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Articles 1 - 18 of 18
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Climate Coupling Between Temperature, Humidity, Precipitation, And Cloud Cover Over The Canadian Prairies, Alan K. Betts, Raymond Desjardins, Devon Worth, Brian Beckage
Climate Coupling Between Temperature, Humidity, Precipitation, And Cloud Cover Over The Canadian Prairies, Alan K. Betts, Raymond Desjardins, Devon Worth, Brian Beckage
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications
This analysis uses over 50 years of hourly observations of temperature, relative humidity, and opaque cloud cover and daily precipitation from 11 climate stations across the Canadian Prairies to analyze the monthly, seasonal, and long-term climate coupling in the warm season. On climate time scales, temperature depends on cloud forcing, while relative humidity depends on precipitation. The monthly climate depends on both opaque cloud cover for the current month and precipitation for both the present and past 2 months in summer. Multiple linear regression shows that anomalies of opaque cloud and precipitation explain 60–80% of the variance in the diurnal …
Geographic Differences In Effects Of Experimental Warming On Ant Species Diversity And Community Composition, S. L. Pelini, S. E. Diamond, L. M. Nichols, K. L. Stuble, A. M. Ellison, N. J. Sanders, R. R. Dunn, N. J. Gotelli
Geographic Differences In Effects Of Experimental Warming On Ant Species Diversity And Community Composition, S. L. Pelini, S. E. Diamond, L. M. Nichols, K. L. Stuble, A. M. Ellison, N. J. Sanders, R. R. Dunn, N. J. Gotelli
College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications
Ecological communities are being reshaped by climatic change. Losses and gains of species will alter community composition and diversity but these effects are likely to vary geographically and may be hard to predict from uncontrolled "natural experiments". In this study, we used open-top warming chambers to simulate a range of warming scenarios for ground-nesting ant communities at a northern (Harvard Forest, MA) and southern (Duke Forest, NC) study site in the eastern US. After 2.5 years of experimental warming, we found no significant effects of accumulated growing degree days or soil moisture on ant diversity or community composition at the …
Are Genes Faster Than Crabs? Mitochondrial Introgression Exceeds Larval Dispersal During Population Expansion Of The Invasive Crab Carcinus Maenas, John A. Darling, Yi Hsin Erica Tsai, April M.H. Blakeslee, Joe Roman
Are Genes Faster Than Crabs? Mitochondrial Introgression Exceeds Larval Dispersal During Population Expansion Of The Invasive Crab Carcinus Maenas, John A. Darling, Yi Hsin Erica Tsai, April M.H. Blakeslee, Joe Roman
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Biological invasions offer unique opportunities to investigate evolutionary dynamics at the peripheries of expanding populations. Here, we examine genetic patterns associated with admixture between two distinct invasive lineages of the European green crab, Carcinus maenas L., independently introduced to the northwest Atlantic. Previous investigations based on mitochondrial DNA sequences demonstrated that larval dispersal driven by advective currents could explain observed southward displacement of an admixture zone between the two invasions. Comparison of published mitochondrial results with new nuclear data from nine microsatellite loci, however, reveals striking discordance in their introgression patterns. Specifically, introgression of mitochondrial genomes relative to nuclear background …
Matrix Models For Quantifying Competitive Intransitivity From Species Abundance Data, Werner Ulrich, Santiago Soliveres, Wojciech Kryszewski, Fernando T. Maestre, Nicholas J. Gotelli
Matrix Models For Quantifying Competitive Intransitivity From Species Abundance Data, Werner Ulrich, Santiago Soliveres, Wojciech Kryszewski, Fernando T. Maestre, Nicholas J. Gotelli
College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications
