Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Deconstructing The Mangrove Carbon Cycle: Gains, Transformation, And Losses, M. F. Adame, N. Cormier, P. Taillardat, N. Iram, A. Rovai, T. M. Sloey, E. S. Yando, J. F. Blanco-Libreros, M. Arnaud, T. Jennerjahn, C. E. Lovelock, D. Friess, G. M. S. Reithmaier, C. A. Buelow, S. M. Muhammad-Nor, R. R. Twilley, R. A. Ribeiro

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Mangroves are one of the most carbon-dense forests on the Earth and have been highlighted as key ecosystems for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Hundreds of studies have investigated how mangroves fix, transform, store, and export carbon. Here, we review and synthesize the previously known and emerging carbon pathways in mangroves, including gains (woody biomass accumulation, deadwood accumulation, soil carbon sequestration, root and litterfall production), transformations (food web transfer through herbivory, decomposition), and losses (respiration as CO₂ and CH₄, litterfall export, particulate and dissolved carbon export). We then review the technologies available to measure carbon fluxes in …

The Impacts Of Anthropogenic Activity And Climate Change On The Formation Of Harmful Algal Blooms (Habs) And Its Ecological Consequence, Zhangxi Hu, Aifeng Li, Zhun Li, Margaret R. Mulholland

OES Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Interactive Effects Of Climate Change-Induced Range Shifts And Wind Energy Development On Future Economic Conditions Of The Atlantic Surfclam Fishery, Stephanie Stromp, Andrew M. Scheld, John M. Klinck, Daphne M. Munroe, Eric N. Powell, Roger Mann, Sarah Borsetti, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

Rising water temperatures along the northeastern U.S. continental shelf have resulted in an offshore range shift of the Atlantic surfclam Spisula solidissima to waters still occupied by ocean quahogs Arctica islandica. Fishers presently are prohibited from landing both Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs in the same catch, thus limiting fishing to locations where the target species can be sorted on deck. Wind energy development on and around the fishing grounds will further restrict the fishery. A spatially explicit model of the Atlantic surfclam fishery (Spatially Explicit Fishery Economics Simulator) has the ability to simulate the consequences of fishery displacement …

Disparate Population And Holobiont Structure Of Pocilloporid Corals Across The Red Sea Gradient Demonstrate Species-Specific Evolutionary Trajectories, Carol Buitrago-López, Anny Cárdenas, Benjamin C.C. Hume, Thierry Gosselin, Fabian Staubach, Manuel Aranda, Daniel J. Barshis, Yvonne Sawall, Christian R. Voolstra

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Global habitat degradation heightens the need to better understand patterns of genetic connectivity and diversity of marine biota across geographical ranges to guide conservation efforts. Corals across the Red Sea are subject to pronounced environmental differences, but studies so far suggest that animal populations are largely connected, excepting evidence for a genetic break between the northern-central and southern regions. Here, we investigated population structure and holobiont assemblage of two common pocilloporid corals, Pocillopora verrucosa and Stylophora pistillata, across the Red Sea. We found little evidence for population differentiation in P. verrucosa, except for the southernmost site. Conversely, S. …

Rapidly Changing Range Limits In A Warming World: Critical Data Limitations And Knowledge Gaps For Advancing Understanding Of Mangrove Range Dynamics In The Southeastern Usa, Rémi Bardou, Michael J. Osland, Steven Scyphers, Christine Shepard, Karen E. Aerni, Jahson B. Alemu I, Robert Crimian, Richard H. Day, Nicholas M. Enwright, Laura C. Feher, Sarah L. Gibbs, Kiera O'Donnell, Savannah H. Swinea, Kalaina Thorne, Sarit Truskey, Anna R. Armitage, Ronald Baker, Josh L. Breithaupt, Kyle C. Cavanaugh, Erik S. Yando, A. Randall Hughes, Et Al.

