scholarly journals Can the subterranean fauna be used as proxy for past environmental changes? – the example of the Carpathians cave fauna

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oana Teodora Moldovan ◽  
Ionut Cornel Mirea ◽  
Marius Kenesz
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
General View ◽  
Carpathian Mountains ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
The Carpathians ◽  
Cave Fauna ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Geological Units

Carpathian Mountains were one of the main refuge areas during the climate changes of the Pleistocene and the Holocene in Europe and one of the richest regions in the world in subterranean (caves and associated habitats) endemic species. Nevertheless, the Carpathian Mountains subterranean fauna importance is underestimated especially due to dispersed information on its diversity and the scarcity of molecular studies in the area. Here, we present a first general view of the cave fauna hotspot represented by the Romanian Carpathians and the geological and historical processes that shaped the patterns of subterranean distribution and diversity at regional scale. The Carpathians are an amalgam of various geological units with complex paleogeographical evolution that is reflected in completely different species assemblages dominated by unit specific fauna groups. Phylogeography of Coleoptera and environmental parameters are adding to the general view at regional scale and offer additional explanation for this exceptional subterranean diversification in a non-Mediterranean region. We also use the example of the Carpathians cave fauna as proxy for past environmental changes in the area. Troglobionts are endemic on small areas and by studying their present distributions and phylogeny, past processes of landscape evolution on the surface can be better understood.

scholarly journals Deep-Down Time: Political Tradition in Central Africa

1989 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 341-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Vansina
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Common View ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Common ◽  
Political Communities ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Impact

Around 1850 the peoples of central Africa from Duala to the Kunene River and from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes shared a common view of the universe and a common political ideology. This included assumptions about roles, statuses, symbols, values, and indeed the very notion of legitimate authority. Among the plethora of symbols connected with these views were the leopard or the lion, the sun, the anvil, and the drum, symbolizing respectively the leader as predator, protector, forger of society, and the voice of all. Obviously, in each case the common political ideology was expressed in slightly different views, reflecting the impact of differential historical processes on different peoples. But the common core persisted. The gigantic extent of this phenomenon, encompassing an area equal to two-thirds of the continental United States, baffles the mind. How did it come about? Such a common tradition certainly did not arise independently in each of the hundreds of political communities that existed then. However absorbent and stable this mental political constellation was, it must have taken shape over a profound time depth. How and as a result of what did this happen? Is it even possible to answer such queries in a part of the world that did not generate written records until a few centuries ago or less?This paper addresses this question: how can one trace the social construction of such a common constellation over great time depths and over great regional scale? All the peoples involved are agriculturalists and the political repertory with which we are concerned could not easily exist in its known form outside sedentary societies.

scholarly journals A high-altitude peatland record of environmental changes in the NW Argentine Andes (24 ° S) over the last 2100 years

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1165-1180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karsten Schittek ◽  
Sebastian T. Kock ◽  
Andreas Lücke ◽  
Jonathan Hense ◽  
Christian Ohlendorf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Altitude ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Central Andes ◽  
High Accumulation ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Climate Anomalies ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
The 19Th Century

Abstract. High-altitude cushion peatlands are versatile archives for high-resolution palaeoenvironmental studies, due to their high accumulation rates, range of proxies, and sensitivity to climatic and/or human-induced changes. Especially within the Central Andes, the knowledge about climate conditions during the Holocene is limited. In this study, we present the environmental and climatic history for the last 2100 years of Cerro Tuzgle peatland (CTP), located in the dry Puna of NW Argentina, based on a multi-proxy approach. X-ray fluorescence (XRF), stable isotope and element content analyses (δ13C, δ15N, TN and TOC) were conducted to analyse the inorganic geochemistry throughout the sequence, revealing changes in the peatlands' past redox conditions. Pollen assemblages give an insight into substantial environmental changes on a regional scale. The palaeoclimate varied significantly during the last 2100 years. The results reflect prominent late Holocene climate anomalies and provide evidence that in situ moisture changes were coupled to the migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). A period of sustained dry conditions prevailed from around 150 BC to around AD 150. A more humid phase dominated between AD 200 and AD 550. Afterwards, the climate was characterised by changes between drier and wetter conditions, with droughts at around AD 650–800 and AD  1000–1100. Volcanic forcing at the beginning of the 19th century (1815 Tambora eruption) seems to have had an impact on climatic settings in the Central Andes. In the past, the peatland recovered from climatic perturbations. Today, CTP is heavily degraded by human interventions, and the peat deposit is becoming increasingly susceptible to erosion and incision.

scholarly journals Walki Legionów Polskich w Karpatach (wrzesień‑październik 1914 r.)

