Search results for "Arctic"

Species–area relationships in continuous vegetation: Evidence from Palaearctic grasslands

2019

Aim Species-area relationships (SARs) are fundamental scaling laws in ecology although their shape is still disputed. At larger areas, power laws best represent SARs. Yet, it remains unclear whether SARs follow other shapes at finer spatial grains in continuous vegetation. We asked which function describes SARs best at small grains and explored how sampling methodology or the environment influence SAR shape. Location Palaearctic grasslands and other non-forested habitats. Taxa Vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens. Methods We used the GrassPlot database, containing standardized vegetation-plot data from vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens spanning a wide range of grassland types throu…

Emissions of atmospherically reactive gases nitrous acid and nitric oxide from Arctic permafrost peatlands

2022

Soils are important sources of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous acid (HONO) in the atmosphere. These nitrogen (N)-containing gases play a crucial role in atmospheric chemistry and climate at different scales because of reactions modulated by NO and hydroxyl radicals (OH), which are formed via HONO photolysis. Northern permafrost soils have so far remained unexplored for HONO and NO emissions despite their high N stocks, capacity to emit nitrous oxide (N2O), and enhancing mineral N turnover due to warming and permafrost thawing. Here, we report the first HONO and NO emissions from high-latitude soils based on measurements of permafrost-affected subarctic peatlands. We show large HONO (0.1–2.4 µ…

Leishmania tarentolae and Leishmania infantum in humans, dogs and cats in the Pelagie archipelago, southern Italy.

2021

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania infantum is endemic in the Mediterranean basin with most of the infected human patients remaining asymptomatic. Recently, the saurian-associated Leishmania tarentolae was detected in human blood donors and in sheltered dogs. The circulation of L. infantum and L. tarentolae was investigated in humans, dogs and cats living in the Pelagie islands (Sicily, Italy) by multiple serological and molecular testing. Human serum samples (n = 346) were tested to assess the exposure to L. infantum by immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot (WB) and to L. tarentolae by IFAT. Meanwhile, sera from do…

Ba/Ca ratios in shells of Arctica islandica —Potential environmental proxy and crossdating tool

2017

Abstract Ba/Ca shell time-series of marine bivalves typically show flat background levels which are interrupted by erratic sharp peaks. Evidence from the literature indicates that background Ba/Ca shell ratios broadly reflect salinity conditions. However, the causes for the Ba/Ca shell peaks are still controversial and widely debated although many researchers link these changes to primary productivity, freshwater input or spawning events. The most striking feature is that the Ba/Ca shell peaks are highly synchronous in contemporaneous specimens from the same population. For the first time, we studied Ba/Ca shell in mature and ontogenetically old (up to 251 year-old) specimens of the long-li…

Otolith chemical composition suggests local populations of Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarctica (Boulenger, 1902) around Antarctica are expos…

2021

The Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarctica is a key species in the Southern Ocean ecosystem, and it is potentially threatened by the climate change affecting Antarctic ecosystems. Assessing the possible exposure to similar or different environmental conditions at early life stages and gathering information about connectivity or segregation between local populations of P. antarctica can be key for planning sound management strategies for this species. By using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, we characterized the otolith chemical composition of 163 adult Antarctic silverfish collected from three areas located thousands of kilometers apart from each other: Ca…

Glacial survival and post-glacial recolonization of an arctic-alpine freshwater insect (Arcynopteryx dichroa, Plecoptera, Perlodidae) in Europe

2012

Aim General models for understanding the climate-driven processes of post-glacial colonization in European arctic–alpine species are mainly derived from studies on temperate terrestrial taxa. However, cold-adapted freshwater species may tolerate or even thrive under colder climatic conditions as flowing water habitats are thermally buffered against freezing and extremely cold temperatures. Here, we investigate the European Pleistocene and Holocene history of the arctic–alpine stonefly Arcynopteryx dichroa. Location Europe. Methods We used two genetic data sets (mitochondrial sequence data and nuclear microsatellite data) to investigate the glacial survival and post-glacial recolonization ro…

Parapatric diversification after post-glacial range expansion in the gall flyUrophora cardui(Tephritidae)

2010

Aim  Primary and secondary genetic clines in post-glacial colonized regions have different implications for biogeographic distributions and the origin of species. Primary clines arise in situ after colonization as adaptive responses to environmental gradients, while secondary clines are caused by contact between vicariant lineages. Here we analyse primary versus secondary origin of a genetic cline in the tephritid fly Urophora cardui in Jutland, Denmark, in a post-glacial landscape. Location  Western Palaearctic. Methods  Phylogeographic and demographic analyses of U. cardui based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genealogies, hierarchical genetic variance tests based on allozymes and distributi…

2022

The quality of wintering habitats, such as depth of snow cover, plays a key role in sustaining population dynamics of Arctic lemmings. However, few studies so far investigated habitat use during the Arctic winter. Here, we used a unique long-term time series to test whether lemmings are associated with topographical and vegetational habitat features for their wintering sites. We examined yearly numbers and distribution of 22 769 winter nests of the collared lemming Dicrostonyx groenlandicus (Traill, 1823) from an ongoing long-term research on Traill Island, Northeast Greenland, collected between 1989 and 2019, and correlated this information with data on dominant vegetation types, elevatio…

Long-term monitoring reveals topographical features and vegetation explain winter habitat use of an Arctic rodent

2021

AbstractCollapsing lemming cycles have been observed across the Arctic, presumably due to global warming creating less favorable winter conditions. The quality of wintering habitats, such as depth of snow cover, plays a key role in sustaining population dynamics of arctic lemmings. However, few studies so far investigated habitat use during the arctic winter. Here, we used a unique long-term time series to test whether lemmings are associated with topographical and vegetational habitat features for their winter refugi. We examined yearly numbers and distribution of 22,769 winter nests of the collared lemming Dicrostonyx groenlandicus from an ongoing long-term research on Traill Island, Nort…

Idiosyncratic responses to simulated herbivory by root fungal symbionts in a subarctic meadow

2021

Plant-associated fungi have elementary roles in ecosystem productivity. There is little information on the interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal symbiosis, fine endophytic (FE) and dark septate endophytic (DSE) fungi, and their host plants in cold climate systems. In particular, the environmental filters potentially driving the relative abundance of these root symbionts remain unknown. We investigated the interlinkage of plant and belowground fungal responses to simulated herbivory (clipping, fertilization, and trampling) in a subarctic meadow system. AM and FE frequency in the two target plant roots, Potentilla crantzii and Saussurea alpina, was unaffected by simulated he…