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Climate change is altering species’ range limits and transforming ecosystems. For example, warming temperatures are leading to the range expansion of tropical, cold-sensitive species at the expense of their cold-tolerant counterparts. In some temperate and subtropical coastal wetlands, warming winters are enabling mangrove forest encroachment into salt marsh, which is a major regime shift that has significant ecological and societal ramifications. Here, we synthesized existing data and expert knowledge to assess the distribution of mangroves near rapidly changing range limits in the southeastern USA. We used expert elicitation to identify data limitations and highlight knowledge gaps for advancing understanding of …

Marine Heatwaves Modulate The Genotypic And Physiological Responses Of Reef-Building Corals To Subsequent Heat Stress, Kristen T. Brown, Amatzia Genin, Matheus A. Mello-Athayde, Ellie Bergstrom, Adriana Campili, Aaron Chai, Sophie G. Dove, Maureen Ho, Devin Rowell, Eugenia M. Sampayo, Veronica Z. Radice

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Back-to-back marine heatwaves in 2016 and 2017 resulted in severe coral bleaching and mortality across the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Encouragingly, some corals that survived these events exhibit increased bleaching resistance and may represent thermally tolerant populations that can better cope with ocean warming. Using the GBR as a natural laboratory, we investigated whether a history of minimal (Heron Island) or severe (Lizard Island) coral bleaching in 2016 and 2017 equates to stress tolerance in a successive heatwave (2020). We examined the genetic diversity, physiological performance, and trophic plasticity of juvenile (<10 cm) and adult (>25 cm) corals of two common genera ( …

Abiotic Stress Mitigation: A Case Study From 21 Trials Using A Natural Organic Matter Based Biostimulant Across Multiple Geographies, Rachel L. Sleighter, Terry Hanson, David Holden, Kristen M. Richards

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Crop productivity and yields can be greatly diminished by abiotic stress events including drought, extreme temperatures, excess moisture, and saline irrigation water. Multiple stressors occurring simultaneously can further exacerbate the strain on plants. Various types of biostimulants have been shown to mitigate abiotic stress and here, the results of 21 trials on corn, wheat, soybean, and various high-value crops are discussed in the context of the abiotic stress that either occurred naturally or was experimentally induced. Treatments in these trials included stressed and non-stressed plants, as well as either an untreated control or grower standard fertilizer applications alone and in …

Potential Interactions Between Diatoms And Bacteria Are Shaped By Trace Element Gradients In The Southern Ocean, Alexa R. Sterling, Laura Z. Holland, Randelle M. Bundy, Shannon M. Burns, Kristen N. Buck, P. Dreux Chappell, Bethany D. Jenkins

OES Faculty Publications

The growth of diatoms in the Southern Ocean, especially the region surrounding the West Antarctic Peninsula, is frequently constrained by low dissolved iron and other trace metal concentrations. This challenge may be overcome by mutualisms between diatoms and co-occurring associated bacteria, in which diatoms produce organic carbon as a substrate for bacterial growth, and bacteria produce siderophores, metal-binding ligands that can supply diatoms with metals upon uptake as well as other useful secondary compounds for diatom growth like vitamins. To examine the relationships between diatoms and bacteria in the plankton (diatom) size class (> 3 mu m), we sampled both …

Phytoplankton Thermal Trait Parameterization Alters Community Structure And Biogeochemical Processes In A Modeled Ocean, Stephanie I. Anderson, Clara Fronda, Andrew D. Barton, Sophie Clayton, Tatiana A. Rynearson, Stephanie Dutkiewicz

OES Faculty Publications

Phytoplankton exhibit diverse physiological responses to temperature which influence their fitness in the environment and consequently alter their community structure. Here, we explored the sensitivity of phytoplankton community structure to thermal response parameterization in a modelled marine phytoplankton community. Using published empirical data, we evaluated the maximum thermal growth rates (μ_max) and temperature coefficients (Q₁₀; the rate at which growth scales with temperature) of six key Phytoplankton Functional Types (PFTs): coccolithophores, cyanobacteria, diatoms, diazotrophs, dinoflagellates, and green algae. Following three well-documented methods, PFTs were either assumed to have (1) the same μ_max and …

A Trait‐Based Framework For Assessing The Vulnerability Of Marine Species To Human Impacts, Nathalie Butt, Benjamin S. Halpern, Casey S. O'Hara, A. Louise Allcock, Beth Polidoro, Samantha Sherman, Maria Byrne, Charles Birkeland, Ross G. Dwyer, Melanie Frazier, Bradley K. Woodworth, Claudia P. Arango, Michael J. Kingsford, Vinay Udyawer, Pat Hutchings, Elliot Scanes, Emily Jane Mcclaren, Sara M. Maxwell, Guillermo Diaz-Pulido, Emma Dugan, Blake Alexander Simmons, Amelia S. Wenger, Christi Linardich, Carissa J. Klein