Sowiniec ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (50-51) ◽  
pp. 9-42
Author(s):  
Tomasz Dudek
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Carpathian Mountains ◽  
The Carpathians ◽  
Decisive Rule

The 2nd Brigade, Polish Legions in the Carpathian Mountains (September-October 1914)In this article, the author presents the activity of the Polish Legions, at that time commanded by General Karol Durski, in the Carpathian Mountains. Polish soldiers then had to fight under very difficult conditions as a result of the numerous deficiencies in equipment and arms. Nonetheless, they tried to perform the tasks to which they were entrusted as best as they could. Amidst the weakness of the Austro-Hungarian army, Polish units in this region played a decisive rule in halting the Russian offensive. This was significant because if the Russians had crossed the Carpathians, this would have led to an invasion of Hungary, which could have had unpredictable consequences. In the first phase, Polish units participated in the struggle to liberate Máramaros County. The second phase consisted of armed conflict in the Nadvirna and Bohorodchany regions. This part of the skirmishes concludes with the bloody Battle of Mołotków on October 29, 1914. Although it ended with a tactical defeat of the Polish units, which were forced to retreat, it was, however, a tactical victory, as the Russians, exhausted by the daylong battle, were forced to cease their offensive maneuvers.

Human-Environmental Influences and Interactions in Shifting Agriculture When Farmers Form Expectations Rationally

1993 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
D W Jones ◽  
R V O'Neill
Keyword(s):  
Interest Rates ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Land Rent ◽  
Fallow Period ◽  
Shifting Agriculture ◽  
Current Period ◽  
Expectations Formation ◽  
Future Value

This paper contains a study of the response of shifting agriculture to several social and environmental changes in circumstances in which farmers form in a relatively sophisticated manner their expectations of the future values of key economic variables. Farmers are ‘given’ a model of expectations formation in which the expected future value of variables interact in the same manner as in the current period. With this structure of expectations, the responses of the length of fallow period (the inverse of the percentage of available land cultivated in the initial period), the total area of land under cultivation and lying fallow in the initial period of a rotational cycle, and the initial-period wage rate and spatial structure of land rent to changes in several social and environmental parameters are examined. Several salient characteristics commonly attributed to shifting, or rotational, agriculture are replicated. Higher crop prices and increased population shorten fallow periods. Those same changes also increase the total area of land under shifting agriculture. Higher interest rates also shorten fallow periods. Fallows are longer at locations farther from central markets. Less commonly recognized is that social feedbacks operate to reduce pressure on more fragile land, although this does not imply that, other things being equal, fragile tropical land will not be ‘overused’ in an ecological sense.

scholarly journals Quantitative biogeography of Orthoptera does not support classical qualitative regionalization of the Carpathian Mountains

2019 ◽  
Vol 128 (4) ◽  
pp. 887-900
Author(s):  
Benjamín Jarčuška ◽  
Peter Kaňuch ◽  
Ladislav Naďo ◽  
Anton Krištín
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Group Method ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Carpathian Mountains ◽  
Dissimilarity Matrix ◽  
The Carpathians

Abstract The first biogeographical division of the Carpathians, the second largest mountain range in Europe, was based on qualitative observational floristic data > 100 years ago and has also been applied for the regional zoogeography. In this study, the recent availability of detailed quantitative data allowed us to perform a more powerful evaluation of the classical biogeographical regions of the area. Thus, we analysed updated distribution patterns of 137 Orthoptera species native to the Carpathian Mountains and, by using published species range maps, we compiled data on species presence or absence within 2576 cells of a 10 km × 10 km universal transverse mercator grid in the area. Pattern analysis of the data was based on non-metric multidimensional scaling and clustering using six different algorithms applied to a β sim dissimilarity matrix. The unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic averages, which gave the best performance in the analysis of species turnover, delineated four regions. Environmental variables and species richness were used in logistic regression as predictors of delineated clusters, and indicator species were identified for each of the inferred regions. The pattern can be explained, in part, by environmental variables and species richness (34.2%) and was also influenced by connections with the orthopterofauna from adjacent areas. The observed discrepancy between regionalization based on expert knowledge and the pattern revealed using quantitative data provides a warning that the biogeography of the Carpathians might also have been revised in other taxa, where only classical qualitative regionalization exists.

Diagnosis of the Operation of Power Plants

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose´ Miguel Gonza´lez-Santalo´ ◽  
Abigail Gonza´lez-Di´az ◽  
Carlos Alberto Marin˜o-Lo´pez
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
Characteristic Parameters ◽  
Operating Variables ◽  
Design Values ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

A system was developed to diagnose the operation of combined cycle power plants and to determine, when deviations are found, which components are causing the deviations and the impact of each component deviation. The system works by comparing the values of the actual operating variables with some reference values that are calculated by a model that was adjusted to the design heat balances. The model can use the actual values of the environmental parameters as well as the design values, so the effect of environmental changes can be quantified and separated. The determination of the individual equipment impacts is done by adjusting the equipment parameters in order to reproduce the values of the measured variables. The adjustment is done by varying the values of the characteristic parameters of the equipment in order to minimize the sum of the squares of the differences between the values of the measured variables and the calculated values from the model.

scholarly journals The Cell Membrane of Sulfolobus spp.—Homeoviscous Adaption and Biotechnological Applications

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Rastädter ◽  
David J. Wurm ◽  
Oliver Spadiut ◽  
Julian Quehenberger
Keyword(s):  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Specific Growth ◽  
Membrane Lipids ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Coping Mechanism ◽  
Biotechnological Applications ◽  
Head Groups ◽  
Tetraether Lipids ◽  
Archaeal Lipids

