Parker, T. C. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2025

Recovery of microbial ecophysiology and carbon accrual functions in peatlands under restoration

Peatlands are water-logged ecosystems that limit microbial decomposition making them effective carbon sinks. However, drainage or erosion removes these constraints on decomposition, switching them to carbon sources. Restoration aims to reverse these trends. Microbial ecophysiology influences carbon fluxes but how it responds to peatland degradation and restoration is poorly understood. Here we used metagenomics to study microbial functions and quantified growth rates using isotope labelling across seven sites in Britain, each with restored, degraded, and near-natural peatlands. We found that growth rates in restored treatments were comparable to the near-natural, but were significantly higher in degraded. This growth rate reduction in restored peatlands was dependent on the scale of degradation and the length of restoration, and was underpinned by a shift towards energetically less favourable metabolic pathways such as anaerobic respiration, fermentation, and carbon fixation. A peatland ecosystem health index estimated based on measurements of peat moisture, oxygen, pH, organic matter chemistry, and moss cover, explained a significant amount of variation in microbial ecophysiology across the gradient. We demonstrate that microbial ecophysiology changes with peatland ecosystem health in a predictable manner. This knowledge can inform restoration targets and monitoring of recovery to maximise the return of carbon accrual functions of peatlands.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2025

Scanning for Representation: A Scoping Review of Racial and Ethnic Diversity in MRI Studies of the Maternal Brain

A growing number of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies are examining brain changes across pregnancy and early motherhood, gaining fundamental insight into the neural adaptations of motherhood, with critical clinical and policy implications for supporting mother, child, and family unit. As the field takes off, now is the time to take stock of the current literature and neuroscience practices, to ensure that the field is based on studies that are robust, representative, and transparent. Here, we conducted a scoping review to understand the racial and ethnic diversity of participants reported in MRI studies of the maternal brain, guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. Our findings highlight three key issues in the 185 identified studies of the maternal brain using MRI: (1) the widespread underreporting of participant racial and ethnic data, with only 38.38% of studies reporting race and/or ethnicity demographics; (2) the overrepresentation of white participants, with 46.83% of the samples that report race and/or ethnicity identifying as white/Caucasian; and (3) the disproportionate geographical locations of studies, with 68.65% of studies from North America or Europe and Central Asia. These findings raise concerns about the generalizability of existing research beyond WEIRD (western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) populations, and underscore the urgent need for concerted structural change in neuroscience research practices. While identifying a lack of diversity is only the first step, this scoping review serves as a call to action for greater representation in future research, for our own research group as well as others.

neuroscience↗