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Marine species and ecosystems are widely affected by anthropogenic stressors, ranging from pollution and fishing to climate change. Comprehensive assessments of how species and ecosystems are impacted by anthropogenic stressors are critical for guiding conservation and management investments. Previous global risk or vulnerability assessments have focused on marine habitats, or on limited taxa or specific regions. However, information about the susceptibility of marine species across a range of taxa to different stressors everywhere is required to predict how marine biodiversity will respond to human pressures. We present a novel framework that uses life-history traits to assess species’ vulnerability to a …

Global Connectivity Of Southern Ocean Ecosystems, Eugene J. Murphy, Nadine M. Johnston, Eileen E. Hofmann, Richard A. Phillips, Jennifer A. Jackson, Andrew J. Constable, Sian F. Henley, Jessica Melbourne-Thomas, Rowan Trebilco, Rachel D. Cavanagh, Geraint A. Tarling, Ryan A. Saunders, David K.A. Barnes, Daniel P. Costa, Stuart P. Corney, Ceridwen I. Fraser, Juan Höfer, Kevin A. Hughes, Chester J. Sands, Sally E. Thorpe, Philip N. Trathan, José C. Xavier

CCPO Publications

Southern Ocean ecosystems are globally important. Processes in the Antarctic atmosphere, cryosphere, and the Southern Ocean directly influence global atmospheric and oceanic systems. Southern Ocean biogeochemistry has also been shown to have global importance. In contrast, ocean ecological processes are often seen as largely separate from the rest of the global system. In this paper, we consider the degree of ecological connectivity at different trophic levels, linking Southern Ocean ecosystems with the global ocean, and their importance not only for the regional ecosystem but also the wider Earth system. We also consider the human system connections, including the role of …

Variation In Coral Thermotolerance Across A Pollution Gradient Erodes As Coral Symbionts Shift To More Heat-Tolerant Genera, Melissa S. Naugle, Thomas A. Oliver, Daniel J. Barshis, Ruth D. Gates, Cheryl A. Logan

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Phenotypic plasticity is one mechanism whereby species may cope with stressful environmental changes associated with climate change. Reef building corals present a good model for studying phenotypic plasticity because they have experienced rapid climate-driven declines in recent decades (within a single generation of many corals), often with differential survival among individuals during heat stress. Underlying differences in thermotolerance may be driven by differences in baseline levels of environmental stress, including pollution stress. To examine this possibility, acute heat stress experiments were conducted on Acropora hyacinthus from 10 sites around Tutuila, American Samoa with differing nutrient pollution impact. A threshold-based heat …

Standardized Short-Term Acute Heat Stress Assays Resolve Historical Differences In Coral Thermotolerance Across Microhabitat Reef Sites, Christian R. Voolstra, Carol Buitrago-López, Gabriela Perna, Anny Cárdenas, Benjamin C. C. Hume, Nils Rädecker, Daniel J. Barshis

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Coral bleaching is one of the main drivers of reef degradation. Most corals bleach and suffer mortality at just 1–2°C above their maximum monthly mean temperatures, but some species and genotypes resist or recover better than others. Here, we conducted a series of 18‐hr short‐term acute heat stress assays side‐by‐side with a 21‐day long‐term heat stress experiment to assess the ability of both approaches to resolve coral thermotolerance differences reflective of in situ reef temperature thresholds. Using a suite of physiological parameters (photosynthetic efficiency, coral whitening, chlorophyll a , host protein, algal symbiont counts, and algal type association), we assessed …

Metabolic Profiling Reveals Biochemical Pathways Responsible For Eelgrass Response To Elevated Co2 And Temperature, Carmen C. Zayas-Santiago, Albert Rivas-Ubach, Li-Jung Kuo, Nicholas D. Ward, Richard C. Zimmerman

OES Faculty Publications

As CO₂ levels in Earth’s atmosphere and oceans steadily rise, varying organismal responses may produce ecological losers and winners. Increased ocean CO₂ can enhance seagrass productivity and thermal tolerance, providing some compensation for climate warming. However, the metabolic shifts driving the positive response to elevated CO₂ by these important ecosystem engineers remain unknown. We analyzed whole-plant performance and metabolic profiles of two geographically distinct eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) populations in response to CO₂ enrichment. In addition to enhancing overall plant size, growth and survival, CO₂ enrichment increased the abundance of Calvin Cycle and …

