Regional and environmental variation in escalatory ecological trends during the Jurassic: a western Tethys hotspot for escalation?

Paleobiology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 569-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro M. Monarrez ◽  
Martin Aberhan ◽  
Steven M. Holland
Keyword(s):  
Regional Scale ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Western Tethys ◽  
Global Signal ◽  
Ecological Patterns ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Fossil Data

AbstractUnderstanding the drivers of macroevolutionary trends through the Phanerozoic has been a central question in paleobiology. Increasingly important is understanding the regional and environmental variation of macroevolutionary patterns and how they are reflected at the global scale. Here we test the role of biotic interactions on regional ecological patterns during the Mesozoic marine revolution. We test for escalatory trends in Jurassic marine benthic macroinvertebrate ecosystems using occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database parsed by region and environment. The escalation hypothesis posits that taxonomic groups that could adapt to intense predation and bioturbation proliferated, whereas groups unable to adapt were reduced in diversity and abundance or driven to extinction. We tested this hypothesis in five regions during Jurassic stages and among four depositional environments in Europe. Few escalatory trends were detected, although at least one escalatory trend was observed in every region, with the greatest number and strongest trends observed in Europe. These trends include increases in shallow infauna and cementing epifauna and occurrences of facultatively mobile invertebrates and decreases in pedunculate, free-lying, and sessile epifauna. Within Europe, escalatory trends occur in shallow-water environments but also in deeper-water environments, where they are predicted not to occur. When regional trends are aggregated, trends in Europe drive the global signal. The results of this study suggest that while evidence of escalation is rare globally, it is plausible that escalation drove macroevolutionary patterns in Europe. Furthermore, these results underline the need to dissect global fossil data at the regional scale to understand global macroevolutionary dynamics.

Are local losses of biodiversity causing degraded ecosystem function?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Vellend
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Function ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Degraded Ecosystem ◽  
Biodiversity Change ◽  
Local Extirpation

This chapter highlights the scale dependence of biodiversity change over time and its consequences for arguments about the instrumental value of biodiversity. While biodiversity is in decline on a global scale, the temporal trends on regional and local scales include cases of biodiversity increase, no change, and decline. Environmental change, anthropogenic or otherwise, causes both local extirpation and colonization of species, and thus turnover in species composition, but not necessarily declines in biodiversity. In some situations, such as plants at the regional scale, human-mediated colonizations have greatly outnumbered extinctions, thus causing a marked increase in species richness. Since the potential influence of biodiversity on ecosystem function and services is mediated to a large degree by local or neighborhood species interactions, these results challenge the generality of the argument that biodiversity loss is putting at risk the ecosystem service benefits people receive from nature.

scholarly journals Where we Come from and where to Go: Six Decades of Botanical Studies in the Mediterranean Wetlands, with Sardinia (Italy) as a Case Study

Wetlands ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alba Cuena-Lombraña ◽  
Mauro Fois ◽  
Annalena Cogoni ◽  
Gianluigi Bacchetta
Keyword(s):  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Temporary Ponds ◽  
Evolutionary Strategies ◽  
Plant Groups ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Water Saturated

AbstractPlants are key elements of wetlands due to their evolutionary strategies for coping with life in a water-saturated environment, providing the basis for supporting nearly all wetland biota and habitat structure for other taxonomic groups. Sardinia, the second largest island of the Mediterranean Basin, hosts a great variety of wetlands, of which 16 are included in eight Ramsar sites. The 119 hydro- and hygrophilous vascular plant taxa from Sardinia represent the 42.6% and 37.9% of the number estimated for Italy and Europe, respectively. Moreover, around 30% of Sardinia’s bryological flora, which is made up of 498 taxa, is present in temporary ponds. An overview at regional scale considering algae is not available, to our knowledge, even though several specific studies have contributed to their knowledge. In order to find the most investigated research themes and wetland types, identify knowledge gaps and suggest recommendations for further research, we present a first attempt to outline the work that has been hitherto done on plants in lentic habitats in Sardinia. Three plant groups (algae, bryophytes and vascular plants), and five research themes (conservation, ecology, inventory, palaeobotany and taxonomy) were considered. After a literature review, we retained 202 papers published from 1960 to 2019. We found that studies on vascular plants, as plant group, were disproportionately more numerous, and inventories and ecology were the most investigated research themes. Although efforts have recently been made to fill these long-lasting gaps, there is a need for updating the existing information through innovative methods and integrative approaches.

scholarly journals Application of global models and satellite data for smaller-scale groundwater recharge studies

