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Wageningen University and Research Centre

EducationWageningen, Netherlands
About: Wageningen University and Research Centre is a education organization based out in Wageningen, Netherlands. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Sustainability. The organization has 23474 authors who have published 54833 publications receiving 2608897 citations.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work enhances the resolution of faunal analyses by providing a weighting system for the indicator importance of the presence and abundance of each functional guild in relation to enrichment and structure of the food web.

1,142 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider two types of commitment that may characterize interfirm relationships: affective commitment and calculative commitment, which measures the degree to which channel members experience the need to maintain a relationship with specific partners.

1,131 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a plant-soil feedback model is proposed to explain succession, invasion, response to climate warming and diversity-productivity relationships in terrestrial ecosystems, and how terrestrial ecosystems respond to global land use and climate change.
Abstract: Summary Plant–soil feedbacks is becoming an important concept for explaining vegetation dynamics, the invasiveness of introduced exotic species in new habitats and how terrestrial ecosystems respond to global land use and climate change. Using a new conceptual model, we show how critical alterations in plant–soil feedback interactions can change the assemblage of plant communities. We highlight recent advances, define terms and identify future challenges in this area of research and discuss how variations in strengths and directions of plant–soil feedbacks can explain succession, invasion, response to climate warming and diversity-productivity relationships. While there has been a rapid increase in understanding the biological, chemical and physical mechanisms and their interdependencies underlying plant–soil feedback interactions, further progress is to be expected from applying new experimental techniques and technologies, linking empirical studies to modelling and field-based studies that can include plant–soil feedback interactions on longer time scales that also include long-term processes such as litter decomposition and mineralization. Significant progress has also been made in analysing consequences of plant–soil feedbacks for biodiversity-functioning relationships, plant fitness and selection. To further integrate plant–soil feedbacks into ecological theory, it will be important to determine where and how observed patterns may be generalized, and how they may influence evolution. Synthesis. Gaining a greater understanding of plant–soil feedbacks and underlying mechanisms is improving our ability to predict consequences of these interactions for plant community composition and productivity under a variety of conditions. Future research will enable better prediction and mitigation of the consequences of human-induced global changes, improve efforts of restoration and conservation and promote sustainable provision of ecosystem services in a rapidly changing world.

1,115 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
09 Aug 2018-Nature
TL;DR: It is shown that bacterial, but not fungal, genetic diversity is highest in temperate habitats and that microbial gene composition varies more strongly with environmental variables than with geographic distance, and that the relative contributions of these microorganisms to global nutrient cycling varies spatially.
Abstract: Soils harbour some of the most diverse microbiomes on Earth and are essential for both nutrient cycling and carbon storage. To understand soil functioning, it is necessary to model the global distribution patterns and functional gene repertoires of soil microorganisms, as well as the biotic and environmental associations between the diversity and structure of both bacterial and fungal soil communities1–4. Here we show, by leveraging metagenomics and metabarcoding of global topsoil samples (189 sites, 7,560 subsamples), that bacterial, but not fungal, genetic diversity is highest in temperate habitats and that microbial gene composition varies more strongly with environmental variables than with geographic distance. We demonstrate that fungi and bacteria show global niche differentiation that is associated with contrasting diversity responses to precipitation and soil pH. Furthermore, we provide evidence for strong bacterial–fungal antagonism, inferred from antibiotic-resistance genes, in topsoil and ocean habitats, indicating the substantial role of biotic interactions in shaping microbial communities. Our results suggest that both competition and environmental filtering affect the abundance, composition and encoded gene functions of bacterial and fungal communities, indicating that the relative contributions of these microorganisms to global nutrient cycling varies spatially.

1,108 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, Akkermansia muciniphila, a gut microbe previously associated with metabolic health in preclinical models, is safe and well tolerated in humans and may improve metabolic parameters in overweight and obese patients.
Abstract: Metabolic syndrome is characterized by a constellation of comorbidities that predispose individuals to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular pathologies as well as type 2 diabetes mellitus1. The gut microbiota is a new key contributor involved in the onset of obesity-related disorders2. In humans, studies have provided evidence for a negative correlation between Akkermansia muciniphila abundance and overweight, obesity, untreated type 2 diabetes mellitus or hypertension3–8. Since the administration of A. muciniphila has never been investigated in humans, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study in overweight/obese insulin-resistant volunteers; 40 were enrolled and 32 completed the trial. The primary end points were safety, tolerability and metabolic parameters (that is, insulin resistance, circulating lipids, visceral adiposity and body mass). Secondary outcomes were gut barrier function (that is, plasma lipopolysaccharides) and gut microbiota composition. In this single-center study, we demonstrated that daily oral supplementation of 1010 A. muciniphila bacteria either live or pasteurized for three months was safe and well tolerated. Compared to placebo, pasteurized A. muciniphila improved insulin sensitivity (+28.62 ± 7.02%, P = 0.002), and reduced insulinemia (−34.08 ± 7.12%, P = 0.006) and plasma total cholesterol (−8.68 ± 2.38%, P = 0.02). Pasteurized A. muciniphila supplementation slightly decreased body weight (−2.27 ± 0.92 kg, P = 0.091) compared to the placebo group, and fat mass (−1.37 ± 0.82 kg, P = 0.092) and hip circumference (−2.63 ± 1.14 cm, P = 0.091) compared to baseline. After three months of supplementation, A. muciniphila reduced the levels of the relevant blood markers for liver dysfunction and inflammation while the overall gut microbiome structure was unaffected. In conclusion, this proof-of-concept study (clinical trial no. NCT02637115) shows that the intervention was safe and well tolerated and that supplementation with A. muciniphila improves several metabolic parameters. Supplementation with Akkermansia muciniphila, a gut microbe previously associated with metabolic health in preclinical models, is safe and well tolerated in humans and may improve metabolic parameters in overweight and obese patients.

1,107 citations


Authors

Showing all 23851 results

NameH-indexPapersCitations
Walter C. Willett3342399413322
Albert Hofman2672530321405
Frank B. Hu2501675253464
Willem M. de Vos14867088146
Willy Verstraete13992076659
Jonathan D. G. Jones12941780908
Bert Brunekreef12480681938
Pedro W. Crous11580951925
Marten Scheffer11135073789
Wim E. Hennink11060049940
Daan Kromhout10845355551
Peter H. Verburg10746434254
Marcel Dicke10761342959
Vincent W. V. Jaddoe106100844269
Hao Wu10566942607
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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Institution in previous years
YearPapers
2023278
2022861
20214,144
20203,722
20193,443
20183,226