In a network of competing species, a competitive intransitivity occurs when the ranking of competitive abilities does not follow a linear hierarchy (A > B > C but C > A). A variety of mathematical models suggests that intransitive networks can prevent or slow down competitive exclusion and maintain biodiversity by enhancing species coexistence. However, it has been difficult to assess empirically the relative importance of intransitive competition because a large number of pairwise species competition experiments are needed to construct a competition matrix that is used to parameterize existing models. Here we introduce a statistical framework for evaluating the contribution of intransitivity …
Climate-Smart Agriculture Global Research Agenda: Scientific Basis For Action, Kerri L. Steenwerth, Amanda K. Hodson, Arnold J. Bloom, Michael R. Carter, Andrea Cattaneo, Colin J. Chartres, Jerry L. Hatfield, Kevin Henry, Jan W. Hopmans, William R. Horwath, Bryan M. Jenkins, Ermias Kebreab, Rik Leemans, Leslie Lipper, Mark N. Lubell, Siwa Msangi, Ravi Prabhu, Matthew P. Reynolds, Samuel Sandoval Solis, William M. Sischo, Michael Springborn, Pablo Tittonell, Stephen M. Wheeler, Sonja J. Vermeulen, Eva K. Wollenberg, Lovell S. Jarvis, Louise E. Jackson
Climate-Smart Agriculture Global Research Agenda: Scientific Basis For Action, Kerri L. Steenwerth, Amanda K. Hodson, Arnold J. Bloom, Michael R. Carter, Andrea Cattaneo, Colin J. Chartres, Jerry L. Hatfield, Kevin Henry, Jan W. Hopmans, William R. Horwath, Bryan M. Jenkins, Ermias Kebreab, Rik Leemans, Leslie Lipper, Mark N. Lubell, Siwa Msangi, Ravi Prabhu, Matthew P. Reynolds, Samuel Sandoval Solis, William M. Sischo, Michael Springborn, Pablo Tittonell, Stephen M. Wheeler, Sonja J. Vermeulen, Eva K. Wollenberg, Lovell S. Jarvis, Louise E. Jackson
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Background: Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) addresses the challenge of meeting the growing demand for food, fibre and fuel, despite the changing climate and fewer opportunities for agricultural expansion on additional lands. CSA focuses on contributing to economic development, poverty reduction and food security; maintaining and enhancing the productivity and resilience of natural and agricultural ecosystem functions, thus building natural capital; and reducing trade-offs involved in meeting these goals. Current gaps in knowledge, work within CSA, and agendas for interdisciplinary research and science-based actions identified at the 2013 Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture (Davis, CA, USA) are described here within three …
Using Historical And Experimental Data To Reveal Warming Effects On Ant Assemblages, Julian Resasco, Shannon L. Pelini, Katharine L. Stuble, Nathan J. Sanders, Robert R. Dunn, Sarah E. Diamond, Aaron M. Ellison, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Douglas J. Levey
Using Historical And Experimental Data To Reveal Warming Effects On Ant Assemblages, Julian Resasco, Shannon L. Pelini, Katharine L. Stuble, Nathan J. Sanders, Robert R. Dunn, Sarah E. Diamond, Aaron M. Ellison, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Douglas J. Levey
College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications
Historical records of species are compared with current records to elucidate effects of recent climate change. However, confounding variables such as succession, land-use change, and species invasions make it difficult to demonstrate a causal link between changes in biota and changes in climate. Experiments that manipulate temperature can overcome this issue of attribution, but long-term impacts of warming are difficult to test directly. Here we combine historical and experimental data to explore effects of warming on ant assemblages in southeastern US. Observational data span a 35-year period (1976-2011), during which mean annual temperatures had an increasing trend. Mean summer temperatures …
Rarefaction And Extrapolation With Hill Numbers: A Framework For Sampling And Estimation In Species Diversity Studies, Anne Chao, Nicholas J. Gotelli, T. C. Hsieh, Elizabeth L. Sander, K. H. Ma, Robert K. Colwell, Aaron M. Ellison
Rarefaction And Extrapolation With Hill Numbers: A Framework For Sampling And Estimation In Species Diversity Studies, Anne Chao, Nicholas J. Gotelli, T. C. Hsieh, Elizabeth L. Sander, K. H. Ma, Robert K. Colwell, Aaron M. Ellison
College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications
