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The roles of species richness, resource use, and resource availability are central to many hypotheses explaining the diversity-invasion phenomenon but are generally not investigated together. Here, we created a large diversity gradient of soil microbial communities by either assembling communities of pure bacterial strains or removing the diversity of a natural soil. Using data on the resource-use capacities of the soil communities and an invader that were gathered from 71 carbon sources, we quantified the niches available to both constituents by using the metrics community niche and remaining niche available to the invader. A strong positive relationship between species richness and community niche across both experiments indicated the presence of resource complementarity. Moreover, community niche and the remaining niche available to the invader predicted invader abundance well. This suggested that increased competition in communities of higher diversity limits community invasibility and underscored the importance of resource availability as a key mechanism through which diversity hinders invasions. As a proof of principle, we subjected selected invaded communities to a resource pulse, which progressively uncoupled the link between soil microbial diversity and invasion and allowed the invader to rebound after nearly being eliminated in some communities. Our results thus show that (1) resource competition suppresses invasion, (2) biodiversity increases resource competition and decreases invasion through niche preemption, and (3) resource pulses that cannot be fully used, even by diverse communities, are favorable to invasion.

Due to climate change, flooding stress has occurred more frequently and intensively than ever before, which has become one of the major abiotic stresses affecting rice production. In tropical regions around the world, southeastern coastal countries, and southern rice production areas of China, frequent flooding disaster usually takes place during the rainy season and heavy summer rainfall, which leads to great yield losses in rice production. Currently, only a few rice genotypes are flooding-tolerant, and the relevant flooding-resistant cultivation and regulation practices are still lacking. Therefore, this review highlighted the latest studies on the physiological mechanisms of rice response to flooding stress and flooding-resistant cultivation, particularly summarizing the effect of flooding stress on rice root system architecture, plant growth, reactive oxygen metabolism, energy metabolism, radiation use efficiency, endogenous hormone metabolism, nitrogen utilization efficiency, and yield formation. In addition, the breeding strategies and cultivation regulation approaches for alleviating the flooding stress of rice were analyzed. Finally, future research directions are outlined. This review comprehensively summarizes the rice growth performance and physiological traits response to flooding stress, and sums up some useful regulation strategies, which might assist in further interpreting the mechanisms of plants’ response to flooding stress and developing stress-resistant cultivation practices for rice production.

QUESTION: A positive plant diversity–above‐ground productivity relationship is often demonstrated in synthetic grassland stands established for functional biodiversity research, but this relationship is rarely found along diversity gradients in natural and semi‐natural grasslands. One of the key mechanisms proposed to cause a positive species diversity–above‐ground productivity relationship is increased complementarity in resource use. Using light transmittance to the ground as a measure of resource use intensity in semi‐natural grasslands, we tested the hypothesis that peak above‐ground biomass (as a proxy for productivity) increases and light transmittance decreases with increasing species richness, which would reflect higher complementarity in light capture. LOCATION: Semi‐natural temperate grasslands in Lower Saxony, Germany. METHODS: We investigated 31 grasslands with variable species richness on three different geological substrates (greywacke, limestone and sandstone) at two spatial scales (sub‐regional and regional). RESULTS: Structural equation modelling (SEM) and generalized linear models (GLM) revealed that species richness (5–22 species · 0.09 m⁻²) was negatively related to above‐ground biomass (AGB; 200–1350 g·m⁻²) and sward cover. The most influential determinant of AGB at the regional scale was temperature. Light transmittance was determined by sward cover, the cover of competitive species and AGB at the regional, and in part also at the sub‐regional level. We found no evidence for increased light capture complementarity with higher species richness. CONCLUSION: This suggests that competitive exclusion, but not complementarity in above‐ground resource use, mediates above‐ground productivity in species‐rich plant assemblages.

Phenotypic plasticity can be expressed as changes in body shape in response to environmental variability. Crucian carp (Carassius carassius), a widespread cyprinid, displays remarkable plasticity in body morphology and increases body depth when exposed to cues from predators, suggesting the triggering of an antipredator defense mechanism. However, these morphological changes could also be related to resource use and foraging behavior, as an indirect effect of predator presence. In order to determine whether phenotypic plasticity in crucian carp is driven by a direct or indirect response to predation threat, we compared twelve fish communities inhabiting small lakes in southeast Norway grouped by four categories of predation regimes: no predator fish, or brown trout (Salmo trutta), perch (Perca fluviatilis), or pike (Esox lucius) as main piscivores. We predicted the body shape of crucian carp to be associated with the species composition of predator communities and that the presence of efficient piscivores would result in a deeper body shape. We use stable isotope analyses to test whether this variation in body shape was related to a shift in individual resource use—that is, littoral rather than pelagic resource use would favor the development of a specific body shape—or other environmental characteristics. The results showed that increasingly efficient predator communities induced progressively deeper body shape, larger body size, and lower population densities. Predator maximum gape size and individual trophic position were the best variables explaining crucian carp variation in body depth among predation categories, while littoral resource use did not have a clear effect. The gradient in predation pressure also corresponded to a shift in lake productivity. These results indicate that crucian carp have a fine‐tuned morphological defense mechanism against predation risk, triggered by the combined effect of predator presence and resource availability. The crucian carp develops a deep body when exposed to cues from predators and represents a classic example of anti‐predator defense mechanism in fish. In this study, we showed that crucian carp body depth increased with decreasing trophic position and increasing predation risk represented by predator gape size. Our results indicate that crucian carp have a fine‐tuned morphological defense mechanism against predation risk, triggered by the combined effect of predator community and resource use.

