long-term stability of these grasslands. Our results demonstrate that expanding the concept of rarity to include temporal dynamics, in addition to local abundance, more effectively predicts extinction risk in response to environmental change than either rarity axis predicts alone.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-01-2021
DOI: 10.1002/ECY.3218
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.JAUT.2015.10.004
Abstract: The induction of innate and adaptive immunity is essential for controlling viral infections. Limited or overwhelming innate immunity can negatively impair the adaptive immune response. Therefore, balancing innate immunity separately from activating the adaptive immune response would result in a better antiviral immune response. Recently, we demonstrated that Usp18-dependent replication of virus in secondary lymphatic organs contributes to activation of the innate and adaptive immune responses. Whether specific mechanisms can balance innate and adaptive immunity separately remains unknown. In this study, using lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) and replication-deficient single-cycle LCMV vectors, we found that viral replication of the initial inoculum is essential for activating virus-specific CD8(+) T cells. In contrast, extracellular distribution of virus along the splenic conduits is necessary for inducing systemic levels of type I interferon (IFN-I). Although enforced virus replication is driven primarily by Usp18, B cell-derived lymphotoxin beta contributes to the extracellular distribution of virus along the splenic conduits. Therefore, lymphotoxin beta regulates IFN-I induction independently of CD8(+) T-cell activity. We found that two separate mechanisms act together in the spleen to guarantee lification of virus during infection, thereby balancing the activation of the innate and adaptive immune system.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-07-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-022-01809-9
Abstract: Ecological models predict that the effects of mammalian herbivore exclusion on plant ersity depend on resource availability and plant exposure to ungulate grazing over evolutionary time. Using an experiment replicated in 57 grasslands on six continents, with contrasting evolutionary history of grazing, we tested how resources (mean annual precipitation and soil nutrients) determine herbivore exclusion effects on plant ersity, richness and evenness. Here we show that at sites with a long history of ungulate grazing, herbivore exclusion reduced plant ersity by reducing both richness and evenness and the responses of richness and ersity to herbivore exclusion decreased with mean annual precipitation. At sites with a short history of grazing, the effects of herbivore exclusion were not related to precipitation but differed for native and exotic plant richness. Thus, plant species' evolutionary history of grazing continues to shape the response of the world's grasslands to changing mammalian herbivory.
Publisher: American Society of Hematology
Date: 17-05-2012
DOI: 10.1182/BLOOD-2011-12-401117
Abstract: Chromatin remodeling is fundamental for B-cell differentiation. In the present study, we explored the role of KAP1, the cofactor of KRAB-ZFP transcriptional repressors, in this process. B-lymphoid–specific Kap1-KO mice displayed reduced numbers of mature B cells, lower steady-state levels of Abs, and accelerated rates of decay of neutralizing Abs after viral immunization. Transcriptome analyses of Kap1-deleted B splenocytes revealed an up-regulation of PTEN, the enzymatic counteractor of PIK3 signaling, and of genes encoding DNA-damage response factors, cell-cycle regulators, and chemokine receptors. ChIP/seq studies established that KAP1 bound at or close to several of these genes and controlled chromatin status at their promoters. Genome wide, KAP1 binding sites lacked active B cell–specific enhancers and were enriched in repressive histone marks, further supporting a role for this molecule in gene silencing in vivo. Likely responsible for tethering KAP1 to at least some of these targets, a discrete subset of KRAB-ZFPs is enriched in B lymphocytes. Our results therefore reveal the role of KRAB/KAP1–mediated epigenetic regulation in B-cell development and homeostasis.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-10-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-019-12948-2
Abstract: Soil nitrogen mineralisation (N min ), the conversion of organic into inorganic N, is important for productivity and nutrient cycling. The balance between mineralisation and immobilisation (net N min ) varies with soil properties and climate. However, because most global-scale assessments of net N min are laboratory-based, its regulation under field-conditions and implications for real-world soil functioning remain uncertain. Here, we explore the drivers of realised (field) and potential (laboratory) soil net N min across 30 grasslands worldwide. We find that realised N min is largely explained by temperature of the wettest quarter, microbial biomass, clay content and bulk density. Potential N min only weakly correlates with realised N min , but contributes to explain realised net N min when combined with soil and climatic variables. We provide novel insights of global realised soil net N min and show that potential soil net N min data available in the literature could be parameterised with soil and climate data to better predict realised N min .
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 20-12-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-10-2021
Abstract: Plant damage by invertebrate herbivores and pathogens influences the dynamics of grassland ecosystems, but anthropogenic changes in nitrogen and phosphorus availability can modify these relationships. Using a globally distributed experiment, we describe leaf damage on 153 plant taxa from 27 grasslands worldwide, under ambient conditions and with experimentally elevated nitrogen and phosphorus. Invertebrate damage significantly increased with nitrogen addition, especially in grasses and non‐leguminous forbs. Pathogen damage increased with nitrogen in grasses and legumes but not forbs. Effects of phosphorus were generally weaker. Damage was higher in grasslands with more precipitation, but climatic conditions did not change effects of nutrients on leaf damage. On average, invertebrate damage was relatively higher on legumes and pathogen damage was relatively higher on grasses. Community‐weighted mean damage reflected these functional group patterns, with no effects of N on community‐weighted pathogen damage (due to opposing responses of grasses and forbs) but stronger effects of N on community‐weighted invertebrate damage (due to consistent responses of grasses and forbs). Synthesis . As human‐induced inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus continue to increase, understanding their impacts on invertebrate and pathogen damage becomes increasingly important. Our results demonstrate that eutrophication frequently increases plant damage and that damage increases with precipitation across a wide array of grasslands. Invertebrate and pathogen damage in grasslands is likely to increase in the future, with potential consequences for plant, invertebrate and pathogen communities, as well as the transfer of energy and nutrients across trophic levels.
No related grants have been discovered for Daniel Pinschewer.