Quantifying and assessing changes in biological diversity are central aspects of many ecological studies, yet accurate methods of estimating biological diversity from sampling data have been elusive. Hill numbers, or the effective number of species, are increasingly used to characterize the taxonomic, phylogenetic, or functional diversity of an assemblage. However, empirical estimates of Hill numbers, including species richness, tend to be an increasing function of sampling effort and, thus, tend to increase with sample completeness. Integrated curves based on sampling theory that smoothly link rarefaction (interpolation) and prediction (extrapolation) standardize samples on the basis of sample size or sample completeness …
A Framework For Evaluating The Influence Of Climate, Dispersal Limitation, And Biotic Interactions Using Fossil Pollen Associations Across The Late Quaternary, Jessica L. Blois, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Anna K. Behrensmeyer, J. Tyler Faith, S. Kathleen Lyons, John W. Williams, Kathryn L. Amatangelo, Antoine Bercovici, Andrew Du, Jussi T. Eronen, Gary R. Graves, Nathan Jud, Conrad Labandeira, Cindy V. Looy, Brian Mcgill, David Patterson, Richard Potts, Brett Riddle, Rebecca Terry, Anikó Tóth, Amelia Villaseñor, Scott Wing
A Framework For Evaluating The Influence Of Climate, Dispersal Limitation, And Biotic Interactions Using Fossil Pollen Associations Across The Late Quaternary, Jessica L. Blois, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Anna K. Behrensmeyer, J. Tyler Faith, S. Kathleen Lyons, John W. Williams, Kathryn L. Amatangelo, Antoine Bercovici, Andrew Du, Jussi T. Eronen, Gary R. Graves, Nathan Jud, Conrad Labandeira, Cindy V. Looy, Brian Mcgill, David Patterson, Richard Potts, Brett Riddle, Rebecca Terry, Anikó Tóth, Amelia Villaseñor, Scott Wing
College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications
Environmental conditions, dispersal lags, and interactions among species are major factors structuring communities through time and across space. Ecologists have emphasized the importance of biotic interactions in determining local patterns of species association. In contrast, abiotic limits, dispersal limitation, and historical factors have commonly been invoked to explain community structure patterns at larger spatiotemporal scales, such as the appearance of late Pleistocene no-analog communities or latitudinal gradients of species richness in both modern and fossil assemblages. Quantifying the relative influence of these processes on species co-occurrence patterns is not straightforward. We provide a framework for assessing causes of species associations …
Climate-Smart Landscapes: Opportunities And Challenges For Integrating Adaptation And Mitigation In Tropical Agriculture, Celia A. Harvey, Mario Chacón, Camila I. Donatti, Eva Garen, Lee Hannah, Angela Andrade, Lucio Bede, Douglas Brown, Alicia Calle, Julian Chará, Christopher Clement, Elizabeth Gray, Minh Ha Hoang, Peter Minang, Ana María Rodríguez, Christina Seeberg-Elverfeldt, Bambi Semroc, Seth Shames, Sean Smukler, Eduardo Somarriba, Emmanuel Torquebiau, Jacob Van Etten, Eva Wollenberg
Climate-Smart Landscapes: Opportunities And Challenges For Integrating Adaptation And Mitigation In Tropical Agriculture, Celia A. Harvey, Mario Chacón, Camila I. Donatti, Eva Garen, Lee Hannah, Angela Andrade, Lucio Bede, Douglas Brown, Alicia Calle, Julian Chará, Christopher Clement, Elizabeth Gray, Minh Ha Hoang, Peter Minang, Ana María Rodríguez, Christina Seeberg-Elverfeldt, Bambi Semroc, Seth Shames, Sean Smukler, Eduardo Somarriba, Emmanuel Torquebiau, Jacob Van Etten, Eva Wollenberg
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Addressing the global challenges of climate change, food security, and poverty alleviation requires enhancing the adaptive capacity and mitigation potential of agricultural landscapes across the tropics. However, adaptation and mitigation activities tend to be approached separately due to a variety of technical, political, financial, and socioeconomic constraints. Here, we demonstrate that many tropical agricultural systems can provide both mitigation and adaptation benefits if they are designed and managed appropriately and if the larger landscape context is considered. Many of the activities needed for adaptation and mitigation in tropical agricultural landscapes are the same needed for sustainable agriculture more generally, but …
Analysis Of A Consumer Survey On Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles, Joseph S. Krupa, Donna M. Rizzo, Margaret J. Eppstein, D. Brad Lanute, Diann E. Gaalema, Kiran Lakkaraju, Christina E. Warrender
