scholarly journals Specificity trumps flexibility—location-based stable associations between Symbiodiniaceae genera and Platygyra verweyi (Scleractinia; Merulinidae)

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shashank Keshavmurthy ◽  
Hwee Sze Tee ◽  
Kuo-Wei Kao ◽  
Jih-Terng Wang ◽  
Chaolun Allen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Microsatellite Analysis ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Quantitative Real Time Pcr ◽  
Reciprocal Transplantation ◽  
Induced Stress ◽  
Thermal Regimes ◽  
Degree Heating Weeks ◽  
Symbiont Shuffling

This study monitored symbiont communities bi-monthly in native coral cores used in a reciprocal transplantation of the coral Platygyra verweyi over two years (2014–2016) and samples of mother colonies from three locations with variable thermal regimes; our results show that associating with multiple Symbiodiniaceae genera (Cladocopium spp. and Durusdinium spp.) is not a prerequisite for symbiont shuffling. Platygyra verweyi associates with certain Symbiodiniaceae genera based on location. Results of quantitative real-time PCR indicated small-scale temporal changes in Symbiodiniaceae genera compositions from 2014 to 2016; however, these changes were not enough to invoke shuffling or switching, despite degree heating weeks exceeding 6 °C-weeks in 2014 and 4 °C-weeks in 2015, which usually resulted in substantial coral bleaching. Microsatellite analysis of the P. verweyi host showed no genetic differences among the study locations. Our results suggest that P. verweyi undergoes long-term acclimatization and/or adaptation based on microgeographic and local environmental conditionsby altering its combinations of associated Symbiodiniaceae. Results also suggest that shuffling might not be as common a phenomenon as it has been given credit for; corals thrive through specific associations, and many corals could still be vulnerable to climate change-induced stress, despite being promiscuous or able to associate with rare and background Symbiodiniaceae genera.

OPTIONS FOR ASSESSING THE SUITABILITY OF URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL ACUPUNCTURE

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Vojvodíková ◽  
Jiří Kupka ◽  
Adéla Brázdová ◽  
Radim Fojtík ◽  
Iva Tichá
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Financial Sustainability ◽  
Technical Solution ◽  
The City

To increase their resilience to climate change, cities are looking to apply elements of urban environmental acupuncture. The essence of such measures is many smaller sites that is functioning as mitigation measures. Many of these small places then create a large overall effect. The advantage of these small-scale measures is that they can be in densely populated areas The assessment tool described in this paper is designed for city representatives and is an aid to assess the suitability of applying a particular measure based on the parameters described. The evaluation itself then helps to decide whether the solution is suitable for a particular site or whether any of the parameters need to be adjusted to make it suitable, or whether it would be appropriate to change the proposed solution. The intention of the evaluation is not to assess the technical solution but relies primarily on the location, long-term (especially financial) sustainability and acceptance by the citizens of the city. The paper presents an example of the application of the evaluation to four sites in city Liptovský Mikuláš, describing the results and identifying parameters that can be improved to ensure the urban environmental acupuncture is accepted by citizens and thus future-proofed.

scholarly journals Beyond experiments: Embedding outcomes in climate governance

2020 ◽  
pp. 239965442095386
Author(s):  
Frans Sengers ◽  
Bruno Turnheim ◽  
Frans Berkhout
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Concerted Action ◽  
Climate Governance ◽  
Governance Systems ◽  
Technical Innovations

Concerted action on climate change will require a continuing stream of social and technical innovations whose development and transmission will be influenced by public policies. New ways of doing things frequently emerge in innovative small-scale initiatives – ‘experiments’ – across sectors of economic and social life. These experiments are actionable expressions of novel governance and socio-technical arrangements. Mobilising and generalising the outputs of these experiments could lead to deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over the long-term. It is often assumed that the groundswell of socio-technical and governance experiments will ‘scale-up’ to systemic change. But the mechanisms for these wider, transformative impacts of experiments have not been fully conceptualised and explained. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for the mobilisation, generalisation and embedding of the outputs and outcomes of climate governance experiments. We describe and illustrate four ‘embedding mechanisms’ – (1) replication-proliferation; (2) expansion-consolidation; (3) challenging-reframing; and (4) circulation-anchoring – for entwined governance and socio-technical experiments. Through these mechanisms knowledge, capabilities, norms and networks developed by experiments become mobile and generic, and come to be embedded in reconfigured socio-technical and governance systems.

scholarly journals Conservation of Symbiodinium spp. clade in the coral Pocillopora damicornis during the 2014 mass-bleaching event

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James WA Murphy ◽  
Narrissa P Spies ◽  
Robert H Richmond
Keyword(s):  
Bleaching Event ◽  
Pocillopora Damicornis ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Thermally Induced ◽  
Induced Stress ◽  
Stress Acclimation ◽  
Mass Bleaching Event ◽  
Symbiont Shuffling ◽  
Mass Bleaching

Symbiotic single-celled dinoflagellates play critical roles in providing corals with both energy and tolerances to survive over a range of environmental conditions. Stressors can cause the breakdown of this symbiosis, resulting in mass bleaching events, and are projected to increase in frequency and spatial extent, threatening the long-term survival of coral reefs. Recent studies have identified symbiont shuffling in corals towards more thermo-tolerant clades as a functional tool for their surviving thermally-induced stress events. However, this was not observed within Pocillopora damicornis colonies tracked over a complete bleaching to recovery cycle during the 2014 mass coral bleaching event in Hawai‘i. Instead, previously acquired symbiont clades were maintained following bleaching recovery. This observation suggests additional factors may be involved in thermal-stress acclimation and adaptation in this coral.

