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Global change drivers that modify the quality and quantity of litter inputs to soil affect greenhouse gas fluxes, and thereby constitute a feedback to climate change. Carbon cycling in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) River Delta, a subarctic wetland system, is influenced by landscape variations in litter quality and quantity generated by herbivores (migratory birds) that create ‘grazing lawns’ of short stature, nitrogen-rich vegetation. To identify the mechanisms by which these changes in litter inputs affect soil carbon balance, we independently manipulated qualities and quantities of litter representative of levels found in the Y-K Delta in a fully factorial microcosm experiment. We measured carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes from these microcosms weekly. To help us identify how litter inputs influenced greenhouse gas fluxes, we sequenced soil fungal and bacterial communities, and measured soil microbial biomass carbon, dissolved carbon, inorganic nitrogen, and enzyme activity. We found that positive correlations between litter input quantity and CO2 flux were dependent upon litter type, due to differences in litter stoichiometry and changes to the structure of decomposer communities, especially the soil fungi. These community shifts were particularly pronounced when litter was added in the form of herbivore feces, and in litter input treatments that induced nitrogen limitation (i.e., senesced litter). The sensitivity of carbon cycling to litter quality and quantity in this system demonstrates that herbivores can strongly impact greenhouse gas fluxes through their influence on plant growth and tissue chemistry.

1. Aphids are abundant in natural and managed vegetation, supporting a diverse community of organisms and causing damage to agricultural crops. Due to a changing climate, periods of drought are anticipated to increase, and the potential consequences of this for aphid-plant interactions are unclear. 2. Using a meta-analysis and synthesis approach, we aimed to advance understanding of how increased drought incidence will affect this ecologically and economically important insect group, and to characterise any potential underlying mechanisms. We used qualitative and quantitative synthesis techniques to determine whether drought stress has a negative, positive, or null effect on aphid fitness and examined these effects in relation to 1) aphid biology, 2) geographical region, 3) host plant biology. 3. Across all studies, aphid fitness is typically reduced under drought. Subgroup analysis detected no difference in relation to aphid biology, geographical region, or the aphid-plant combination, indicating the negative effect of drought on aphids is potentially universal. Furthermore, drought stress had a negative impact on plant vigour and increased plant concentrations of defensive chemicals, suggesting the observed response of aphids is associated with reduced plant vigour and increased chemical defence in drought-stressed plants. 4. We propose a conceptual model to predict drought effects on aphid fitness in relation to plant vigour and defence to stimulate further research. Please check the ReadMe for an explanation of the values included in the dataset. Please note that n/a values are included in the Global_Dataset tab for plant meta-analysis data (_Plant_Vigour, _Plant_Defence, and _Plant_Nutrition), these indicate studies that did not report these parameters. Data was collected and curated using standard systematic literature synthesis approaches. The effect size (Hedges' g) reported in the dataset was calculated from extracted means and standard deviations.

Optimisation results for the lowest lifetime cost system consisting of solar photovoltaic (PV), hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) and solar-thermal collectors alongside battery and hot-water storage systems for meeting the electrical and thermal (hot-water) needs of three multi-effect distillation (MED) plants. The updated results are from optimisations runs carried out in response to peer-review comments.

