scholarly journals Eco-evolutionary interaction in competing phytoplankton: genotype sorting likely explains dominance shift and species responses to CO2

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Listmann ◽  
Giannina S. I. Hattich ◽  
Birte Matthiessen ◽  
Thorsten B.H. Reusch
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Competitive Ability ◽  
Phytoplankton Community ◽  
Phytoplankton Species ◽  
Community Responses ◽  
Evolutionary Selection ◽  
Parsimonious Explanation ◽  
Over Time

AbstractHow ecological and evolutionary processes interact and together determine species and community responses to climate change is poorly understood. We studied long-term dynamics (over approximately 200 asexual generations) in two phytoplankton species, a coccolithophore (Emiliania huxleyi) and a diatom (Chaetoceros affinis), to increased CO2 growing alone or competing with one another in co-occurrence. To allow for rapid evolutionary responses, the experiment started with a standing genetic variation of nine genotypes in each of the species. Under co-occurrence of both species, we observed a dominance shift from C. affinis to E. huxleyi after about 120 generations in both CO2 treatments, but more pronounced under high CO2. Associated with this shift, we only found weak adaptation to high CO2 in the diatom and none in the coccolithophore in terms of species’ growth rates. In addition, no adaptation to interspecific competition could be observed by comparing the single to the two-species treatments in reciprocal assays, regardless of the CO2 treatment. Nevertheless, highly reproducible genotype sorting left only one genotype remaining for each of the species among all treatments. This strong evolutionary selection coincided with the dominance shift from C. affinis to E. huxleyi. Since all other conditions were kept constant over time, the most parsimonious explanation for the dominance shift is that the strong evolutionary selection potentially altered competitive ability of the two species. Thus, here observed changes in the simplest possible two-species phytoplankton “community” demonstrated that eco-evolutionary interactions can be critical for predicting community responses to climate change in rapidly dividing organisms such as phytoplankton.

scholarly journals A Review of Factors to Consider for Permanent Cordon Establishment and Maintenance

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1811
Author(s):  
Patrick O’Brien ◽  
Roberta De Bei ◽  
Mark Sosnowski ◽  
Cassandra Collins
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Vascular System ◽  
Vascular Diseases ◽  
Stress Conditions ◽  
Normal Flow ◽  
Training Techniques ◽  
Long Term Consequences ◽  
Over Time

Decisions made during the establishment and reworking of permanent cordon arms may have long-term consequences on vineyard health and longevity. This review aims to summarise several of the important considerations that must be taken into account during cordon establishment and maintenance. Commonly practiced cordon training techniques such as wrapping developing arms tightly around the cordon wire may result in a constriction of the vascular system, becoming worse over time and disrupting the normal flow of water and nutrients. Studies have shown that other factors of cordon decline such as the onset of vascular diseases may be influenced by pre-existing stress conditions. Such conditions could be further exacerbated by water and heat stress events, an important consideration as these scenarios become more common under the influence of climate change. Vineyard sustainability may be improved by adopting cordon training techniques which promote long-term vitality and avoid a reduction in vine defence response and the costly, premature reworking of vines.

Implementing Long-Term Climate Policy: Time Inconsistency, Domestic Politics, International Anarchy

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 20-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Hovi ◽  
Detlef F. Sprinz ◽  
Arild Underdal
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Time Inconsistency ◽  
Considerable Uncertainty ◽  
Policy Problem ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Commitment Problems ◽  
Over Time

As a quintessential long-term policy problem, climate change poses two major challenges. The first is to develop, under considerable uncertainty, a plan for allocating resources over time to achieve an effective policy response. The second is to implement this plan, once arrived at, consistently over time. We consider the second of these two challenges, arguing that it consists of three interrelated, commitment problems—the time inconsistency problem, the domestic politics problem, and the anarchy problem. We discuss each of these commitment problems in some detail, explore how they relate to climate policy, and suggest institutional designs that may help limit their adverse impact. While each of these commitment problems is difficult to tackle on its own, climate change requires us to cope with all of them at once. This is likely one major reason why we have so far made only modest headway on this vital issue.

scholarly journals Alternative carbon price trajectories can avoid excessive carbon removal