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rogier Westerhoff ◽  
Paul White ◽  
Zara Rawlinson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Satellite Data ◽  
Input Data ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Global Models ◽  
Scale Models ◽  
Boundary Issues ◽  
Rainfall Recharge

Abstract. Large-scale models and satellite data are increasingly used to characterise groundwater and its recharge at the global scale. Although these models have the potential to fill in data gaps and solve trans-boundary issues, they are often neglected in smaller-scale studies, since data are often coarse or uncertain. Large-scale models and satellite data could play a more important role in smaller-scale (i.e., national or regional) studies, if they could be adjusted to fit that scale. In New Zealand, large-scale models and satellite data are not used for groundwater recharge estimation at the national scale, since regional councils (i.e., the water managers) have varying water policy and models are calibrated at the local scale. Also, some regions have many localised ground observations (but poor record coverage), whereas others are data-sparse. Therefore, estimation of recharge is inconsistent at the national scale. This paper presents an approach to apply large-scale, global, models and satellite data to estimate rainfall recharge at the national to regional scale across New Zealand. We present a model, NGRM, that is largely inspired by the global-scale WaterGAP recharge model, but is improved and adjusted using national data. The NGRM model uses MODIS-derived ET and vegetation satellite data, and the available nation-wide datasets on rainfall, elevation, soil and geology. A valuable addition to the recharge estimation is the model uncertainty estimate, based on variance, covariance and sensitivity of all input data components in the model environment. This research shows that, with minor model adjustments and use of improved input data, large-scale models and satellite data can be used to derive rainfall recharge estimates, including their uncertainty, at the smaller scale, i.e., national and regional scale of New Zealand. The estimated New Zealand recharge of the NGRM model compare well to most local and regional lysimeter data and recharge models. The NGRM is therefore assumed to be capable to fill in gaps in data-sparse areas and to create more consistency between datasets from different regions, i.e., to solve trans-boundary issues. This research also shows that smaller-scale recharge studies in New Zealand should include larger boundaries than only a (sub-)aquifer, and preferably the whole catchment. This research points out the need for improved collaboration on the international to national to regional levels to further merge large-scale (global) models to smaller (i.e., national or regional) scales. Future research topics should, collaboratively, focus on: improvement of rainfall-runoff and snowmelt methods; inclusion of river recharge; further improvement of input data (rainfall, evapotranspiration, soil and geology); and the impact of recharge uncertainty in mountainous and irrigated areas.

scholarly journals Testing for local adaptation and evolutionary potential along 1 altitudinal gradients in rainforest Drosophila: beyond laboratory estimates

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor K. O’Brien ◽  
Megan Higgie ◽  
Alan Reynolds ◽  
Ary A. Hoffmann ◽  
Jon R. Bridle
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Local Adaptation ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Species Range ◽  
Altitudinal Gradients ◽  
Low Altitude ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTPredicting how species will respond to the rapid climatic changes predicted this century is an urgent task. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) use the current relationship between environmental variation and species’ abundances to predict the effect of future environmental change on their distributions. However, two common assumptions of SDMs are likely to be violated in many cases: (1) that the relationship of environment with abundance or fitness is constant throughout a species’ range and will remain so in future, and (2) that abiotic factors (e.g. temperature, humidity) determine species’ distributions. We test these assumptions by relating field abundance of the rainforest fruit fly Drosophila birchii to ecological change across gradients that include its low and high altitudinal limits. We then test how such ecological variation affects the fitness of 35 D. birchii families transplanted in 591 cages to sites along two altitudinal gradients, to determine whether genetic variation in fitness responses could facilitate future adaptation to environmental change. Overall, field abundance was highest at cooler, high altitude sites, and declined towards warmer, low altitude sites. By contrast, cage fitness (productivity) increased towards warmer, lower altitude sites, suggesting that biotic interactions (absent from cages) drive ecological limits at warmer margins. In addition, the relationship between environmental variation and abundance varied significantly among gradients, indicating divergence in ecological niche across the species’ range. However, there was no evidence for local adaptation within gradients, despite greater productivity of high altitude than low altitude populations when families were reared under laboratory conditions. Families also responded similarly to transplantation along gradients, providing no evidence for fitness trade-offs that would favour local adaptation. These findings highlight the importance of (1) measuring genetic variation of key traits under ecologically relevant conditions, and (2) considering the effect of biotic interactions when predicting species’ responses to environmental change.

scholarly journals Impacts of spatial resolution and representation of flow connectivity on large-scale simulation of floods