Twenty soil cores were collected from a field site in Lincolnshire in March 2011, three weeks after planting and Nitrogen fertiliser addition. Soil cores of 150-180 millimetre (mm) depth, containing approximately 1.6 kilogram soil (dry weight) were extracted in Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes (height 215 mm depth 102 mm) and stored at 4 degrees centigrade for 30 days. A four-treatment factorial experiment was designed using soils un-amended or amended with biochar and un-wetted or wetted with deionised water (5 replicates per treatment). Soil in all the cores was mixed to 7 centimetre (cm) depth. To half of the cores, biochar (less than 2 mm) was mixed into the soil at a rate of 3 percent soil dry weight (approximately 22 tons per hectare (t ha-1)). After allowing for any potential Carbon dioxide (CO2) flush from newly-mixed soil to equilibrate for seven days, the cores were placed at 16 degrees centigrade in the dark. Un-wetted soil cores were maintained at 23 percent Gravimetric moisture content (GMC), whilst the GMC of 'wetted' soil cores was increased to 28 percent GMC at the time zero (t0) of four wetting events on day 17, 46, 67 and 116. These water addition rates were based on mean and maximum monthly soil GMC measured in the field between 2009-2010. Data from an investigation of the effects of biochar application to soil on greenhouse gas emissions using soil from a bioenergy crop (Miscanthus X. giganteus). Data include physical (bulk density) and chemical analyses of the soil (total carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), extractable ammonium and nitrate), and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O)) during incubations. Data were collected during two incubation experiments investigating the effects of temperature, soil moisture and soil aeration on biochar induced suppression of GHG emissions. Biochar is a carbon rich substances which is being advocated as a climate mitigation tool to increase carbon sequestration and reduce nitrous oxide emissions.

The dataset comprises of physical and biogeochemical measurements of belowground (root) biomass from across four Scottish saltmarshes. Sites were chosen to represent contrasting habitats types in Scotland, in particular sediment types, vegetation and sea level history. The data provide a quantitative measure of belowground (root) biomass, organic carbon content and belowground (root) carbon. Samples were collected using a wide gauge gouge corer. The samples were processed to determine belowground (root) biomass, the organic carbon was quantified through elemental analysis and these two data sets were combined to calculate the belowground (root) carbon content. The data were collected to help create a detailed picture of saltmarsh carbon storage in surficial soils across Scotland. The work was carried out under the NERC programme - Carbon Storage in Intertidal Environment (C-SIDE), NERC grant reference NE/R010846/1 Soil cores were taken at each sampling location using a wide diameter gouge corer. The location of the sample was recorded using GPS. Prior to analysis the samples were stored at 4 degrees Celsius at the University of St Andrews. Belowground (root) biomass, organic carbon content and belowground (root) carbon data was produced using standard analytical procedures (detailed in the supporting documentation). All laboratory equipment were calibrated in accordance with the laboratory practises at the University of St Andrews. Results were recorded on to lab sheets and transferred into an Excel file. Results were exported as comma separated value (.csv) files for ingestion into the EIDC.

A virtual lab (MOOC) for students chemical, civil or mechanical engineering. Students are introduced with a fluidised bed reactor (multiphase flow). This expansion column represents a liquid-solid fluidisation process applied in drinking water treatment processes. The knowledge you will gain will help you develop and improve your competence profile of a highly qualified chemical engineer. Students are informed with short lectures (films) and a manual (document). Several assignments must be completed based on recorded laboratory experiments.

Sediment was collected using a shovel before being sieved (0.8 cm for fine, and 1.6 cm for medium and coarse) and homogenised prior to storage. The sediment was stored airtight in the cold and dark. Sediment of varying organic matter content from two geological origins (chalk and sandstone) was incubated at five temperatures (5, 9, 15, 21 and 26°C). Resorufin production was measured using a GGUN-FL30 on-line fluorometer, dissolved oxygen was measured using a Pyro-science Firesting fixed needle-type probe, and carbon dioxide and methane concentrations were measured using an Agilent 7890A Gas Chromatograph - Flame Ionisation Detector. The carbon dioxide and methane concentrations were converted to production per hour by calculating the difference in concentration between zero and five hours and normalising the production by the length of the incubation period. The data was then converted to emissions per volume of dry sediment using the Bunsen coefficient and the volume of sediment in each jar, resulting in units of milligrams of carbon per square metre per hour. Greenhouse gas concentrations were corrected for any machine drift using results from a standard gas mixture ran periodically during gas analysis. The resorufin concentration was converted to production per hour by calculating the difference in concentration between zero and five hours and normalising the production by the length of the incubation period. The production was then normalised by the concentration of resazurin added to the jar, resulting in units of nanograms of resorufin per microgram of resazurin per hour. Data were entered into an Excel spreadsheet and exported as a comma separated value file (.csv) for ingestion into the EIDC. The dataset contains carbon dioxide and methane emissions, as well as resorufin production (as a proxy for microbial metabolic activity) and dissolved oxygen concentrations, resulting from laboratory incubation experiments of streambed sediments. The sediments were collected from the upper 10 centimetres of the streambed in the River Tern and the River Lambourn in September 2015, with three samples collected from each river. These samples were collected from three areas: silt-dominated sediment underneath vegetation (fine), sand-dominated sediment from unvegetated zones (medium) and gravel-dominated sediment from unvegetated zones (coarse). The sediment was used in laboratory incubation experiments to determine the effect of temperature, organic matter content, substrate type and geological origin on streambed microbial metabolic activity, and carbon dioxide and methane production. The work was carried out as part of a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funded PhD (NERC award number 1602135). The work was also part funded through the Seventh Framework Programme (EU grant number 607150).