Analysis Of A Consumer Survey On Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles, Joseph S. Krupa, Donna M. Rizzo, Margaret J. Eppstein, D. Brad Lanute, Diann E. Gaalema, Kiran Lakkaraju, Christina E. Warrender
College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) show potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, increase fuel efficiency, and offer driving ranges that are not limited by battery capacity. However, these benefits will not be realized if consumers do not adopt this new technology. Several agent-based models have been developed to model potential market penetration of PHEVs, but gaps in the available data limit the usefulness of these models. To address this, we administered a survey to 1000 stated US residents, using Amazon Mechanical Turk, to better understand factors influencing the potential for PHEV market penetration. Our analysis of the survey results …
A Cosmogenic View Of Erosion, Relief Generation, And The Age Of Faulting In Southern Africa, Paul R. Bierman, Ryan Coppersmith, Kathryn Hanson, Johann Neveling, Eric W. Portenga, Dylan H. Rood
A Cosmogenic View Of Erosion, Relief Generation, And The Age Of Faulting In Southern Africa, Paul R. Bierman, Ryan Coppersmith, Kathryn Hanson, Johann Neveling, Eric W. Portenga, Dylan H. Rood
College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications
Southernmost Africa, with extensive upland geomorphic surfaces, deep canyons, and numerous faults, has long interested geoscientists. A paucity of dates and low rates of background seismicity make it challenging to quantify the pace of landscape change and determine the likelihood and timing of fault movement that could raise and lower parts of the landscape and create associated geohazards. To infer regional rates of denudation, we measured 10Be in river sediment samples and found that south-central South Africa is eroding ∼5 m m.y.-1, a slow erosion rate consistent with those measured in other non-tectonically active areas, including much of southern Africa. …
P Values, Hypothesis Testing, And Model Selection: It's Déjà Vu All Over Again, Aaron M. Ellison, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Brian D. Inouye, Donald R. Strong
P Values, Hypothesis Testing, And Model Selection: It's Déjà Vu All Over Again, Aaron M. Ellison, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Brian D. Inouye, Donald R. Strong
College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Governing Agriculture-Forest Landscapes To Achieve Climate Change Mitigation, Arun Agrawal, E. Wollenberg, L. Persha
Governing Agriculture-Forest Landscapes To Achieve Climate Change Mitigation, Arun Agrawal, E. Wollenberg, L. Persha
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
This introduction to the special section on "Governing Agriculture-Forest Landscapes to Achieve Climate Change Mitigation" reviews external interventions to improve forest conditions and reduce deforestation, and by extension, influence carbon storage in agriculture-forest landscapes. The review is based on a careful survey of 123 cases of project-based and policy interventions to influence land use and forest cover outcomes. We propose that outcomes of interventions can be explained in terms of rights, incentives, and technologies related to land use and apply this framework to examine 12 types of interventions in agriculture-forest landscapes. The analysis of the identified 123 cases raises concerns …
Comment On "Opinion Paper: Forest Management And Biodiversity": The Role Of Protected Areas Is Greater Than The Sum Of Its Number Of Species, M. Mikoláš, M. Svoboda, V. Pouska, R. C. Morrissey, D. C. Donato, W. S. Keeton, T. A. Nagel, V. D. Popescu, J. Müller, C. Bässler, J. Knorn, L. Rozylowicz, C. M. Enescu, V. Trotsiuk, P. Janda, H. Mrhalová, Z. Michalová, F. Krumm, D. Kraus
Comment On "Opinion Paper: Forest Management And Biodiversity": The Role Of Protected Areas Is Greater Than The Sum Of Its Number Of Species, M. Mikoláš, M. Svoboda, V. Pouska, R. C. Morrissey, D. C. Donato, W. S. Keeton, T. A. Nagel, V. D. Popescu, J. Müller, C. Bässler, J. Knorn, L. Rozylowicz, C. M. Enescu, V. Trotsiuk, P. Janda, H. Mrhalová, Z. Michalová, F. Krumm, D. Kraus
