scholarly journals Mixing of Porpoise Ecotypes in South Western UK Waters Revealed by Genetic Profiling

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaël C. Fontaine ◽  
Oliver Thatcher ◽  
Nicolas Ray ◽  
Sylvain Piry ◽  
Andrew Brownlow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Isolation By Distance ◽  
Genetic Ancestry ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Genetic Profiling ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Morphological Differences ◽  
Genetic Pools ◽  
The Uk

AbstractContact zones between marine ecotypes are of interest for understanding how key pelagic predators may react to climate change. We analysed the fine scale genetic structure and morphological variation in harbour porpoises around the UK, at the proposed northern limit of a contact zone between southern and northern ecotypes in the Bay of Biscay. Using a sample of 591 stranded animals spanning a decade and microsatellite profiling at 9 loci, clustering and spatial analyses revealed that animals stranded around UK are composed of mixed genetic ancestries from two genetic pools. Porpoises from SW England displayed a distinct genetic ancestry, had larger body-sizes and inhabit an environment differentiated from other UK costal areas. Genetic ancestry blends from one group to the other along a SW-NE axis along the UK coastline, and showed a significant association with body size, consistent with morphological differences between the two ecotypes and their mixing around the SW coast. We also found significant isolation-by-distance among juveniles, suggesting that stranded juveniles display reduced intergenerational dispersal, while adults show larger variance. The fine scale structure of this admixture zone raises the question of how it will respond to future climate change and provides a reference point for further study.

scholarly journals Mixing of porpoise ecotypes in southwestern UK waters revealed by genetic profiling

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 160992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaël C. Fontaine ◽  
Oliver Thatcher ◽  
Nicolas Ray ◽  
Sylvain Piry ◽  
Andrew Brownlow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Contact Zone ◽  
Isolation By Distance ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Bay Of Biscay ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Genetic Profiling ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Genetic Pools ◽  
The Uk

Contact zones between ecotypes are windows for understanding how species may react to climate changes. Here, we analysed the fine-scale genetic and morphological variation in harbour porpoises ( Phocoena phocoena ) around the UK by genotyping 591 stranded animals at nine microsatellite loci. The data were integrated with a prior study to map at high resolution the contact zone between two previously identified ecotypes meeting in the northern Bay of Biscay. Clustering and spatial analyses revealed that UK porpoises are derived from two genetic pools with porpoises from the southwestern UK being genetically differentiated, and having larger body sizes compared to those of other UK areas. Southwestern UK porpoises showed admixed ancestry between southern and northern ecotypes with a contact zone extending from the northern Bay of Biscay to the Celtic Sea and Channel. Around the UK, ancestry blends from one genetic group to the other along a southwest--northeast axis, correlating with body size variation, consistent with previously reported morphological differences between the two ecotypes. We also detected isolation by distance among juveniles but not in adults, suggesting that stranded juveniles display reduced intergenerational dispersal. The fine-scale structure of this admixture zone raises the question of how it will respond to future climate change and provides a reference point for further study.

scholarly journals Caring for the future: Climate change and intergenerational responsibility in China and the UK

Geoforum ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 158-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Diprose ◽  
Chen Liu ◽  
Gill Valentine ◽  
Robert M. Vanderbeck ◽  
Katie McQuaid
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Uk

Emerging climate changes and the risks to the operation of building assets in the UK