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cherry May R. Mateo ◽  
Dai Yamazaki ◽  
Hyungjun Kim ◽  
Adisorn Champathong ◽  
Jai Vaze ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Efficiency Coefficient ◽  
Computational Power ◽  
Extreme Flood ◽  
Simulation Results

Abstract. Global-scale River Models (GRMs) are core tools for providing consistent estimates of global flood hazard, especially in data-scarce regions. Due to former limitations in computational power and input datasets, most GRMs have been developed to use simplified representation of flow physics and run at coarse spatial resolutions. With increasing computational power and improved datasets, the application of GRMs to finer resolutions is becoming a reality. To support development in this direction, the suitability of GRMs for application to finer resolutions needs to be assessed. This study investigates the impacts of spatial resolution and flow connectivity representation on the predictive capability of a GRM, CaMa-Flood, in simulating the 2011 extreme flood in Thailand. Analyses show that when single downstream connectivity (SDC) is assumed, simulation results deteriorate with finer spatial resolution; Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency coefficient decreased by more than 35 % between simulation results at 10 km resolution and 1 km resolution. When multiple downstream connectivity (MDC) is represented, simulation results slightly improve with finer spatial resolution. The SDC simulations result in excessive backflows on very flat floodplains due to the restrictive flow directions in finer resolutions. MDC channels attenuated these effects by maintaining flow connectivity and flow capacity between floodplains in varying spatial resolutions. While a regional-scale flood was chosen as a test case, these findings are universal and can be extended to global-scale simulations. These results demonstrate that a GRM can be used for higher resolution simulations of large-scale floods, provided that MDC in rivers and floodplains is adequately represented in the model structure.

scholarly journals Global biogeography of living brachiopods: Bioregionalization patterns and possible controls

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259004
Author(s):  
Facheng Ye ◽  
G. R. Shi ◽  
Maria Aleksandra Bitner
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Coastal Upwelling ◽  
Seawater Temperature ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspots ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Ocean Gyres ◽  
Ecological Variable

The global distribution patterns of 14918 geo-referenced occurrences from 394 living brachiopod species were mapped in 5° grid cells, which enabled the visualization and delineation of distinct bioregions and biodiversity hotspots. Further investigation using cluster and network analyses allowed us to propose the first systematically and quantitatively recognized global bioregionalization framework for living brachiopods, consisting of five bioregions and thirteen bioprovinces. No single environmental or ecological variable is accountable for the newly proposed global bioregionalization patterns of living brachiopods. Instead, the combined effects of large-scale ocean gyres, climatic zonation as well as some geohistorical factors (e.g., formation of land bridges and geological recent closure of ancient seaways) are considered as the main drivers at the global scale. At the regional scale, however, the faunal composition, diversity and biogeographical differentiation appear to be mainly controlled by seawater temperature variation, regional ocean currents and coastal upwelling systems.

scholarly journals Modelling supraglacial debris-cover evolution from the single glacier to the regional scale: an application to High Mountain Asia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loris Compagno ◽  
Matthias Huss ◽  
Evan Stewart Miles ◽  
Michael James McCarthy ◽  
Harry Zekollari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Temporal Evolution ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Future Evolution ◽  
Debris Cover ◽  
Scale Modelling ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Abstract. Currently, about 12–13 % of High Mountain Asia's glacier area is debris-covered, altering its surface mass balance. However, in regional-scale modelling approaches, debris-covered glaciers are typically treated as clean-ice glaciers, leading to a potential bias when modelling their future evolution. Here, we present a new approach for modelling debris area and thickness evolution, applicable from single glaciers to the global scale. We implement the module into the Global Glacier Evolution Model (GloGEMflow), a combined mass-balance ice-flow model. The module is initialized with both glacier-specific observations of the debris’ spatial distribution and estimates of debris thickness, accounts for the fact that debris can either enhance or reduce surface melt depending on thickness, and enables representing the spatio-temporal evolution of debris extent and thickness. We calibrate and evaluate the module on a select subset of glaciers, and apply the model using different climate scenarios to project the future evolution of all glaciers in High Mountain Asia until 2100. Compared to 2020, total glacier volume is expected to decrease by between 35 ± 15 % and 80 ±11 %, which is in line with projections in the literature. Depending on the scenario, the mean debris-cover fraction is expected to increase, while mean debris thickness is modelled to show only minor changes, albeit large local thickening is expected. To isolate the influence of explicitly accounting for supraglacial debris-cover, we re-compute glacier evolution without the debris-cover module. We show that glacier geometry, area, volume and flow velocity evolve differently, especially at the level of individual glaciers. This highlights the importance of accounting for debris-cover and its spatio-temporal evolution when projecting future glacier changes.