The microbial cell membrane is affected by physicochemical parameters, such as temperature and pH, but also by the specific growth rate of the host organism. Homeoviscous adaption describes the process of maintaining membrane fluidity and permeability throughout these environmental changes. Archaea, and thereby, Sulfolobus spp. exhibit a unique lipid composition of ether lipids, which are altered in regard to the ratio of diether to tetraether lipids, number of cyclopentane rings and type of head groups, as a coping mechanism against environmental changes. The main biotechnological application of the membrane lipids of Sulfolobus spp. are so called archaeosomes. Archaeosomes are liposomes which are fully or partly generated from archaeal lipids and harbor the potential to be used as drug delivery systems for vaccines, proteins, peptides and nucleic acids. This review summarizes the influence of environmental parameters on the cell membrane of Sulfolobus spp. and the biotechnological applications of their membrane lipids.

scholarly journals Preliminary Analysis of European Small Mammal Faunas of the Eemian Interglacial: Species Composition and Species Diversity at a Regional Scale

Quaternary ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia Markova ◽  
Andrey Puzachenko
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Mammal Faunas ◽  
Eemian Interglacial

Small mammal remains obtained from the European localities dated to the Eemian (Mikulino) age have been analyzed for the first time at a regional scale based on the present biogeographical regionalization of Europe. The regional faunas dated to the warm interval in the first part of the Late Pleistocene display notable differences in fauna composition, species richness, and diversity indices. The classification of regional faunal assemblages revealed distinctive features of small mammal faunas in Eastern and Western Europe during the Eemian (=Mikulino, =Ipswichian) Interglacial. Faunas of the Iberian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula, and Sardinia Island appear to deviate from the other regions. In the Eemian Interglacial, the maximum species richness of small mammals (≥40 species) with a relatively high proportion of typical forest species was recorded in Western and Central Europe and in the western part of Eastern Europe. The lowest species richness (5–14 species) was typical of island faunas and of those in the north of Eastern Europe. The data obtained make it possible to reconstruct the distribution of forest biotopes and open habitats (forest-steppe and steppe) in various regions of Europe. Noteworthy is a limited area of forests in the south and in the northeastern part of Europe. In these regions, it seems likely that under conditions of relatively high temperatures characteristic of the Last Interglacial and an insufficient moisture supply there could exist open forest stands or forest-steppe landscapes, as suggested by the presence of species indicative of forest-steppe and steppe north of the forest zone. The results obtained are useful in modeling changes in the mammal faunas as well as environmental changes in entire Europe due to global climatic changes (including the global warming recorded at present).

scholarly journals The Impact of Climate Change on Cholera: A Review on the Global Status and Future Challenges

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 449
Author(s):  
Eirini Christaki ◽  
Panagiotis Dimitriou ◽  
Katerina Pantavou ◽  
Georgios K. Nikolopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Educational Strategies ◽  
Global Status ◽  
Water Ecosystems ◽  
Sanitation Systems ◽  
The Impact

Water ecosystems can be rather sensitive to evolving or sudden changes in weather parameters. These changes can result in alterations in the natural habitat of pathogens, vectors, and human hosts, as well as in the transmission dynamics and geographic distribution of infectious agents. However, the interaction between climate change and infectious disease is rather complicated and not deeply understood. In this narrative review, we discuss climate-driven changes in the epidemiology of Vibrio species-associated diseases with an emphasis on cholera. Changes in environmental parameters do shape the epidemiology of Vibrio cholerae. Outbreaks of cholera cause significant disease burden, especially in developing countries. Improved sanitation systems, access to clean water, educational strategies, and vaccination campaigns can help control vibriosis. In addition, real-time assessment of climatic parameters with remote-sensing technologies in combination with robust surveillance systems could help detect environmental changes in high-risk areas and result in early public health interventions that can mitigate potential outbreaks.

Radiocarbon and the Archaeological Record: An Integrative Approach for Building an Absolute Chronology for the Late Bronze and Iron Ages of Israel

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Boaretto
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Organic Residues ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
The Impact

The establishment of an absolute chronology for the Late Bronze and Iron Ages in the southern Levant would make it possible to use changes in material culture in order to study the impact of trade, dissemination of knowledge, and the impact of climate on historical processes. To achieve this, a detailed absolute chronology is needed for individual sites and on a regional scale with a resolution that can differentiate events within a century. To realize this challenging goal, only samples from well-established primary contexts ought to be studied. Such primary contexts (with “dating assemblages”) can be identified by combining macroscopic with microscopic observations. Chronological studies at the sites of Qubur el-Walaydah, Tel es-Safi, and in particular, Megiddo, demonstrate that high-resolution dating can be achieved, with very few outliers in the data sets. The major limitation on applying this approach is the fact that we are currently constrained to dating short-lived samples (charred seeds and olive pits) and collagen from bones. Thus, an immediate goal of radiocarbon research is to develop the ability to date other short-lived materials, such as organic material occluded in siliceous plant phytoliths, wood ash, and possibly organic residues preserved in pottery vessels.

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