scholarly journals Sex-specific ornament evolution is a consistent feature of climatic adaptation across space and time in dragonflies

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (28) ◽  
pp. e2101458118
Author(s):  
Michael P. Moore ◽  
Kaitlyn Hersch ◽  
Chanont Sricharoen ◽  
Sarah Lee ◽  
Caitlin Reice ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Female Ornamentation ◽  
Consistent Feature ◽  
Community Science ◽  
Ornament Evolution ◽  
Male Ornaments ◽  
Related Trait

Adaptation to different climates fuels the origins and maintenance of biodiversity. Detailing how organisms optimize fitness for their local climates is therefore an essential goal in biology. Although we increasingly understand how survival-related traits evolve as organisms adapt to climatic conditions, it is unclear whether organisms also optimize traits that coordinate mating between the sexes. Here, we show that dragonflies consistently adapt to warmer climates across space and time by evolving less male melanin ornamentation—a mating-related trait that also absorbs solar radiation and heats individuals above ambient temperatures. Continent-wide macroevolutionary analyses reveal that species inhabiting warmer climates evolve less male ornamentation. Community-science observations across 10 species indicate that populations adapt to warmer parts of species’ ranges through microevolution of smaller male ornaments. Observations from 2005 to 2019 detail that contemporary selective pressures oppose male ornaments in warmer years; and our climate-warming projections predict further decreases by 2070. Conversely, our analyses show that female ornamentation responds idiosyncratically to temperature across space and time, indicating the sexes evolve in different ways to meet the demands of the local climate. Overall, these macro- and microevolutionary findings demonstrate that organisms predictably optimize their mating-related traits for the climate just as they do their survival-related traits.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Red Raspberry Cultivars Used for Breeding and Commercial Growing in the Baltic Region

2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunārs Lācis ◽  
Irita Kota-Dombrovska ◽  
Sarmīte Strautiņa
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Genetic Material ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Parent Material ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
Baltic Countries ◽  
Breeding Programmes ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Local Advanced

Abstract The structure of raspberry cultivars and genetic resources in the Baltic countries have been influenced by the historical political situation in the 20th century and climatic conditions, especially winterhardiness. The genetic resources consist of some old European and American cultivars, but mostly of cultivars and hybrids bred in Russia. Currently, targeted breeding programmes are active only in Estonia and Latvia, which aim to develop winterhardy, disease-resistant cultivars, well adapted to the local climate. Therefore, parent material for hybridisation has been chosen from local advanced hybrids and introduced cultivars suitable to the regional climatic conditions. The aim of the study was to estimate the level of genetic diversity of Rubus germplasm and assess inter-specific and intra-specific relationships using phenotypical characterisation and molecular markers. Forty one Rubus genotypes were evaluated by 41 phenotypical traits and 15 previously described SSR markers. Both characterisation approaches discovered high correspondence with pedigree and a low level of diversity. A limited amount of the diversity of raspberry genetic material has been used in various breeding programmes, despite their broad geographical origin. The obtained results indicate the need for including local wild R. idaeus plant material into breeding programmes.

scholarly journals Evaporation suppression and energy balance of water reservoirs covered with self-assembling floating elements

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 4015-4032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milad Aminzadeh ◽  
Peter Lehmann ◽  
Dani Or
Keyword(s):  
Energy Balance ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Radiative Energy ◽  
Water Reservoirs ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Self Assembling ◽  
Evaporation Suppression

Abstract. The growing pressure on natural freshwater resources and the projected climate variability are expected to increase the need for water storage during rainy periods. Evaporative losses present a challenge for the efficiency of water storage in reservoirs, especially in arid regions with chronic water shortages. Among the available methods for suppressing evaporative losses, self-assembling floating elements offer a simple and scalable solution, especially for small reservoirs. The use of floating elements has often been empirically based; we thus seek a framework for systematic consideration of floating element properties, local climate and reservoir conditions to better predict evaporative loss, energy balance and heat fluxes from covered water reservoirs. We linked the energy balance of the water column with energy considerations of the floating elements. Results suggest significant suppression of evaporative losses from covered reservoirs in which incoming radiative energy is partitioned to sensible and long wave fluxes that reduce latent heat flux and thus increase the Bowen ratio over covered water reservoirs. Model findings were consistent with laboratory-scale observations using an uncovered and covered small basin. The study offers a physically based framework for testing design scenarios in terms of evaporation suppression efficiency for various climatic conditions; it hence strengthens the science in the basis of this important water resource conservation strategy.

scholarly journals Seasonal coefficient of performance of air-to-air heat pump and energy performance of a building in Poland

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 ◽  
pp. 00039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Kowalski ◽  
Paweł Szałański
Keyword(s):  
Heat Pump ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Heat Pumps ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Coefficient Of Performance ◽  
Climatic Data ◽  
Heating Season ◽  
Season Length ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Significant Difference