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.

Food Systems at Risk: Transformative Adaptation for Long-Term Food Security

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Carter ◽  
Namrata Ginoya ◽  
Richard Choularton ◽  
Tyler Ferdinand ◽  
Helen Ding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Small Scale Farmers ◽  
The Right ◽  
Transformative Adaptation

This report examines how climate change is impacting agriculture and threatening national and global food systems, particularly in climate hotspots, and how these trends are projected to intensify over the coming decades. The report defines and details transformative adaptation for agriculture and why such longer-term, systemic approaches are needed to protect the lives and livelihoods of millions of small-scale farmers and herders. Transformative adaptation in agriculture promotes long-term resilience by continually shifting the geographical locations where specific types of crops and livestock are produced, aligning agricultural production with changing landscapes and ecosystems, and/or introducing resilience-building production methods and technologies across value chains. The report presents evidence to support a call for urgent action by: Agricultural research organizations, to build and share knowledge regarding transformative approaches; Governments, to integrate this knowledge into plans and policies by establishing and implementing transformative pathways; and Funding entities, to increase financial support for agricultural adaptation and design sustainable financing mechanisms with the right incentives and disincentives to support transformative adaptation. Strategic investments in resilient food systems are crucial to manage intensifying climate change impacts and feed a global population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Planning for transformative adaptation should center on inclusive, participatory processes that engage a diverse range of stakeholders who may otherwise be marginalized in decision-making, such as women, youth and Indigenous peoples.

scholarly journals Conservation of Symbiodinium spp. clade in the coral Pocillopora damicornis during the 2014 mass-bleaching event

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James WA Murphy ◽  
Narrissa P Spies ◽  
Robert H Richmond
Keyword(s):  
Bleaching Event ◽  
Pocillopora Damicornis ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Thermally Induced ◽  
Induced Stress ◽  
Stress Acclimation ◽  
Mass Bleaching Event ◽  
Symbiont Shuffling ◽  
Mass Bleaching

Symbiotic single-celled dinoflagellates play critical roles in providing corals with both energy and tolerances to survive over a range of environmental conditions. Stressors can cause the breakdown of this symbiosis, resulting in mass bleaching events, and are projected to increase in frequency and spatial extent, threatening the long-term survival of coral reefs. Recent studies have identified symbiont shuffling in corals towards more thermo-tolerant clades as a functional tool for their surviving thermally-induced stress events. However, this was not observed within Pocillopora damicornis colonies tracked over a complete bleaching to recovery cycle during the 2014 mass coral bleaching event in Hawai‘i. Instead, previously acquired symbiont clades were maintained following bleaching recovery. This observation suggests additional factors may be involved in thermal-stress acclimation and adaptation in this coral.

scholarly journals Topoclimatological case-study of Alpine pastures near the Albula Pass in the eastern Swiss Alps

2013 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 249-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Michna ◽  
W. Eugster ◽  
R. V. Hiller ◽  
M. J. Zeeman ◽  
H. Wanner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Swiss Alps ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Local Climate

Abstract. Alpine grasslands are an important source of fodder for the cattle of Alpine farmers. Only during the short summer season can these pastures be used for grazing. With the anticipated climate change, it is likely that plant production – and thus the fodder basis for the cattle – will be influenced. Investigating the dependence of biomass production on topoclimatic factors will allow us to better understand how anticipated climate change may influence this traditional Alpine farming system. Because small-scale topoclimatological variations of the main meteorological variables: temperature, humidity, precipitation, shortwave incoming radiation and wind speed are not easily derived from available long-term climate stations in mountainous terrain, it was our goal to investigate the topoclimatic variations over the pastures belonging to the Alp Weissenstein research station north of the Albula Pass in the eastern Swiss Alps. We present a basic assessment of current topoclimatic conditions as a site characterization for ongoing ecological climate change studies. To be able to link short-term studies with long-term climate records, we related agrometeorological measurements with those of surrounding long-term sites run by MeteoSwiss, both on valley bottoms (Davos, Samedan), and on mountain tops (Weissfluhjoch, Piz Corvatsch). We found that the Davos climate station north of the study area is most closely correlated with the local climate of Alp Weissenstein, although a much closer site (Samedan) exists on the other side of the Albula Pass. Mountain top stations, however, did not provide a convincing approximation for the climate at Alp Weissenstein. Direct comparisons of near-surface measurements from a set of 11 small weather stations distributed over the domain where cattle and sheep are grazed indicate that nocturnal minimum air temperature and minimum vapor pressure deficit are mostly governed by the altitudinal gradient, whereas daily maxima – including also wind speed – are more strongly depending on vegetation cover and less on the altitude.

Local Policy for a Protected Environmental Area Management: The Case of Limiting Motorized Vehicles in Park of Canigou in Pyrenées Orientales

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Individual Action ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Motorized Vehicles ◽  
Local Levels

“We regard the recent science –based consensual reports that climate change is, to a large extend, caused by human activities that emit green houses as tenable, Such activities range from air traffic, with a global reach over industrial belts and urban conglomerations to local small, scale energy use for heating homes and mowing lawns. This means that effective climate strategies inevitably also require action all the way from global to local levels. Since the majority of those activities originate at the local level and involve individual action, however, climate strategies must literally begin at home to hit home.”

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