Range Expansion Of Tick Disease Vectors In North America: Implications For Spread Of Tick-Borne Disease, Daniel E. Sonenshine

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Ticks are the major vectors of most disease-causing agents to humans, companion animals and wildlife. Moreover, ticks transmit a greater variety of pathogenic agents than any other blood-feeding arthropod. Ticks have been expanding their geographic ranges in recent decades largely due to climate change. Furthermore, tick populations in many areas of their past and even newly established localities have increased in abundance. These dynamic changes present new and increasing severe public health threats to humans, livestock and companion animals in areas where they were previously unknown or were considered to be of minor importance. Here in this review, the geographic …

A Synergistic Approach For Evaluating Climate Model Output For Ecological Applications, Rachel D. Cavanagh, Eugene J. Murphy, Thomas J. Bracegirdle, John Turner, Cheryl A. Knowland, Stuart P. Corney, Walker O. Smith Jr., Claire M. Waluda, Nadine M. Johnston, Richard G. J. Bellerby, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

Increasing concern about the impacts of climate change on ecosystems is prompting ecologists and ecosystem managers to seek reliable projections of physical drivers of change. The use of global climate models in ecology is growing, although drawing ecologically meaningful conclusions can be problematic. The expertise required to access and interpret output from climate and earth system models is hampering progress in utilizing them most effectively to determine the wider implications of climate change. To address this issue, we present a joint approach between climate scientists and ecologists that explores key challenges and opportunities for progress. As an exemplar, our focus …

Twenty-First Century Climate Change And Submerged Aquatic Vegetation In A Temperate Estuary: The Case Of Chesapeake Bay, Thomas M. Arnold, Richard C. Zimmerman, Katharina A.M. Engelhardt, J. Court Stevenson

OES Faculty Publications

Introduction: The Chesapeake Bay was once renowned for expansive meadows of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). However, only 10% of the original meadows survive. Future restoration effortswill be complicated by accelerating climate change, including physiological stressors such as a predicted mean temperature increase of 2-6°C and a 50-160% increase in CO2 concentrations.

Outcomes: As the Chesapeake Bay begins to exhibit characteristics of a subtropical estuary, summer heat waves will become more frequent and severe. Warming alone would eventually eliminate eelgrass (Zostera marina) from the region. It will favor native heat-tolerant species such as widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima) while facilitating colonization by …

Marine Infectious Disease Dynamics And Outbreak Thresholds: Contact Transmission, Pandemic Infection, And The Potential Role Of Filter Feeders, Gorka Bidegain, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klinck, Tal Ben-Horin, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

Disease-causing organisms can have significant impacts on marine species and communities. However, the dynamics that underlie the emergence of disease outbreaks in marine ecosystems still lack the equivalent level of description, conceptual understanding, and modeling context routinely present in the terrestrial systems. Here, we propose a theoretical basis for modeling the transmission of marine infectious diseases (MIDs) developed from simple models of the spread of infectious disease. The models represent the dynamics of a variety of host-pathogen systems including those unique to marine systems where transmission of disease is by contact with waterborne pathogens both directly and through filter-feeding processes. …

Understanding The Structure And Functioning Of Polar Pelagic Ecosystems To Predict The Impacts Of Change, E. E. Murphy, R. D. Cavanagh, K. F. Drinkwater, S. M. Grant, J. J. Heymans, E. E. Hofmann, G. L. Hunt Jr., N. M. Johnston

CCPO Publications

The determinants of the structure, functioning and resilience of pelagic ecosystems across most of the polar regions are not well known. Improved understanding is essential for assessing the value of biodiversity and predicting the effects of change (including in biodiversity) on these ecosystems and the services they maintain. Here we focus on the trophic interactions that underpin ecosystem structure, developing comparative analyses of how polar pelagic food webs vary in relation to the environment. We highlight that there is not a singular, generic Arctic or Antarctic pelagic food web, and, although there are characteristic pathways of energy flow dominated by …