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah Alzahrani ◽  
Halim Boussabaine ◽  
Ali Nasser Alzaed
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Climate Change Risks ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report results from a survey on emerging climate changes and the risks to the operation of building assets in the UK. The property sector is facing major challenges as a result of projected climate change scenarios. Predictions concerning future climate change and the subsequent impact on building operations are still subject to a high degree of uncertainty. However, it is important that building stockholders consider a range of possible future risks that may influence the operation of their assets. Design/methodology/approach – The literature review and questionnaire are used to elicit and assess the likelihood of occurrence of climate change risks impacting building operations. The survey was carried out among building stockowners and professionals in the UK. Statistical methods were used to rank and compare the findings. Findings – The majority of the respondents strongly agreed that the list of risks that were elicited from the literature will have an impact on their building assets within a 0-5 years’ time horizon. It was found that the professionals were most concerned about higher energy prices and an increase in operation costs in general; they were least concerned about an electricity blackout. Research limitations/implications – This paper is limited to the UK, and regional variations are not explored. Nevertheless, the buildings’ operation risk study provides a starting point for further investigations into the emerging risks from climate change, and their impact on the operation of building stock. Future work could investigate direct mapping between climate risks and the financial value of properties. Originality/value – Findings of this paper can help professionals and building stockowners improve their understanding of climate change risks and the impact on their assets. This paper could also help these individuals to formulate appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies.

scholarly journals Evidence for changes in historic and future groundwater levels in the UK

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Jackson ◽  
John P. Bloomfield ◽  
Jonathan D. Mackay
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Indices ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Groundwater Drought ◽  
The One ◽  
The Uk

We examine the evidence for climate-change impacts on groundwater levels provided by studies of the historical observational record, and future climate-change impact modelling. To date no evidence has been found for systematic changes in groundwater drought frequency or intensity in the UK, but some evidence of multi-annual to decadal coherence of groundwater levels and large-scale climate indices has been found, which should be considered when trying to identify any trends. We analyse trends in long groundwater level time-series monitored in seven observation boreholes in the Chalk aquifer, and identify statistically significant declines at four of these sites, but do not attempt to attribute these to a change in a stimulus. The evidence for the impacts of future climate change on UK groundwater recharge and levels is limited. The number of studies that have been undertaken is small and different approaches have been adopted to quantify impacts. Furthermore, these studies have generally focused on relatively small regions and reported local findings. Consequently, it has been difficult to compare them between locations. We undertake some additional analysis of the probabilistic outputs of the one recent impact study that has produced coherent multi-site projections of changes in groundwater levels. These results suggest reductions in annual and average summer levels, and increases in average winter levels, by the 2050s under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario, at most of the sites modelled, when expressed by the median of the ensemble of simulations. It is concluded, however, that local hydrogeological conditions can be an important control on the simulated response to a future climate projection.

scholarly journals The evolution of climate change guidance for fluvial flood risk management in England

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas S Reynard ◽  
Alison L Kay ◽  
Molly Anderson ◽  
Bill Donovan ◽  
Caroline Duckworth
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Flood Management ◽  
Flood Risk Management ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Floods are one of the biggest natural hazards to society, and there is increasing concern about the potential impacts of climate change on flood occurrence and magnitude. Furthermore, flood risk is likely to increase in the future not just through increased flood occurrence, but also through socio-economic changes, such as increasing population. The extent to which adaptation measures can offset this increased risk will depend on the level of future climate change, but there exists an urgent need for information on the potential impacts of climate change on floods, so that these can be accounted for by flood management authorities and local planners aiming to reduce flood risk. Agencies across the UK have been pro-active in providing such guidance for many years and in refining it as the science of climate change and hydrological impacts has developed. The history of this guidance for fluvial flood risk in England is presented and discussed here, including the recent adoption of a regional risk-based approach. Such an approach could be developed and applied to flood risk management in other countries, and to other sectors affected by climate change.

scholarly journals Co-creation processes of nature based solutions in hydrological modelling – case studies in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Borjana Bogatinoska ◽  
Angelique Lansu ◽  
Judith Floor ◽  
Dave Huitema ◽  
Stefan Dekker
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Hydrological Modelling ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Modelling Process