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Whales As Marine Ecosystem Engineers, Joe Roman, James A. Estes, Lyne Morissette, Craig Smith, Daniel Costa, James Mccarthy, J. B. Nation, Stephen Nicol, Andrew Pershing, Victor Smetacek
Whales As Marine Ecosystem Engineers, Joe Roman, James A. Estes, Lyne Morissette, Craig Smith, Daniel Costa, James Mccarthy, J. B. Nation, Stephen Nicol, Andrew Pershing, Victor Smetacek
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Baleen and sperm whales, known collectively as the great whales, include the largest animals in the history of life on Earth. With high metabolic demands and large populations, whales probably had a strong influence on marine ecosystems before the advent of industrial whaling: as consumers of fish and invertebrates; as prey to other large-bodied predators; as reservoirs of and vertical and horizontal vectors for nutrients; and as detrital sources of energy and habitat in the deep sea. The decline in great whale numbers, estimated to be at least 66% and perhaps as high as 90%, has likely altered the structure …
Impacts Of Projected Climate Change Over The Lake Champlain Basin In Vermont, Justin Guilbert, Brian Beckage, Jonathan M. Winter, Radley M. Horton, Timothy Perkins, Arne Bomblies
Impacts Of Projected Climate Change Over The Lake Champlain Basin In Vermont, Justin Guilbert, Brian Beckage, Jonathan M. Winter, Radley M. Horton, Timothy Perkins, Arne Bomblies
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications
The Lake Champlain basin is a critical ecological and socioeconomic resource of the northeastern United States and southern Quebec, Canada. While general circulation models (GCMs) provide an overview of climate change in the region, they lack the spatial and temporal resolution necessary to fully anticipate the effects of rising global temperatures associated with increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. Observed trends in precipitation and temperature were assessed across the Lake Champlain basin to bridge the gap between global climate change and local impacts. Future shifts in precipitation and temperature were evaluated as well as derived indices, including maple syrup production, days above …
Potential Future Dynamics Of Carbon Fluxes And Pools In New England Forests And Their Climatic Sensitivities: A Model-Based Study, Guoping Tang, Brian Beckage, Benjamin Smith
Potential Future Dynamics Of Carbon Fluxes And Pools In New England Forests And Their Climatic Sensitivities: A Model-Based Study, Guoping Tang, Brian Beckage, Benjamin Smith
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications
Projections of terrestrial carbon (C) dynamics must account for interannual variation in ecosystem C exchange associated with climate change, increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration, and species dynamics. We used a dynamic ecosystem model to (i) project the potential dynamics of C in New England forests under nine climate change scenarios (CCSs) for the 21st century and (ii) examine the sensitivity of potential C dynamics to changes in climate and atmospheric CO2 concentration. Our results indicated that forest net primary productivity (NPP) and soil heterotrophic respiration (RH) averaged 428 and 279 gC/m2/yr and New England forests sequestered CO 2 by 149 gC/m2/yr …
Shade Coffee: Update On A Disappearing Refuge For Biodiversity, Shalene Jha, Christopher M. Bacon, Stacy M. Philpott, V. Ernesto Méndez, Peter Läderach, Robert A. Rice
Shade Coffee: Update On A Disappearing Refuge For Biodiversity, Shalene Jha, Christopher M. Bacon, Stacy M. Philpott, V. Ernesto Méndez, Peter Läderach, Robert A. Rice
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications
In the past three decades, coffee cultivation has gained widespread attention for its crucial role in supporting local and global biodiversity. In this synthetic Overview, we present newly gathered data that summarize how global patterns in coffee distribution and shade vegetation have changed and discuss implications for biodiversity, ecosystem services, and livelihoods. Although overall cultivated coffee area has decreased by 8% since 1990, coffee production and agricultural intensification have increased in many places and shifted globally, with production expanding in Asia while contracting in Africa. Ecosystem services such as pollination, pest control, climate regulation, and nutrient sequestration are generally greater …