The conditions that allow biodiversity to recover following severe environmental degradation are poorly understood. We studied community rescue, the recovery of a viable community through the evolutionary rescue of many populations within an evolving community, in metacommunities of soil microbes adapting to a herbicide. The metacommunities occupied a landscape of crossed spatial gradients of the herbicide (Dalapon) and a resource (glucose), whereas their constituent communities were either isolated or connected by dispersal. The spread of adapted communities across the landscape and the persistence of communities when that landscape was degraded were strongly promoted by dispersal, and the capacity to adapt to lethal stress was also related to community size and initial diversity. After abrupt and lethal stress, community rescue was most frequent in communities that had previously experienced sublethal levels of stress and had been connected by dispersal. Community rescue occurred through the evolutionary rescue of both initially common taxa, which remained common, and of initially rare taxa, which grew to dominate the evolved community. Community rescue may allow productivity and biodiversity to recover from severe environmental degradation.

Achieving adequate fixation of bone blocks harvested from the mandibular symphysis and used in conjunction with dental implants has been a continuing challenge. In response, the Authors developed a method of using the implant itself to stabilize the graft material in single-implant sites in severely resorbed alveolar ridges. This technique was utilized to place 19 standard implants in 15 patients. After 12 to 60 months of clinical and radiological follow-up, all implants had survived, a success rate of 100%. Measurements of the radiographs showed bone loss of 1.70 mm ± 0.4 mm.

Culture-based methods for the characterization of microorganisms remain essential to advances in microbiology. Phenotyping arrays and microplates in which each well represents a different selective growth environment are important tools (1) in the identification of microbial isolates, (2) in the characterization of the phenotypic fingerprint of microbial communities, (3) for linking specific functions with specific organisms or genes, and (4) for the identification of evolutionary trade-offs in the establishment of phenotypes. The use of phenotyping arrays in the study of hydrocarbon and lipid degradation by microbial isolates or communities is an emerging application. The application of phenotyping arrays requires careful selection of substrates, growth medium, and dyes and consideration of the intrinsic limitations of the approach. The use of phenotyping arrays leads to the production of large amounts of data, which require specific approaches for summarization and analysis. Liquid handling automation will increase the feasibility of custom phenotyping arrays that include hydrocarbons and lipids.