<p>Climate adaptation of brook catchments is much needed in the studied regions of England, Belgium and the Netherlands. With the continuous rise of global temperatures and global change, these regions suffer from the impacts of extreme weather events such as drought and flooding. Extreme weather and climate change impacts are spatially non-uniform, uncertain and can have different strengths at local and regional level. Therefore, cities and regions need to adapt to climate change in an ambiguous way. Accordingly, there is no uniformity in the adaptive capacity of individuals, groups within society, organisations and governments or how they can respond to current and future climate change impacts.</p><p>To better understand the interlinkages in nature-based climate adaptation between the socio-economic and climate change drivers, we studied these drivers in the hydrological modelling in 3 pilot studies in the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium. Focus is on how co-creation, defined as active participation is incorporated in the hydrological modelling process, (1) within each brook catchment and (2) between the professionals, as cross border knowledge transfer. Data on the co-creation process was collected with workshops on each of the semi-annual partner meetings of each catchment. Data on the modelling process was collected by semi-structured interviews of the professionals and by using assessment of professional learning in the network (field trips). Findings on co-creation processes of nature based solutions in hydrological modelling will be compared in the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium. In the end, existing co-creation processes will be joined to a framework for co-creation which can be improved and adapted based on the gathered data. This would include: identification of stakeholder groups and their needs, the level of intended participation, the identified climate problem by the stakeholders and by the policy-makers, the planned modelling approach, the NbS etc.</p><p>Keywords: climate change, hydrology, nature-based solutions, stakeholders, climate adaptation, framework.</p>

scholarly journals Pollution control can help mitigate future climate change impact on European grayling in the UK

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-532
Author(s):  
J. Vanessa Huml ◽  
W. Edwin Harris ◽  
Martin I. Taylor ◽  
Robin Sen ◽  
Christel Prudhomme ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Climate Change Impact ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
European Grayling ◽  
Change Impact ◽  
The Uk

scholarly journals Robust rainwater harvesting: probabilistic tank sizing for climate change adaptation

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 526-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Lash ◽  
Sarah Ward ◽  
Tristan Kershaw ◽  
David Butler ◽  
Matthew Eames
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Rainfall Characteristics ◽  
New Approach ◽  
British Standard ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Simplified Method ◽  
The Uk

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems are increasingly being implemented in buildings. It is common in the UK for simple RWH tank sizing methods to be utilised, and these do not consider future climate change. This paper describes the development of a tool, which integrates elements of basic and detailed sizing approaches from the British Standard for RWH, with the latest probabilistic UK Climate Projections data. The method was initially applied to the design of a university building in Cornwall, UK. The methodology utilises 3,000 equi-probable rainfall patterns for tank sizing for each time period. Results indicate that, to ensure that it is ‘likely’ that the same non-potable demand could be met in 2080 as in the present, a tank 112% larger would be required. This increases to a 225% over-sizing for a ‘very likely’ probability of meeting the same level of non-potable demand. The same RWH system design was then assessed for three further UK locations with different rainfall characteristics. From these assessments, a simplified method was developed to enable practitioners to size RWH system tanks for current and future climates. The method provides a new approach to meet present and future non-potable demands, while preventing excessive over-sizing of tanks.

scholarly journals The importance of phylogeny to the study of phenological response to global climate change

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1555) ◽  
pp. 3201-3213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles C. Davis ◽  
Charles G. Willis ◽  
Richard B. Primack ◽  
Abraham J. Miller-Rushing
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
The Uk

Climate change has resulted in major changes in the phenology—i.e. the timing of seasonal activities, such as flowering and bird migration—of some species but not others. These differential responses have been shown to result in ecological mismatches that can have negative fitness consequences. However, the ways in which climate change has shaped changes in biodiversity within and across communities are not well understood. Here, we build on our previous results that established a link between plant species' phenological response to climate change and a phylogenetic bias in species' decline in the eastern United States. We extend a similar approach to plant and bird communities in the United States and the UK that further demonstrates that climate change has differentially impacted species based on their phylogenetic relatedness and shared phenological responses. In plants, phenological responses to climate change are often shared among closely related species (i.e. clades), even between geographically disjunct communities. And in some cases, this has resulted in a phylogenetically biased pattern of non-native species success. In birds, the pattern of decline is phylogenetically biased but is not solely explained by phenological response, which suggests that other traits may better explain this pattern. These results illustrate the ways in which phylogenetic thinking can aid in making generalizations of practical importance and enhance efforts to predict species' responses to future climate change.

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