scholarly journals Multi-species inversion of CH<sub>4</sub>, CO and H<sub>2</sub> emissions from surface measurements

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (14) ◽  
pp. 5281-5297 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Pison ◽  
P. Bousquet ◽  
F. Chevallier ◽  
S. Szopa ◽  
D. Hauglustaine
Keyword(s):  
Transport Model ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Surface Concentration ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Chemical Transport Model ◽  
Methyl Chloroform ◽  
Emission Fluxes ◽  
Surface Measurements ◽  
One Year

Abstract. In order to study the spatial and temporal variations of the emissions of greenhouse gases and of their precursors, we developed a data assimilation system and applied it to infer emissions of CH4, CO and H2 for one year. It is based on an atmospheric chemical transport model and on a simplified scheme for the oxidation chain of hydrocarbons, including methane, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and molecular hydrogen together with methyl chloroform. The methodology is exposed and a first attempt at evaluating the inverted fluxes is made. Inversions of the emission fluxes of CO, CH4 and H2 and concentrations of HCHO and OH were performed for the year 2004, using surface concentration measurements of CO, CH4, H2 and CH3CCl3 as constraints. Independent data from ship and aircraft measurements and satellite retrievals are used to evaluate the results. The total emitted mass of CO is 30% higher after the inversion, due to increased fluxes by up to 35% in the Northern Hemisphere. The spatial distribution of emissions of CH4 is modified by a decrease of fluxes in boreal areas up to 60%. The comparison between mono- and multi-species inversions shows that the results are close at a global scale but may significantly differ at a regional scale because of the interactions between the various tracers during the inversion.

scholarly journals The origins of modern biodiversity on land

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1558) ◽  
pp. 3667-3679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Benton
Keyword(s):  
Regional Scale ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Time Range ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
History Of ◽  
Extinction Events ◽  
Mass Extinction Events

Comparative studies of large phylogenies of living and extinct groups have shown that most biodiversity arises from a small number of highly species-rich clades. To understand biodiversity, it is important to examine the history of these clades on geological time scales. This is part of a distinct ‘phylogenetic expansion’ view of macroevolution, and contrasts with the alternative, non-phylogenetic ‘equilibrium’ approach to the history of biodiversity. The latter viewpoint focuses on density-dependent models in which all life is described by a single global-scale model, and a case is made here that this approach may be less successful at representing the shape of the evolution of life than the phylogenetic expansion approach. The terrestrial fossil record is patchy, but is adequate for coarse-scale studies of groups such as vertebrates that possess fossilizable hard parts. New methods in phylogenetic analysis, morphometrics and the study of exceptional biotas allow new approaches. Models for diversity regulation through time range from the entirely biotic to the entirely physical, with many intermediates. Tetrapod diversity has risen as a result of the expansion of ecospace, rather than niche subdivision or regional-scale endemicity resulting from continental break-up. Tetrapod communities on land have been remarkably stable and have changed only when there was a revolution in floras (such as the demise of the Carboniferous coal forests, or the Cretaceous radiation of angiosperms) or following particularly severe mass extinction events, such as that at the end of the Permian.

scholarly journals Structuring of Dragonfly Communities (Insecta: Odonata) in Eastern Amazon: Effects of Environmental and Spatial Factors in Preserved and Altered Streams

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliveira-Junior ◽  
Juen
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Spatial Variables ◽  
Spatial Factors ◽  
The Past ◽  
Analytical Perspective ◽  
Physical Features ◽  
Natural Communities

The evaluation of the effects of environmental factors on natural communities has been one of the principal approaches in ecology; although, over the past decade, increasing importance has been given to spatial factors. In this context, we evaluated the relative importance of environmental and spatial factors for the structuring of the local odonate communities in preserved and altered streams. Adult Odonata were sampled in 98 streams in eastern Amazonia, Brazil. The physical features of each stream were evaluated and spatial variables were generated. Only environmental factors accounted for the variation in the Odonata community. The same pattern was observed in the suborder Zygoptera. For Anisoptera, environmental factors alone affect the variation in the community, considering all the environments together, and the altered areas on their own. As the two Odonata suborders presented distinct responses to environmental factors, this partitioning may contribute to an improvement in the precision of studies in biomonitoring. We thus suggest that studies would have a greater explanatory potential if additional variables are included, related to biotic interactions (e.g., competition). This will require further investigation on a finer scale of environmental variation to determine how the Odonata fauna of Amazonian streams behaves under this analytical perspective.

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