Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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 [...]
Considering the role of adaptive evolution in models of the ocean and climate system
Published: 2019-08-29
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Numerical models have been highly successful in simulating global carbon and nutrient cycles in today’s ocean, together with observed spatial and temporal patterns of chlorophyll and plankton biomass at the surface. With this success has come some confidence in projecting the century-scale response to continuing anthropogenic warming. There is also increasing interest in using such models to [...]
Realistic and simplified models of plant and leaf area indices for a seasonally dry tropical forest
Published: 2019-08-06
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Desert Ecology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Forest Management, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences, Plant Sciences, Research Methods in Life Sciences
Leaf Area Index (LAI) models that consider all phenological stages have not been developed for the Caatinga, the largest seasonally dry tropical forest in South America. LAI models that are currently used show moderate to high covariance when compared to in situ data, but they often lack accuracy in the whole spectra of possible values and do not consider the impact that the stems and branches [...]
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 [...]
Current Problems of Water Supply and Usage in Central Asia, Tian Shan Basin
Published: 2019-02-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Studies, Geography, Geology, Geomorphology, Glaciology, Hydrology, Life Sciences, Other Geography, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science
The paper focuses on analysis of Central Asian hydro-energetic system and water usage in Tian Shan region. Tian Shan system is an important water resource in Central Asia: river waters are intensely taken for hydropower energy, urban systems, irrigation. But geopolitics in Tian Shan is difficult: it crosses five densely populated countries. The problem consists in water delivery between countries [...]
Effectiveness of the Geospatial Data Processing and Use of Statistical Information for Proper Environmental Planning and Zoning: Example of the Šumava National Park, Czech Republic
Published: 2019-01-28
Subjects: Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology, Biodiversity, Cell and Developmental Biology, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Education, Educational Methods, Environmental Education, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Forest Biology, Forest Management, Forest Sciences, Geography, Geomorphology, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Other Forestry and Forest Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Soil Science, Sustainability, Wood Science and Pulp, Paper Technology
Current paper details methodology and principles of the zoning and ranging of the nature reserve area of Sumava National Park (Czech Republic) aimed at the effective planning and monitoring special nature areas.Methodology includes complex geoecological assessment of the territory, GIS application and processing of statristical data. The specific case study includes unique nature area of the [...]
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 [...]
Land surface temperature estimation at the global scale using satellite observations
Published: 2018-12-19
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Aim of this paper is to offer a brief overview of satellite based LST estimation fundamentals, discuss the main design principles of the corresponding algorithms, present some examples of the global scale LST and land surface emissivity products from the literature that were derived using satellite observations, and finally highlight different challenges in the described measurement process. [...]
Terrestrial Gross Primary Production: Using NIRv to Scale from Site to Globe
Published: 2018-07-24
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Physiology, Plant Sciences
Terrestrial photosynthesis is the largest and one of the most uncertain fluxes in the global carbon cycle. We find that NIRv, a remotely sensed measure of canopy structure, accurately predicts photosynthesis at FLUXNET validation sites at monthly to annual timescales (R2 = 0.68), without the need for difficult to acquire information about environmental factors that constrain photosynthesis at [...]
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) [...]
Plants and Drought in a Changing Climate
Published: 2018-04-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Earth Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Purpose of review: Climate is changing in response to rising concentrations of atmospheric CO2 and it is commonly asserted that this will cause droughts to become more frequent and severe. However, different metrics of drought give diverging estimates of future impacts. I present a summary of the significant yet underappreciated influence that plant stomatal and growth responses to CO2 have on [...]
Leaf trait acclimation amplifies simulated climate warming in response to elevated carbon dioxide
Published: 2018-01-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physiology, Plant Sciences
Vegetation modifies Earth’s climate by controlling the fluxes of energy, carbon, and water. Of critical importance is a better understanding of how vegetation responses to climate change will feedback on climate. Observations show that plant traits respond to elevated carbon dioxide concentrations. These plant trait acclimations can alter leaf area and thus productivity and surface energy fluxes. [...]
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 [...]