Summary Ribulose 1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase ( RubisCO ) is a critical yet severely inefficient enzyme that catalyses the fixation of virtually all of the carbon found on E arth. Here, we report a functional metagenomic selection that recovers physiologically active RubisCO molecules directly from uncultivated and largely unknown members of natural microbial communities. Selection is based on CO 2 ‐dependent growth...

We investigated clonal diversity, genet size structure and genet longevity in populations of four arctic‐alpine plants ( Carex curvula , Dryas octopetala , Salix herbacea and Vaccinium uliginosum ) to evaluate their persistence under past climatic oscillations and their potential resistance to future climate change. The size and number of genets were determined by an analysis of amplified fragment length polymorphisms and a st...

The large variation in the relationships between environmental factors and plant traits observed in natural communities exemplifies the alternative solutions that plants have developed in response to the same environmental limitations. Qualitative attributes, such as growth form, woodiness, and leaf habit can be used to approximate these alternative solutions. Here, we quantified the extent to which these attributes affect lea...

This contribution presents total oxygen uptake (TOU) rates and nutrient fluxes of organically poor permeable shelf sands of the German Bight. Measurements have been made in situ with the novel autonomous benthic chamber system Sandy under controlled conditions of advective pore‐water exchange. Average oxygen consumption rates of 31.3 ± 18.2 mmol m −2 d −1 measured in this study were relatively high as compared with rates repor...

This contribution introduces the benthic chamber system Sandy that was developed for studying in situ solute fluxes in permeable sandy sediments where advective pore‐water transport can dominate solute exchange across the sediment‐water interface. The Sandy system can be deployed at the seafloor, where it autonomously performs measurements of sediment‐water solute fluxes. The innovative features include an insertion mechanism...

Since the beginning of fisheries in Lake Victoria, two native tilapiine species, Oreochromis esculentus and Oreochromis variabilis , were the main target of the local fishermen. A continuous increase in fishing pressure led initially to a declining catch per unit of effort, and a smaller average fish size; eventually, there was a reduced landing of tilapiines. To boost the fisheries, three alien tilapiine species and the Nile...