The Question of Diversity

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Raby
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Quantitative Measure ◽  
Air Travel ◽  
Evolutionary Synthesis ◽  
Biological Difference ◽  
Systems Approaches ◽  
Theodosius Dobzhansky ◽  
Modern Evolutionary Synthesis ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
The U.S

Tracing the fieldwork and ideas of Robert H. MacArthur, Howard T. Odum, and Theodosius Dobzhansky, chapter 4 examines the post­World War II rise of efforts to capture the complexity of tropical nature using a simplified quantitative measure: species diversity. The new approaches were abstract but were shaped by U.S. biologists’ experiences in an increasingly wide array of sites within and beyond the circum­Caribbean—facilitated by the U.S. government’s interest in tropical warfare, demand for tropical products, and the growth in air travel. The rise of mathematical and systems approaches in ecology, along with the population perspective of the modern evolutionary synthesis, recast the old question of the biological difference of the tropics. The need for tropical data to solve biology’s core theoretical problems was now unquestionable.

A Global Resource

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Raby
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
National Interest ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Canal Zone ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
The U.S

The 1960s and 1970s saw a wave of highly influential publications on problems of the distribution and ecological controls on species diversity, which drew heavily on data from key tropical field sites. Yet, at this same moment U.S. scientists’ future in the tropics was thrown into question. Revolution swept Cuba and protests erupted in Panama against the U.S. occupation of the Canal Zone. U.S. tropical biologists confronted the loss of access to their most important tropical stations. They responded by realigning themselves, creating professional organizations, and taking new steps toward international collaboration. As chapter 5 explains, they also recast their justifications for the support of basic research. Tropical research was not merely in the U.S. national interest, they began to argue; understanding the biological diversity of the tropics was essential for sustainable global development.

Introduction: Challenging the Modern Synthesis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis M. Walsh ◽  
Philippe Huneman
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Population Change ◽  
Modern Synthesis ◽  
Evolutionary Synthesis ◽  
Comparative Biology ◽  
Darwinian Theory ◽  
Modern Evolutionary Synthesis

The modern evolutionary synthesis arose out of the conjunction of the Mendelian theory of inheritance and the neo-Darwinian theory of population change early in the 20th century.1 In the nearly 100 years since its inception, the modern evolutionary synthesis has grown to encompass practically all fields of comparative biology—ecology, ethology, paleontology, systematics, cell biology, physiology, genetics, development. Theodosius Dobzhansky’s dictum—“nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” (...

scholarly journals Por que o desenvolvimento ontogenético foi tratado como uma “caixa preta” na síntese moderna da evolução?

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 263
Author(s):  
Leonardo Augusto Luvison Araújo ◽  
Aldo Mellender De Araújo
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Evolutionary Synthesis ◽  
Ontogenetic Development ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Genetic Inheritance ◽  
Genetics Research ◽  
Inheritance Model ◽  
Modern Evolutionary Synthesis

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1808-1711.2015v19n2p263The Modern Evolutionary Synthesis relegated the ontogenetic development to a “black box”. In this article, we argue that the absence of ontogenetic development in the Evolutionary Synthesis was due its strong foundation in transmission genetics. We discuss three research strategies of transmission genetics that created an incompatibility with the ontogenetic development: (i) particulate inheritance model; (ii) population as locus for genetics research; (iii) and experimental tools that have been applied to remove “non-heritable fluctuations” from ontogenetic and environmental effects. These practices have contributed to the strength of the genetic inheritance, but also excluded the ontogenetic development from the explanation of heredity and evolution. This distinction has been perpetuated in the Evolutionary Synthesis.

scholarly journals Interannual and Seasonal Changes in the Benthic Algae Flora of Coral Reef in Xiaodong Hai (Hainan Island, China)

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 243
Author(s):  
Eduard A. Titlyanov ◽  
Tamara V. Titlyanova ◽  
Anna V. Scriptsova ◽  
Yuxiao Ren ◽  
Xiubao Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Benthic Algae ◽  
Hainan Island ◽  
Algal Turf ◽  
Macroalgal Species ◽  
Antarctic Waters ◽  
Maximum Similarity ◽  
The Tropics

Intensive algal sampling conducted in 2016–2019 in the Xiaodong Hai locality (Hainan Island, South China Sea), yielded a total of 198 benthic macroalgal species and their taxonomic forms (54% reds, 20% browns and 26% greens) and 20 species of Cyanobacteria. The largest number of species belonged to the families Rhodomelaceae, Ceramiaceae and Corallinaceae (Rhodophyta); Sargassaceae and Dictyotaceae (Phaeophyceae); Cladophoraceae and Caulerpaceae (Chlorophyta). The majority (79%) of species inhabiting only the tropics or subtropics were previously recorded and 21% of the species were also inhabiting temperate latitudes. Cosmopolitan algae inhabiting from the tropics to Arctic or Antarctic waters amounted to 14%. The level of maximum similarity of macroalgal species diversity in different years was on average more than 70%, interannual species specificity was observed only in the group of dominating species in algal turf communities. The seasonal variability of floras was manifested in a significant decrease in species diversity from the dry season to the rainy and in the change of dominant species in algal turf communities.

Impact of Resolution and Design on the U.S. Navy Global Ensemble Performance in the Tropics

2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (7) ◽  
pp. 2145-2155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn A. Reynolds ◽  
Justin G. McLay ◽  
James S. Goerss ◽  
Efren A. Serra ◽  
Daniel Hodyss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Ensemble Prediction ◽  
Cyclone Track ◽  
Tropical Cyclone Track ◽  
Ensemble Performance ◽  
Ensemble Mean ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
The U.S

Abstract The performance of the U.S. Navy global atmospheric ensemble prediction system is examined with a focus on tropical winds and tropical cyclone tracks. Ensembles are run at a triangular truncation of T119, T159, and T239, with 33, 17, and 9 ensemble members, respectively, to evaluate the impact of resolution versus the number of ensemble member tradeoffs on ensemble performance. Results indicate that the T159 and T239 ensemble mean tropical cyclone track errors are significantly smaller than those of the T119 ensemble out to 4 days. For ensemble forecasts of upper- and lower-tropospheric tropical winds, increasing resolution has only a small impact on ensemble mean root-mean-square error for wind speed, but does improve Brier scores for 10-m wind speed at the 5 m s−1 threshold. In addition to the resolution tests, modifications to the ensemble transform initial perturbation methodology and inclusion of stochastic kinetic energy backscatter are also evaluated. Stochastic kinetic energy backscatter substantially increases the ensemble spread and improves Brier scores in the tropics, but for the most part does not significantly reduce ensemble mean tropical cyclone track error.

Commemorating the 20th century Darwin: Ernst Mayr’s words and thoughts, five years later

Genome ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-159
Author(s):  
Rob J. Kulathinal
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Evolutionary Synthesis ◽  
Ernst Mayr ◽  
Species Problem ◽  
Darwinian Theory ◽  
Seminal Work ◽  
Modern Evolutionary Synthesis

It has been five years since Ernst Mayr, one of the most influential evolutionary biologists of the last century, passed away. Mayr’s seminal work as a naturalist and, in particular, as a bird systematist allowed him to approach the species problem in a revolutionary way. As a leading architect of the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis, Mayr helped integrate Darwinian theory with the broad fields of systematics and genetics. We pay tribute to this legend by publishing an interview taken shortly before his death.

Fear of Flying: Impact on the U.S. Air Travel Industry

1982 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Dean ◽  
Kerry M. Whitaker
Keyword(s):  
Air Travel ◽  
Fear Of Flying ◽  
Travel Industry ◽  
The U.S
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