The article discusses the problem of determining for air heat pumps the seasonal efficiency of energy production necessary to determine the energy performance of a building. On the example of selected Polish cities (Suwalki, Bialystok, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Zielona Gora, Resko, Szczecinek, Koszalin) the influence of climatic conditions on the SCOP of an exemplary air-to-air heat pump and on the result of building energy performance calculations was analysed. SCOPs for each location were determined according to the method of EN 14825. The difference between SCOP for average (A) and colder (C) climates according to EN 14825 was 35.6%. It has been shown that the climate of Polish cities may be similar to both the average climate (A) and the colder climate (C), or they significantly differ from both climates. The most significant difference in SCOP between the analysed cities was obtained for Suwalki and Szczecinek. It was 31.9% and 31.4% for the assumed heating season length as for climate (A) and (C) respectively. For the exemplary building in Suwalki, taking SCOP for the average climate (A) and not based on climatic data of Suwalki gives an error of 39.3% in the calculation of primary energy for heating. For the same locations, the differences in SCOP and EP resulting from the assumption of the heating season length as for the average climate (A) or as for the colder climate (C) were respectively from 2.4% to 3.3% and from -3.4% to -2.2%. In diversified Polish climate, assuming the same SCOP values of air heat pumps regardless of location does not allow for their full comparison with devices whose efficiency does not depend on climatic conditions. The authors suggest that when calculating the energy performance of the building, the SCOP should be always determined on the basis of the local climate and the length of the heating season.

scholarly journals Climatic and Altitudinal Influences on Variation in Macaca Limb Morphology

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Weinstein
Keyword(s):  
Partial Correlation ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Interspecific Variation ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Interspecific Variations ◽  
Large Joint ◽  
Small Joint ◽  
High Elevations ◽  
Limb Morphology

This study compares limb lengths and joint diameters in the skeletons of six macaque species (Macaca assamensis, M. fascicularis, M. fuscata, M. mulatta, M. nemestrina, and M. thibetana) from a broad range of habitats and climates in order to test whether ambient temperatures, latitude, and altitude influence interspecific variation in limb morphology in this widely dispersed genus. Analysis of variance, principal component analysis, and partial correlation analysis reveal that species from temperate latitudes and high elevations tend to have short limbs and large joint diameters for their sizes while species from tropical latitudes and low elevations tend to have long limbs and small joint diameters. Interspecific variations in intra- and interlimb length proportions also reflect phylogeny and subtle differences in locomotion. The results of this study suggest that climatic conditions are important factors among many ecological variables that influence limb morphology in this geographically widespread genus.

scholarly journals A New Framework to Evaluate Urban Design Using Urban Microclimatic Modelling in Future Climatic Conditions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dasaraden Mauree ◽  
Silvia Coccolo ◽  
Dasun Perera ◽  
Vahid Nik ◽  
Jean-Louis Scartezzini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

Building more energy efficient and sustainable urban areas that will both mitigate the effect of climate change and adapt for the future climate, requires the development new tools and methods that can help urban planners, architect and communities achieve this goal. In the current study, we designed a workflow that links different methodologies developed separately, to derive the energy consumption of a university school campus for the future. Three different scenarios for typical future years (2039, 2069, 2099) were run as well as a renovation scenario (Minergie-P). We analyse the impact of climate change on the heating and cooling demand of the buildings and determined the relevance of the accounting of the local climate in this particular context. The results from the simulations showed that in the future there will a constant decrease in the heating demand while for the cooling demand there will be a significant increase. It was further demonstrated that when the local climate was taken into account there was an even higher rise in the cooling demand but also that the proposed renovations were not sufficient to design resilient buildings. We then discuss the implication of this work on the simulation of building energy consumption at the neighbourhood scale and the impact of future local climate on energy system design. We finally give a few perspective regarding improved urban design and possible pathways for the future urban areas.

scholarly journals Climatic influence on the growth pattern of Panthasaurus maleriensis from the Late Triassic of India deduced from paleohistology

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9868
Author(s):  
Elżbieta M. Teschner ◽  
Sanjukta Chakravorti ◽  
Dhurjati P. Sengupta ◽  
Dorota Konietzko-Meier
Keyword(s):  
Growth Pattern ◽  
Environmental Influence ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Bone Histology ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Tissue Type ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Limb Bones