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Strefler ◽  
Elmar Kriegler ◽  
Nico Bauer ◽  
Gunnar Luderer ◽  
Robert C. Pietzcker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Carbon Budget ◽  
Carbon Price ◽  
Carbon Neutrality ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Carbon Prices ◽  
Change Mitigation ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThe large majority of climate change mitigation scenarios that hold warming below 2 °C show high deployment of carbon dioxide removal (CDR), resulting in a peak-and-decline behavior in global temperature. This is driven by the assumption of an exponentially increasing carbon price trajectory which is perceived to be economically optimal for meeting a carbon budget. However, this optimality relies on the assumption that a finite carbon budget associated with a temperature target is filled up steadily over time. The availability of net carbon removals invalidates this assumption and therefore a different carbon price trajectory should be chosen. We show how the optimal carbon price path for remaining well below 2 °C limits CDR demand and analyze requirements for constructing alternatives, which may be easier to implement in reality. We show that warming can be held at well below 2 °C at much lower long-term economic effort and lower CDR deployment and therefore lower risks if carbon prices are high enough in the beginning to ensure target compliance, but increase at a lower rate after carbon neutrality has been reached.

scholarly journals Proposed Revision of the National Gene Technology Scheme for Australia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Redden
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Crop Wild Relatives ◽  
Wild Relatives ◽  
Gene Technology ◽  
Gm Foods ◽  
Disease Resistances

Plant breeding was provided access to wider genetic variation through genetic modification (GM) of crops in the 1980s. This involved transfer of DNA between species, and introduction of new traits into domestic crops. Concerns were raised for the outcomes in food health and in the environment with GM crops, with the spectre of ‘Frankenstien’ foods and fear of the unknown. This led to widespread adoption of GM regulations based on the ‘Precautionary principle’ of safeguarding the risks to health and to the environment, even when scientific evidence was lacking to support these concerns. The Green lobby required GM foods to be safe for consumption, with no ill-effects over the long term and for many generations into the future. GM foods have proven safe for over two decades, and with benefits to crop productivity, pest and disease resistances, improved nutrition and tolerances of extreme climatic stresses. GM includes the new biotechnology of Genome Editing (GE), with targeted and precise changes to gene sites, and inter-specific transfer of genes from poorly accessible Crop Wild Relatives (CRW), for adaptation of crops to climate change. Food and fibre crops need to be exempt from GM regulations.

scholarly journals Economic impact analysis of current climate change variability and future impacts in agricultural sector of Nepal

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
D.C. Devkota ◽  
K.R. Gosai ◽  
D. Devkota
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

Nepal’s economy is largely based on agriculture, predominantly small-scale farming, and about half of which is dependent on natural rainfall. In Nepal, agriculture is a highly climate sensitive sector. Historically, the sector has been affected by floods, droughts and erratic rainfall. This study focused on the impacts and economic costs of climate change in agriculture and assessed perceptions of communities of Kaski and Mustang districts on frequency and intensity of hailstorm events over time including their related impacts. Scenario-based impact assessment was used for assessment of long-term impacts and economic costs of climate change. The study used Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer (DSSAT) model to analyze the effects of climate on three major crops, namely rice, maize and wheat. The economic loss due to the impacts of climate change in cereals (rice, maize and wheat) was estimated at around US$ 336.42 million in the year 2006. Among the respondents, 60% reported food shortages which made them highly vulnerable due to climate variability. Similarly, 80% of the respondents mentioned that 20 major hailstorm events have occurred in the vicinity of their communities over the last 35 years (up to 2012) and have caused significant damage to crop production, livestock and infrastructure. DesInventar database reported damage of 75% to 100% of the key crops. Crop yield projections indicate a complex mix of increases and decreases in yield which vary over time (in projections in 2030 AD and 2070 AD) and by location (east to west/Terai to Mountains). In the 2030s, there is a net increase in production and values; however, by the 2070s, the impact in agricultural production is expected to reach to US$ 140 million/year (2014). In terms of research, there are priorities around further work to understand climate uncertainty, the indirect economic costs of these impacts, and early research priorities to address long-term challenges. There is an urgent need to build capacity, with information and awareness raising, monitoring, research, and institutional strengthening.

scholarly journals The genetics of assisted gene flow: immediate costs and long-term benefits

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jared A. Grummer ◽  
Tom R. Booker ◽  
Remi Matthey-Doret ◽  
Pirmin Nietlisbach ◽  
Andréa T. Thomaz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Gene Flow ◽  
Genetic Material ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Physiological Adaptation ◽  
Outbreeding Depression ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Animal Populations

