Diurnal oscillations in gut bacterial load and composition eclipse seasonal and lifetime dynamics in wild meerkats

Circadian rhythms in gut microbiota composition are crucial for metabolic function, yet the extent to which they govern microbial dynamics compared to seasonal and lifetime processes remains unknown. Here, we investigate gut bacterial dynamics in wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta) over a 20-year period to compare diurnal, seasonal, and lifetime processes in concert, applying ratios of absolute abundance. We found that diurnal oscillations in bacterial load and composition eclipsed seasonal and lifetime dynamics. Diurnal oscillations were characterised by a peak in Clostridium abundance at dawn, were associated with temperature-constrained foraging schedules, and did not decay with age. Some genera exhibited seasonal fluctuations, whilst others developed with age, although we found little support for microbial senescence in very old meerkats. Strong microbial circadian rhythms in this species may reflect the extreme daily temperature fluctuations typical of arid-zone climates. Our findings demonstrate that accounting for circadian rhythms is essential for future gut microbiome research.

Analysis of Temperature and Precipitation Trends Observed at Some Selected Districts of Punjab, Pakistan

Present study examines the trends of extreme daily temperature and rainfall indices in some selectedmeteorological stations/districts of the Punjab. Due to paucity of data only six weather stations were selected from thewhole Punjab, having data of 33 years for temperature and precipitation on daily basis. A set of 14 indices(recommended by climate ET) were used to calculate the trends over a period of 32 years (1985–2017) by usingRClimDex (1.0) software package. These results showed that the number of tropical nights (TR20) and warm nights(TN90p) has been increasing in selected weather stations/districts and number for cool nights (TN10p) has been falling.Other temperature related indices trends such as, summer days, warms days, warm spell duration indicator (WSDI) andcool spell duration (CSDI) shows a mix pattern. The precipitation indices like SDII, RX1day, R10mm and PRCPTOTshowed an increasing trend in some selected stations. Most of the trends were not significant at level of 0.05 % whilemaximum day temperature increase has been observed at five out of six selected stations. Similarly, an average increasein precipitation in the vicinity of 3 mm per decade has been noted. The annual total rainfall and number of heavyrainfall days has also increased by 18 mm and 8.4 mm respectively during each decade. The analysis identified andhighlighted a slight change which was not temporally and spatially rational. However, there is need to more andadequate yearly data of different weather stations across the Punjab to identify the ongoing apparent and impeccablechanges in climate of the Punjab province.

Analysis of Temperature and Precipitation Trends Observed at Some Selected Districts of Punjab, Pakistan

Present study examines the trends of extreme daily temperature and rainfall indices in some selectedmeteorological stations/districts of the Punjab. Due to paucity of data only six weather stations were selected from thewhole Punjab, having data of 33 years for temperature and precipitation on daily basis. A set of 14 indices(recommended by climate ET) were used to calculate the trends over a period of 32 years (1985–2017) by usingRClimDex (1.0) software package. These results showed that the number of tropical nights (TR20) and warm nights(TN90p) has been increasing in selected weather stations/districts and number for cool nights (TN10p) has been falling.Other temperature related indices trends such as, summer days, warms days, warm spell duration indicator (WSDI) andcool spell duration (CSDI) shows a mix pattern. The precipitation indices like SDII, RX1day, R10mm and PRCPTOTshowed an increasing trend in some selected stations. Most of the trends were not significant at level of 0.05 % whilemaximum day temperature increase has been observed at five out of six selected stations. Similarly, an average increasein precipitation in the vicinity of 3 mm per decade has been noted. The annual total rainfall and number of heavyrainfall days has also increased by 18 mm and 8.4 mm respectively during each decade. The analysis identified andhighlighted a slight change which was not temporally and spatially rational. However, there is need to more andadequate yearly data of different weather stations across the Punjab to identify the ongoing apparent and impeccablechanges in climate of the Punjab province.

Diurnal temperature cycle deduced from extreme daily temperatures and impact over a surface reanalysis system

Due to the evolution of the observation network, hourly 2 m temperature analysis performed by reanalysis systems shows temporal inhomogeneities. The observation network gap is less present for extreme daily temperature observations. In order to reduce inhomogeneities and enable a climatological use of temperature analysis, information from extreme temperatures could be useful. In this study, the diurnal temperature cycle has been reconstructed for stations which only record extreme temperatures. These new "pseudo" hourly temperature observations are then provided to the analysis system. Two methods have been used to deduce hourly temperatures from extremes and compared to real observations. The results have shown that using those new pseudo-observations as an input for two different reanalysis systems enables reducing the bias in temperature analysis.