Metoposaurids are representatives of the extinct amphibian clade Temnospondyli, found on almost every continent exclusively in the Late Triassic deposits. Osteohistologically, it is one of the best-known temnospondyl groups, analyzed with a wide spectrum of methods, such as morphology, morphometry, bone histology or computed modelling. The least known member of Metoposauridae is Panthasaurus maleriensis from the Pranhita-Godavari basin in Central India, being geographically the most southern record of this family. For the first time the bone histology of this taxon was studied with a focus on the intraspecific variability of the histological framework and the relationship between the observed growth pattern and climatic and/or environmental conditions. The studied material includes thin-sections of five long bones, a rib, an ilium and an intercentrum belonging most likely to eight individuals ranging from different ontogenetic stages. All bones have a large medullary region with progressively increasing remodeling, surrounded by a lamellar-zonal tissue type. The primary cortex consists of parallel-fibered matrix showing various degrees of organization, less organized collagen fibers in the zones and higher organized in the annuli. Growth marks occur in the form of alternating zones and annuli in every bone except the ilium and the intercentrum. The vascularity becomes less dense towards the outermost cortex in all sampled limb bones. Towards the outermost cortex the zone thickness is decreasing, in contrast to the avascular annuli, that become thicker or are of the same thickness. The growth pattern of P. maleriensis is uniform and represents changes in ontogenetic development. Multiple resting lines are prominent in the outer annuli of the limb bones and the rib and they presumably indicate climatic and environmental influence on the growth pattern. Therefore, a prolonged phase of slowed-down growth occurred during the unfavorable phase, but a complete cessation of growth indicated by Lines of Arrested Growth (LAGs) is not recorded in the studied samples. Based on the histological framework we conclude that the climate had an impact on the growth pattern. As we do not see any LAGs in the Indian metoposaurid, we assume that the local climate was relatively mild in India during the Late Triassic. A similar prolonged phase of slowed down growth without the occurrence of LAGs was observed in Metoposaurus krasiejowensis from the Late Triassic of Krasiejów (Poland). This is in contrast to Moroccan metoposaurid Dutuitosaurus ouazzoui from the Late Triassic of Argana Basin, where LAGs are regularly deposited throughout ontogeny indicating most likely harsher climatic conditions.

scholarly journals Below-Cloud Evaporation of Precipitation Isotope over Mountain-oasis-desert in Arid Area

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guofeng Zhu ◽  
Zhuanxia Zhang ◽  
Huiwen Guo ◽  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Leilei Yong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Arid Area ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Cloud Base ◽  
Arid Areas ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Shiyang River Basin

AbstractAs raindrops fall from the cloud base to the ground, evaporation below those clouds affects the rain’s isotope ratio, reduces precipitation in arid areas and impacts the local climate. Therefore, in arid areas with scarce water resources and fragile ecological environments, the below-cloud evaporation is an issue of great concern. Based on 406 event-based precipitation samples collected from 9 stations in the Shiyang river basin (SRB) in the northwest arid area, GMWL and LMWL are compared and the Stewart model is used to study the effect of spatial and temporal variation of below-cloud evaporation on isotope values in different geomorphic units at the SRB. Furthermore, factors influencing below-cloud evaporation are analyzed. The results show that (1) the change of d-excess (Δd) in precipitation at the SRB and the residual ratio of raindrop evaporation (f) vary in time and space. With regards to temporal variation, the intensity of below-cloud evaporation is described by: summer < autumn < winter < spring. Regarding spatial variation, the below-cloud evaporation in mountain areas is weaker than in oases and deserts. The intensity of below-cloud evaporation in mountain areas increases with decreasing altitude, and the below-cloud evaporation in oasis and desert areas is affected by local climatic conditions. (2) Below-cloud evaporation is also affected by local transpiration evaporation, especially around reservoirs. Reservoirs increase the relative humidity of the air nearby, weakening below-cloud evaporation. This study deepens our understanding of the water cycle process in arid areas.

scholarly journals Performance of BIPV modules under different climatic conditions

2019 ◽  
pp. 107-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Goncalves ◽  
Twan Van Hooff ◽  
Dirk Saelens
Keyword(s):  
Cape Town ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Performance Ratio ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Energy Yield ◽  
Average Cell ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Building Geometry ◽  
Low Energy Buildings ◽  
Representative Office