ABSTRACTPlant and animal populations are facing several novel risks such as human-mediated habitat fragmentation and climate change that threaten their long-term productivity and persistence. With the genetic health of many populations deteriorating due to climate change outpacing physiological adaptation, human interventions in the form of assisted gene flow (AGF) may provide genetic variation to adapt populations to predicted climate change scenarios and result in more robust and productive populations. We ran genetic simulations to mimic a variety of AGF scenarios and measured their outcomes on population-level fitness to answer the question: in which circumstances is it worthwhile to perform AGF? Based on the parameters we explored, AGF may be harmful in certain situations over the short term (e.g., the first ∼10-20 generations), due to outbreeding depression and introducing deleterious genetic variation. Moreover, under many parameter sets, the benefits of AGF were relatively weak or took many generations to accrue. In general, when the adaptive trait is controlled by many loci of small effect, the benefits of assisted gene flow take much longer to realize–potentially too long for most climate-related management decisions. We also show that when translocation effort is divided across several generations and outbreeding depression is strong, the recipient population experiences a smaller decrease in fitness as compared to moving all individuals in a single effort. Importantly, in most cases, we show that the genomic integrity of the recipient population remains relatively intact following AGF; the amount of genetic material from the donor population typically ends up constituting no more of the recipient population’s genome than the fraction introduced. Our results will be useful for conservation practitioners and silviculturists, for instance, aiming to intervene and adaptively manage so that populations maintain a robust genetic health and maintain productivity into the future given anthropogenic climate change.

scholarly journals Ambient and experimental warming effects on an alpine bryophyte community

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristel van Zuijlen ◽  
Johan Asplund ◽  
Snorre Sundsbø ◽  
Oda Sofie Dahle ◽  
Kari Klanderud
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Functional Group ◽  
Positive Response ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Experimental Warming ◽  
Dryas Octopetala ◽  
Pleurocarpous Mosses ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Over Time

Alpine and arctic bryophytes have been found to respond negatively to climate change, but since they are often analysed as one functional group, there is limited knowledge on species-specific responses. In this study, we examine how nearly two decades of experimental warming by open top chambers (OTC) and ambient warming have affected the bryophyte community structure in an alpine Dryas octopetala heath in Finse, southwest Norway. In contrast to what we expected, we found that bryophyte abundance, species richness and evenness increased over time in the control plots, indicating a positive response to ambient warming. However, the increase in bryophyte abundance and cover was suppressed in experimentally warmed plots compared to control plots. Bryophyte community composition changed in a similar direction in response to both ambient and experimental warming. Acrocarpous mosses were not affected stronger by warming than pleurocarpous mosses, but individual species and taxa showed contrasting responses. Our study highlights the importance of studying bryophyte responses to environmental change, as well as combining long-term observations with experimental warming.

scholarly journals Disorder or a new order: how climate change affects phenological variability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Stemkovski ◽  
James R. Bell ◽  
Elizabeth R. Ellwood ◽  
Brian D. Inouye ◽  
Hiromi Kobori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
New Order ◽  
Spring Phenology ◽  
Interacting Species ◽  
First Occurrence ◽  
Phenological Shifts ◽  
Flower Phenology ◽  
Over Time

Advancing spring phenology is a well-documented consequence of anthropogenic climate change, but it is not well understood how climate change will affect the variability of phenology year-to-year. Species' phenological timings reflect adaptation to a broad suite of abiotic needs (e.g. thermal energy) and biotic interactions (e.g. predation and pollination), and changes in patterns of variability may disrupt those adaptations and interactions. Here, we present a geographically and taxonomically broad analysis of phenological shifts, temperature sensitivity, and changes in inter-annual variance encompassing nearly 10,000 long-term phenology time-series representing over 1,000 species across much of the northern hemisphere. We show that early-season species in colder and less seasonal regions were the most sensitive to temperature change and had the least variable phenologies. The timings of leaf-out, flowering, insect first-occurrence, and bird arrival have all shifted earlier and tend to be less variable in warmer years. This has led leaf-out and flower phenology to become moderately but significantly less variable over time. These simultaneous changes in phenological averages and the variation around them have the potential to influence mismatches among interacting species that are difficult to anticipate if shifts in average are studied in isolation.

Insights on the First 29 Long-term Climate Strategies Submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Ross ◽  
Clea Schumer ◽  
Taryn Fransen ◽  
Shiying Wang ◽  
Cynthia Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Common Trends ◽  
United Nations Framework Convention ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Over Time

This paper provides key insights into the 29 long-term climate strategies formally communicated to the United Nations as of June 2021, identifying common trends and the major transformations that countries envisage across all sectors of their economies. It finds that countries generally demonstrate a significant commitment to reaching the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement. However, more many nations need to submit their strategies, as well as regularly review and revise them over time.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document