Efficient monitoring of the condition of road infrastructure is essential for the provision of a reliable and sustainable mobility and transportation network. The assessment of the structural condition of the asphalt base layer is particularly important in this respect. This paper presents a data-driven approach for an innovative road monitoring system for the non-destructive and continuous determination of the degree of degra...

Pesticides enter non-target surface waters as a result of agricultural activities and may reach water bodies in protected areas. We measured in southwestern Germany pesticide concentrations after heavy rainfalls in streams of a drinking water protection area near Hausen (Freiburg) and in the catchment of the Queich (Landau), which originates from the biosphere reserve Palatinate Forest. On average, 32 (n = 21) and 21 (n = 10)...

Cross‐kingdom interactions involve dynamic processes that shape terrestrial ecosystems and represent striking examples of co‐evolution. The multifaceted relationships of entomopathogenic nematodes with their insect hosts and symbiotic bacteria are well‐studied cases of co‐evolution and pathogenicity. In contrast, microbial interactions in soil after the natural death of insects and other invertebrates are minimally understood....

Pristionchus pacificus, recently established as a model organism in evolutionary biology, is a cosmopolitan nematode that has a necromenic association with scarab beetles. The diverse array of host beetle species and habitat types occupied by P. pacificus make it a good model for investigating local adaptation to novel environments. Presence of P. pacificus on La Réunion Island, a young volcanic island with a dynamic geologica...

Hermaphroditism has evolved several times independently in nematodes. The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans and Pristionchus pacificus are self‐fertile hermaphrodites with rare facultative males. Both species are members of different families: C. elegans belongs to the Rhabditidae and P. pacificus to the Diplogastridae. Also, both species differ in their ecology: C. elegans is a soil‐dwelling nematode that is often found i...