Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Impacts of a regional multi-year insect defoliation event on seasonal runoff ratios and instantaneous streamflow characteristics
Published: 2020-10-26
Subjects: Forest Sciences, Hydrology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Water Resource Management
Repeated moderate severity forest disturbances can cause short- and long-term shifts in ecosystem processes. Prior work has found that stand-replacing disturbances (e.g., clear-cutting) increases streamflow in temperate forests, but streamflow responses to repeated moderate severity disturbances are more equivocal. This study examined a moderate disturbance caused by an unexpected population [...]
Leaf trait plasticity alters competitive ability and functioning of simulated tropical trees in response to elevated carbon dioxide
Published: 2020-10-21
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Climate, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
The response of tropical ecosystems to elevated carbon dioxide (CO$_2$) remains a critical uncertainty in projections of future climate. Here we investigate how leaf trait plasticity in response to elevated CO$_2$ alters projections of tropical forest competitive dynamics and functioning. We use vegetation demographic model simulations to quantify how plasticity in leaf mass per area and leaf [...]
An open, scalable, and flexible framework for automated aerial measurement of field experiments
Published: 2020-05-25
Subjects: Agricultural Science, Agriculture, Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Engineering, Life Sciences, Plant Breeding and Genetics Life Sciences, Plant Sciences, Research Methods in Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Unoccupied areal vehicles (UAVs or drones) are increasingly used in field research. Drones capable of routinely and consistently capturing high quality imagery of experimental fields have become relatively inexpensive. However, converting these images into scientifically useable data has become a bottleneck. A number of tools exist to support this workflow, but there is no framework for making [...]
The environmental impacts of palm oil in context
Published: 2020-01-10
Subjects: Agriculture, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Food Science, Life Sciences, Other Food Science, Other Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires balancing demands on land between agriculture (SDG 2) and biodiversity (SDG 15). The production of vegetable oils in general, and palm oil in particular, is perhaps the most controversial illustration of these trade-offs. Global annual demand for vegetable oil for food, animal feed and fuel is currently at 210 million tons1 (Mt), with [...]
Reframing Lake Geneva ecological trajectory in a context of multiple but asynchronous drivers
Published: 2019-12-13
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
There are no doubts long-term observatories provide unique insight on ecosystems trajectories. Can we use earliest data to set restoration goals? We take the example of Lake Geneva, for which descriptions of the ecosystem are available for as soon as the late 19th and early 20th century. Forel writes about how the luxuriant growth of plant communities provided important habitat for aquatic [...]
New insights on lake sediment DNA from the catchment: importance of taphonomic and analytical issues on the record quality
Published: 2019-02-27
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Geochemistry, Geology, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Soil Science, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Over the last decade, an increasing number of studies have used lake sediment DNA to trace past landscape changes, agricultural activities or human presence. However, the processes responsible for lake sediment formation might affect DNA archiving via taphonomic and analytical processes. It is crucial to understand these processes to ensure reliable interpretations for “palaeo” studies. Here, we [...]
Sustainability of the Marine Environment Towards the Anthropogenic Impacts in the Ecosystem of the Barents Sea
Published: 2019-01-25
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Nature and Society Relations, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Science and Mathematics Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Water Resource Management
Among all Arctic seas, the Barents Sea is characterized by its unique environment and high level of the biodiversity. At the same time the Gulf Stream waters transport large amounts of pollutants in the Barents Sea bringing various contaminants and substances from the North Sea. Nowadays, there are in Timan Pechora-Carboniferous basin located in the Barents Sea with 76 oil and gas subsidies, [...]
Google Earth web service as a support for GIS mapping in geospatial research at universities
Published: 2019-01-25
Subjects: Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Life Sciences, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Other Computer Sciences, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Other Geography, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Remote Sensing, Science and Mathematics Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
The geospatial work has been performed using combination of the Google Earth imagery, Landsat TM images and Erdas Imagine GIS software. The advantage of utilizing Google Earth scenes with Landsat TM satellite imagery, along with GIS techniques and methods, for inventorying land cover types has been demonstrated for landscape studies. Combination of land cover type characteristics and landscape [...]
Testing for the effects of pre-season temperature and winter-chilling on land-surface phenology of coniferous and broadleaved forests in Central Europe
Published: 2018-07-10
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Phenology is an important indicator of climate change impacts on vegetated ecosystems. Changes in leaf unfolding dates in response to changing temperatures have been well documented from in-situ phenological measurements across Central Europe. However, it is unclear whether those processes can be scaled to the landscape scale, which is important to accurately represent phenology in (global) [...]
Lake sediment records of persistent organic pollutants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Southern Siberia mirror the changing fortunes of the Russian economy over the past 70 years
Published: 2017-12-18
Subjects: Chemistry, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have previously been detected in the surface sediments, water, and endemic organisms of Lake Baikal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Selenga River is the primary source of freshwater to Lake Baikal, and transports pollutants accumulating in the Selenga River basin to the lake. Sources of POPs and PAHs in the [...]