Background In the context of rising costs of raw materials and environmental degradation caused by livestock farming, the agri-food sector faces significant challenges in sourcing sustainable proteins. Grain legumes have emerged as cost-effective protein sources, with lower water footprint and GHG emissions compared to animal sources. However, their cultivation is threatened by strong yield fluctuations. Leveraging intra-specific diversity through cultivar mixtures in cropping systems can effectively buffer biotic and abiotic stresses, hence increasing yield stability. In this study, we investigate the effect of intra-specific diversity on lentil nitrogen uptake under pot (2020) and field conditions (2021). We hypothesize that cultivars with higher affinity for nitrogen fixation influence the other components of the mixture, and that nitrogen uptake dynamics are a possible driver in modulating cultivar mixture behaviour. We designed two-, three-, and four-cultivar mixtures with a trait-blind approach and compared them to sole cultivars. Results and conclusions Our results show inconsistencies across the two experimental years, indicating that lentils may shift their nitrogen source from the atmosphere to the soil when grown in pots. Mixtures 15 N enrichment was not always consistent with pure stand performance, suggesting that cultivar mixtures may have an unpredictable cumulative effect on nitrogen uptake. Regarding correlations with agronomic parameters, we observed a significant correlation between nodules number and nitrogen concentration, regardless of experimental conditions. Finally, we found that 15 N excess emerged as a significant predictor for pure stands’ yield, but the differences were diluted with the increase in diversity levels. The findings on 15 N enrichment responses, cultivar impacts, and complex mixture effects on soil microbiota underscore the need for further research.

Current regulatory mechanism is costly and ineffective due to weak enforcement of environmental standards in India. Harnessing the capabilities of capital markets could be a better strategy for environment friendly economic growth. Therefore, the paper aims to examine a relationship between a firm’s environmental performance and its market valuation. The study uses market value as an indicator of the financial performance using the Ohlson (Contemp Account Res 11:661–687, 1995) model, which is a better indicator in an emerging economy compared to Tobin-q and is free from the biases that Tobin-q suffers from. The study finds a positive relationship between the number of voluntary environment program implemented by a firm and its market value and significant negative relationship between a firm’s market value and pollution index. However, the relationship between resource use index and market value is not found to be statistically significant. The study indicates that India could harness the power of capital markets for improving industrial environmental performance.

Unlocking Tanzania's Hidden Economic Potential Putting Tanzania's Hidden Economy to Work explores how better management of natural resources can fuel economic growth and reduce poverty in Tanzania.This study reveals the significant, often uncounted, contributions of sectors like forestry, fisheries, mining, and wildlife to the nation's economy.

Environmental degradation is costly, to individuals, to societies, and to the environment. This book, edited by Lelia Croitoru and Maria Sarraf, makes these costs clear by examining a number of studies carried out over the past few years by the World Bank's Middle East and North Africa region. Even more important than estimating the monetary cost of environmental degradation (COED), however, are the clear guidance and policy implications derived from these findings. This volume presents a new approach to estimating the impacts of environmental degradation. In the past, when government officials asked researchers the simple question how large are the impacts of environmental degradation? The response was often an emphatic 'large!' a rather imprecise number. The strength of this work is that it actually quantifies in economic terms how large is 'large' and thereby gains the attention of decision makers and offers specific insights for improved policy making. Finally, this book demonstrates the benefits of doing a coordinated, regional COED analysis that builds on the country-level studies. This two-tiered approach produces important synergies, in terms of both the methodologies used and the lessons learned.

A rich body of literature has emerged that seeks to shed further light on how concepts like globalization and internationalization shape higher education systems and their institutions. This paper examines how the rise of private higher education in various national contexts has engendered global patterns of public financial support for private institutions and particularly the various ways in which public funding is channeled to such providers. A cross-national typology of public/private higher education sectors and a system-level 'map' of how public funding is directed to institutions are both used to explain why different patterns may emerge. This framework is then used to examine the policies and practices in four representative systems: England, Germany, New Zealand, and the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. The available evidence suggests that in systems with weak or newly emerging private sectors, unclear regulations and concerns about quality implies that public funding tends to be channeled into private institutions indirectly (e.g. through tax-abatements and student financial aid). In systems where private institutions play a more substantial role, public funding is channeled to privates using a mix of indirect and direct mechanisms.

Climate change remains a global challenge requiring international collaborative action. Another area where countries have successfully committed to a long-term multilateral resolution is the liberalization of international trade. Integration into the world economy has proven a powerful means for countries to promote economic growth, development, and poverty reduction. The broad objectives of the betterment of current and future human welfare are shared by both global trade and climate regimes. Yet both climate and trade agendas have evolved largely independently through the years, despite their mutually supporting objectives. Since global emission goals and global trade objectives are shared policy objectives of most countries, and nearly all of the World Bank's clients, it makes sense to consider the two sets of objectives together. This book is one of the first comprehensive attempts to look at the synergies between climate change and trade objectives from economic, legal, and institutional perspectives. It addresses an important policy question - how changes in trade policies and international cooperation on trade policies can help address global environmental spillovers, especially GHG emissions, and what the (potential) effects of (national) environmental policies that are aimed at global environmental problems might be for trade and investment. It explores opportunities for aligning development and energy policies in such a way that they could stimulate production, trade, and investment in cleaner technology options.