Search results for "maximum"
showing 10 items of 753 documents
Five centuries of Central European temperature extremes reconstructed from tree-ring density and documentary evidence
2010
Future climate change will likely influence the frequency and intensity of weather extremes. As such events are by definition rare, long records are required to understand their characteristics, drivers, and consequences on ecology and society. Herein we provide a unique perspective on regional-scale temperature extremes over the past millennium, using three tree-ring maximum latewood density (MXD) chronologies from higher elevations in the European Alps. We verify the tree-ring-based extremes using documentary evidences from Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Central Europe that allowed the identification of 44 summer extremes over the 1550-2003 period. These events include cold temperat…
Calcareous nannofossil palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and preservation in sapropel S1 at the Eratosthenes Seamount (Eastern Mediterranean)
2019
Abstract The most recent organic carbon-enriched layer (sapropel S1) deposited at the Eratosthenes Seamount has unique features, such as an early lithological interruption, fine light silt laminae and an exceptional vertical extent that is over 25 cm thick. Here we investigate calcareous nannofossil assemblages to reconstruct very high-resolution palaeoenvironmental and palaeoceanographic variations recorded before, during and after the perturbation episode that involved the eastern Mediterranean Sea, due to the massive freshwater discharge via Nile River. Our results show that the deep chlorophyll maximum development, observed in all micropalaeontological groups from previous studies, is a…
Paleoclimatic evolution of the Uvs Nuur basin and adjacent areas (Western Mongolia)
2000
Abstract The investigations presented in this paper focus on the shifts in Pleistocene glaciations and the geomorphic changes in landforms, as well as lake level changes and aeolian deposits of the last glacial–interglacial cycle, including the Holocene. Geomorphic evidence and high lake levels show that the climate was more humid before the last glacial maximum (LGM); however, at least one arid phase also occurred. During the second half of the LGM the climate was dry and cold, turning to wet and cold during the Late Glacial of the last Ice Age. Fluctuations in humidity and temperature occurred during the Holocene. Since about 2000 yr BP the impact of human activity has increased.
Speleothems from the Middle East: An Example of Water Limited Environments in the SISAL Database
2019
The Middle East (ME) spans the transition between a temperate Mediterranean climate in the Levant to hyper-arid sub-tropical deserts in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula (AP), with the complex alpine topography in the northeast feeding the Euphrates and Tigris rivers which support life in the Southeastern Fertile Crescent (FC). Climate projections predict severe drying in several parts of the ME in response to global warming, making it important to understand the controls of hydro-climate perturbations in the region. Here we discuss 23 ME speleothem stable oxygen isotope (δ18Occ) records from 16 sites from the SISAL_v1 database (Speleothem Isotope Synthesis and Analysis database), …
Stochastic models for phytoplankton dynamics in Mediterranean Sea
2016
Abstract In this paper, we review some results obtained from three one-dimensional stochastic models, which were used to analyze picophytoplankton dynamics in two sites of the Mediterranean Sea. Firstly, we present a stochastic advection–reaction–diffusion model to describe the vertical spatial distribution of picoeukaryotes in a site of the Sicily Channel. The second model, which is an extended version of the first one, is used to obtain the vertical stationary profiles of two groups of picophytoplankton, i.e. Pelagophytes and Prochlorococcus, in the same marine site as in the previous case. Here, we include intraspecific competition of picophytoplanktonic groups for limiting factors, i.e.…
Phylogeography, evolutionary history and effects of glaciations in a species (Zootoca vivipara) inhabiting multiple biogeographic regions
2018
[Aim]: During glaciations, the distribution of temperate species inhabiting the Northern Hemisphere generally contracts into southern refugia; and in boreo‐alpine species of the Northern Hemisphere, expansion from Northern refugia is the general rule. Little is known about the drivers explaining vast distributions of species inhabiting multiple biogeographic regions (major biogeographic regions defined by the European Environmental Agency). Here we investigate the fine‐scale phylogeography and evolutionary history of the Eurasian common lizard (Zootoca vivipara), the terrestrial reptile with the world's widest and highest latitudinal distribution, that inhabits multiple biogeographic region…
Response to formal comment on Myhrvold (2016) submitted by Griebeler and Werner (2017)
2018
In his 2016 paper, Myhrvold criticized ours from 2014 on maximum growth rates (Gmax, maximum gain in body mass observed within a time unit throughout an individual’s ontogeny) and thermoregulation strategies (ectothermy, endothermy) of 17 dinosaurs. In our paper, we showed that Gmax values of similar-sized extant ectothermic and endothermic vertebrates overlap. This strongly questions a correct assignment of a thermoregulation strategy to a dinosaur only based on its Gmax and (adult) body mass (M). Contrary, Gmax separated similar-sized extant reptiles and birds (Sauropsida) and Gmax values of our studied dinosaurs were similar to those seen in extant similar-sized (if necessary scaled-up) …
Patterns of genetic diversity and structure in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic Nacella (Patellogastropoda: Nacellidae) species.
2016
10 pages; International audience; The biogeography of the Southern Ocean reflects complex interactions between major macro-evolutionary forces and biotic elements. Major gateway openings, the establishment of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and climate cooling are deeply connected to the composition, abundance and distribution of the Southern Ocean marine benthic fauna. Glacial episodes of the Quaternary heavily impacted the distribution of the genetic variation of the Southern Ocean biota. The genus Nacella includes 12 nominal species in different provinces of the Southern Ocean. In this study, we compared patterns of mitochondrial DNA diversity in three Nacella species from Antarctic Pe…
Simultaneous speciation in the European high mountain flowering plant genus Facchinia (Minuartia s.l., Caryophyllaceae) revealed by genotyping-by-seq…
2017
Understanding the relative importance of different mechanisms of speciation in a given lineage requires fully resolved interspecific relationships. Using Facchinia, a genus of seven species centred in the European Alps, we explore whether the polytomy found by Sanger sequencing analyses of standard nuclear (ITS) and plastid markers (trnQ-rps16) is a hard or soft polytomy by substantially increasing the amount of DNA sequence data, generated by genotyping-by-sequencing. In comparison to 142 phylogenetically informative sites in the Sanger sequences the GBS sequences yielded 3363 phylogenetically informative sites after exclusion of apparently oversaturated SNPs. Maximum parsimony, maximum li…
Phylogeny and the colourful history of jewel bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Scutelleridae)
2017
Members of the family Scutelleridae (Heteroptera: Pentatomomorpha: Pentatomoidea) are also called shield bugs because of the greatly enlarged scutellum, or jewel bugs because of the brilliant colours of many species. All scutellerids are phytophagous, feeding on various parts of their host plants. Due to lack of obvious synapomorphies and the failure to apply rigorous phylogenetic methods, the higher classification of Scutelleridae has been disputed for more than 150 years. Here we reconstructed a phylogeny of Scutelleridae based on complete sequences of 18S and 28S nuclear rDNAs and all 13 protein-coding genes of the mitochondrial genome, with the sampled taxa covering all of the currently…