Building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technology has gained attention as a solution to achieve low energy buildings. However, unlike conventional PV applications, BIPVs typically operate at non-optimal orientation, imposed by the building geometry. Moreover, the building integration reduces the heat exchange to the exterior, leading to higher temperatures. This paper investigates the performance of BIPV modules in different locations by simulating a representative office room in a high-rise building having a BIPV facade. The locations considered are Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Seville (Spain), Naples (Florida, USA), Cape Town (South Africa), and Munich (Germany). The facade is vertical and faces the equator for all locations. Results show the highest annual BIPV energy yield occurs in Seville, followed by Cape Town, Riyadh, and Naples. In terms of monthly yields, the highest values are observed in Riyadh and Seville in wintertime. Monthly yield is more uniform over the year in Munich, while important differences between summer and winter have been obtained for Riyadh. These results confirm the influence of the latitude on the BIPV yield, with equator-facing facades in high latitudes receiving up to 40 % less irradiation compared to a horizontal surface, with important reductions especially in the summer. In these locations, the use of west and east facades may be necessary to achieve a balanced profile over the year. Moreover, the highest average cell temperatures occur in Riyadh, Naples and Seville, while lowest temperatures are verified in Cape Town and Munich, which is consistent with the corresponding ambient temperatures. Finally, with lower BIPV temperatures and relatively high solar irradiation, Cape Town achieves the highest performance ratio (PR) values. Conversely, the combination of high solar irradiation and high temperatures leads to lower PR values in Riyadh and Seville

Estimation of Site-specific Crop Coefficients for Major Crops of Lalgudi Block in Tamil Nadu using Remote Sensing based Algorithms

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-72
Author(s):  
J Ramachandran ◽  
R Lalitha ◽  
S. Vallal Kannan
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Crop Canopy ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Crop Coefficients

Crop coefficient (Kc ) is an important parameter in estimating the crop water requirements during different crop growth stages. The Kc values for a particular crop are highly site and region-specific and need to be precisely determined for each agro-climatic region for better irrigation scheduling and improved water and crop productivity. The site-specific crop coefficients for paddy, sugarcane, and banana cultivated in Lalgudi block, Tiruchirapalli District, Tamil Nadu, India, were estimated using two remote sensing-based methods viz. NDVI-Kc linear regression technique and SEBAL actual evapotranspiration to reference evapotranspiration ratio approach (SEBAL-Kc ). The Kc values obtained by remote sensing methods were compared with FAO-56 Adjusted Kc (ClimAdj-Kc ) for local climatic conditions and FAO-56 tabulated reference Kc values (FAOTab-Kc ). Regression analysis revealed a good agreement between NDVI-Kc and ClimAdj-Kc for paddy (R2 =0.95), banana (R2 =0.93), and sugarcane (R2 =0.79). Compared to FAO56-Kc, the derived Kc values using NDVI-Kc were higher, while the SEBAL-Kc values were lower for all growth stages of paddy. For sugarcane crops, the FAO-56 Kc, NDVI-Kc, and ClimAdj-Kc for local climate were almost similar in all stages. In the case of bananas, NDVI-Kc and SEBAL-Kc were higher as compared to the FAO-56-Kc and ClimAdj-Kc. SEBAL approach performs well as it accounted for local climatic conditions and crop canopy changes, whereas NDVI considered only crop canopy. However, the SEBAL method is computationally intensive as compared to the NDVI-Kc method. The Kc values estimated in this study can be important in quantifying the crop evapotranspiration at regional and field scales, leading to better decision-making in irrigation scheduling.

The 2018–2019 weak El Niño: Predicting the risk of a dengue outbreak in Machala, Ecuador

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Desislava Petrova ◽  
Xavier Rodó ◽  
Rachel Sippy ◽  
Joan Ballester ◽  
Raul Mejía ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Transmission Model ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Dengue Outbreak ◽  
Dengue Transmission ◽  
Forecast Lead Time ◽  
Out Of Sample ◽  
Dengue Outbreaks

&lt;p&gt;Sea surface temperature conditions in the central-eastern tropical Pacific indicated a mild El Ni&amp;#241;o event in October 2018, which continued throughout the spring of 2019. The global El Ni&amp;#241;o Southern Oscillation (ENSO) forecast consensus was that these generally weak warm patterns would persist at least until the end of the summer. El Ni&amp;#241;o and its impact on local climatic conditions in southern coastal Ecuador influence the inter-annual transmission of dengue fever in the region. In this study, we use an ENSO model to issue forecasts of El Ni&amp;#241;o for the year 2019, which are then used to predict local climate variables, precipitation and minimum temperature, in the city of Machala, Ecuador. All these forecasts are incorporated in a dengue transmission model, specifically developed and tested for this area, to produce out-of-sample predictions of dengue risk. Predictions are issued at the beginning of January 2019 for the whole year, thus providing the longest forecast lead time of 12 months. Preliminary results indicated that the mild El Ni&amp;#241;o event did not provide the optimum climate conditions for dengue transmission, with the model predicting a very low probability of a dengue outbreak during the typical peak season in Machala in 2019. This is contrary to 2016, when a large El Ni&amp;#241;o event resulted in excess rainfall and warmer temperatures in the region, and a dengue outbreak occurred 3 months earlier than expected. This event was successfully predicted using a similar prediction framework to the one applied here. With the present study, we continue our &amp;#160;efforts to build and test a climate service tool to issue early warnings of dengue outbreaks in the region.&lt;/p&gt;

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