Tick-, Mosquito-, And Rodent-Bourne Parasite Sampling Designs For The National Ecological Observatory Network, Yuri Springer, David Hoekman, Pieter T.J. Johnson, Paul A. Duffy, Rebecca A. Hufft, Holly D. Gaff

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Parasites and pathogens are increasingly recognized as significant drivers of ecological and evolutionary change in natural ecosystems. Concurrently, transmission of infectious agents among human, livestock, and wildlife populations represents a growing threat to veterinary and human health. In light of these trends and the scarcity of long-term time series data on infection rates among vectors and reservoirs, the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will collect measurements and samples of a suite of tick-, mosquito-, and rodent-borne parasites through a continental-scale surveillance program. Here, we describe the sampling designs for these efforts, highlighting sampling priorities, field and analytical methods, and the …

Imber- Research For Marine Sustainability: Synthesis And The Way Forward, Eileen Hofmann, Alida Bundy, Ken Drinkwater, Alberto R. Piola, Bernard Avril, Carol Robinson

CCPO Publications

The Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (IMBER) project aims at developing a comprehensive understanding of and accurate predictive capacity of ocean responses to accelerating global change and the consequent effects on the Earth system and human society. Understanding the changing ecology and biogeochemistry of marine ecosystems and their sensitivity and resilience to multiple drivers, pressures and stressors is critical to developing responses that will help reduce the vulnerability of marine-dependent human communities. This overview of the IMBER project provides a synthesis of project achievements and highlights the value of collaborative, interdisciplinary, integrated research approaches as developed and implemented through …

Quantifying Florida Bay Habitat Suitability For Fishes And Invertebrates Under Climate Change Scenarios, Kelly A. Kearney, Mark J. Butler Iv, Robert Glazer, Christopner R. Kelble, Joseph E. Serafy, Erik Stabenau

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The Florida Bay ecosystem supports a number of economically important ecosystem services, including several recreational fisheries, which may be affected by changing salinity and temperature due toclimate change. In this paper, we use a combination of physical models and habitat suitability index models to quantify the effects of potential climate change scenarios on a variety of juvenile fish and lobster species in Florida Bay. The climate scenarios include alterations in sea level, evaporation and precipitation rates, coastal runoff, and water temperature. We find that the changes in habitat suitability vary in both magnitude and direction across the scenarios and species, …

Climate, Environmental And Socio-Economic Change: Weighing Up The Balance In Vector-Borne Disease Transmission, Paul E. Parham, Joanna Waldock, George K. Christophides, Deborah Hemming, Folashade Agusto, Katherine J. Evans, Nina Fefferman, Holly Gaff, Abba Gumel, Shannon Ladeau

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Arguably one of the most important effects of climate change is the potential impact on human health. While this is likely to take many forms, the implications for future transmission of vector-borne diseases (VBDs), given their ongoing contribution to global disease burden, are both extremely important and highly uncertain. In part, this is owing not only to data limitations and methodological challenges when integrating climate-driven VBD models and climate change projections, but also, perhaps most crucially, to the multitude of epidemiological, ecological and socio-economic factors that drive VBD transmission, and this complexity has generated considerable debate over the past 10-15 …

Krill, Climate, And Contrasting Future Scenarios For Arctic And Antarctic Fisheries, Margaret M. Mcbride, Padmini Dalpadado, Kenneth F. Drinkwater, Olav Rune Godø, Alistair J. Hobday, Anne B. Hollowed, Trond Kristiansen, Eugene J. Murphy, Patrick H. Ressler, Sam Subbey, Eileen E. Hofmann, Harald Loeng

CCPO Publications

Arctic and Antarcticmarine systems have incommon high latitudes, large seasonal changes in light levels, cold air and sea temperatures, and sea ice. In other ways, however, they are strikingly different, including their: age, extent, geological structure, ice stability, and foodweb structure. Both regions contain very rapidly warming areas and climate impacts have been reported, as have dramatic future projections. However, the combined effects of a changing climate on oceanographic processes and foodweb dynamics are likely to influence their future fisheries in very different ways. Differences in the life-history strategies of the key zooplankton species (Antarctic krill in the Southern Ocean …

Can We Predict The Future: Juvenile Finfish And Their Seagrass Nurseries In The Chesapeake Bay, Cynthia M. Jones