1. Predicted changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events in the UK have the potential to disrupt terrestrial ecosystem function. However, responses of different trophic levels to these changes in rainfall patterns, and the underlying mechanisms, are not well characterised. 2. This study aimed to investigate how changes in both the quantity and frequency of rainfall events will affect the outcome of interactions between plants, insect herbivores (above- and below- ground) and natural enemies. 3. Hordeum vulgare L. plants were grown in controlled conditions and in the field, and subjected to three precipitation scenarios: ambient (based on a local 10 year average rainfall); continuous drought (40% reduction compared to ambient); drought/ deluge (40% reduction compared to ambient at a reduced frequency). The effects of these watering regimes and wireworm (Agriotes species) root herbivory on the performance of the plants, aphid herbivores above-ground (Sitobion avenae, Metapolophium dirhodum and Rhopalosiphum padi), and natural enemies of aphids including ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis) were assessed from measurements of plant growth, insect abundance and mass, and assays of feeding behaviour. 4. Continuous drought decreased plant biomass, whereas reducing the frequency of watering events did not affect plant biomass but did alter plant chemical composition. In controlled conditions, continuous drought ameliorated the negative impact of wireworms on plant biomass. 5. Compared to the ambient treatment, aphid mass was increased by 15% when feeding on plants subjected to drought/ deluge; and ladybirds were 66% heavier when feeding on these aphids but this did not affect ladybird prey choice. In field conditions, wireworms feeding below-ground reduced the number of shoot-feeding aphids under ambient and continuous drought conditions but not under drought/ deluge. 6. Predicted changes in both the frequency and intensity of precipitation events under climate change have the potential to limit plant growth, but reduce wireworm herbivory, while simultaneously promoting above-ground aphid numbers and mass, with these effects transferring to the third trophic level. Understanding the effect of future changes in precipitation on species interactions is critical for determining their potential impact on ecosystem functioning and constructing accurate predictions under global change scenarios. Controlled environment and field experimental dataData file containing all data reported in the paper including plant, soil and insect data from controlled environment and field experiments. First spreadsheet in the data file contains a key to explain all abbreviations used throughout the file.Experimental data.xlsx

Projections of Sea Level Rise (SLR) under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 (AR5) along the Mekong Coast, Published1 by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Hanoi, Vietnam. Projections of Mekong River discharge during the dry season under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 at Kratie, Cambodia. The data contains the cumulative, minimum and maximum dry season (January-1st to April-30th) discharge from 5 different climate models. PCR-GLOBWB2 was run at 5 arc-min spatial resolution and forced with the data based on output from five ISIMIP CMIP5 global climate models (HadGEM2-ES, GFDL-ESM2, IPSL-CM5A-LR, MIROC-ESM-CHEM, NorESM1-M). 1. Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), V. Climate change and sea level rise scenarios for Vietnam, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. (2016). 2. Sutanudjaja, E. H. et al. PCR-GLOBWB 2: a 5 arcmin global hydrological and water resources model. Geosci. Model Dev. 11, 2429–2453 (2018). {"references": ["Sutanudjaja et al. (2018)", "Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (2016)"]}