OES Faculty Publications

The importance of estuarine seagrass beds as nurseries for juvenile fish has become a universal paradigm, especially for estuaries that are as important as the Chesapeake Bay. Yet, scientific tests of this hypothesis were equivocal depending on species, location, and metrics. Moreover, seagrasses themselves are under threat and one-third of seagrasses have disappeared worldwide with 65 of their losses occurring in estuaries. Although there have been extensive studies of seagrasses in the Chesapeake Bay, surprisingly few studies have quantified the relationship between seagrass as nurseries for finfish in the Bay. Of the few studies that have directly evaluated the use …

Anthropogenic Climate Change And Allergic Diseases, James Blando, Leonard Bielory, Viann Nguyen, Rafael Diaz, Hueiwang Anna Jeng

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Climate change is expected to have an impact on various aspects of health, including mucosal areas involved in allergic inflammatory disorders that include asthma, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis and anaphylaxis. The evidence that links climate change to the exacerbation and the development of allergic disease is increasing and appears to be linked to changes in pollen seasons (duration, onset and intensity) and changes in allergen content of plants and their pollen as it relates to increased sensitization, allergenicity and exacerbations of allergic airway disease. This has significant implications for air quality and for the global food supply.

Can Oysters Crassostrea Virginica Develop Resistance To Dermo Disease In The Field: The Impediment Posed By Climate Cycles, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klinck, Ximing Guo, Eileen E. Hofmann, Susan E. Ford, David Bushek

CCPO Publications

Populations of eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica, are commonly limited by mortality from dermo disease. Little development of resistance to Perkinsus marinus, the dermo pathogen, has occurred, despite the high mortality rates and frequency of epizootics. Can the tendency of the parasite to exhibit cyclic epizootics limit the oyster's response to the disease despite the presence of alleles apparently conferring disease resistance? We utilize a gene-based population dynamics model to simulate the development of disease resistance in Crassostrea virginica populations exposed to cyclic mortality encompassing periodicities expected of dermo disease over the geographic range at which epizootics have been …

An Introduction To Ecology Of Infectious Diseases - Oysters And Estuaries, Eileen E. Hofmann, Susan E. Ford

OES Faculty Publications

Infectious diseases are recognized as an important factor regulating marine ecosystems (Harvell et al., 1999, 2002, 2004; Porter et al., 2001; McCallum et al., 2004; Ward and Lafferty, 2004; Stewart et al., 2008; Bienfang et al., 2011). Many of the organisms affected by marine diseases have important ecological roles in estuarine and coastal environments and some are also commercially important. Outbreaks of infectious diseases in these environments, referred to as epizootics, can produce significant population declines and extinctions, both of which threaten biodiversity, food web interactions, and ecosystem productivity (Harvell et al., 2002, 2004).

The Impact Of Conservation On The Status Of The World's Vertebrates, Michael Hoffmann, Craig Hilton-Taylor, Ariadne Angulo, Monika Böhm, Thomas M. Brooks, Stuart H. M. Butchart, Kent E. Carpenter, Janice Chanson, Beth A. Polidoro, Jonnell C. Sanciangco

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Using data for 25,780 species categorized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, we present an assessment of the status of the world's vertebrates. One-fifth of species are classified as Threatened, and we show that this figure is increasing: On average, 52 species of mammals, birds, and amphibians move one category closer to extinction each year. However, this overall pattern conceals the impact of conservation successes, and we show that the rate of deterioration would have been at least one-fifth again as much in the absence of these. Nonetheless, current conservation efforts remain insufficient to offset the …

Ancient Dna Analyses Exclude Humans As The Driving Force Behind Late Pleistocene Musk Ox (Ovibos Moschatus) Population Dynamics, Paula F. Campos, Eske Willerslev, Andrei Sher, Ludovic Orlando, Erik Axelsson, Alexei Tikhonov, Kim Aaris-Sorensen, Alex D. Greenwood, Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke, Pavel Kosintsev

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The causes of the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions are poorly understood. Different lines of evidence point to climate change, the arrival of humans, or a combination of these events as the trigger. Although many species went extinct, others, such as caribou and bison, survived to the present. The musk ox has an intermediate story: relatively abundant during the Pleistocene, it is now restricted to Greenland and the Arctic Archipelago. In this study, we use ancient DNA sequences, temporally unbiased summary statistics, and Bayesian analytical techniques to infer musk ox population dynamics throughout the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Our results reveal …