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Figure 8 in Jumping spider scales (Araneae: Salticidae)

Figure 8. Scales of the male Maratus chrysomelas (Simon 1909). 1, Courtship display by male, with fan elevated and extended between the long, extended legs III, as the male moves rapidly from side to side in front of a female. 2, Field of iridescent blue scales near the rear of the fan (SEM image). At lower right several dark black scales (class 2, brushy) can be seen. Each iridescent scale is keeled and bladelike (class 7), with many more-or-less regular ridges aligned with the long (pedicel-to-apex) axis. 3-4, Details of iridescent scales, showing the nanoscale separation of ridges that support reflective diffraction at the observed wavelengths. 5, Thin transverse section through a single iridescent scale, showing the spacing of ridges around the sides and top of the scale. M. chrysomelas is widely-distributed in Australia (Otto & Hill 2021), with a number of different color forms, including those with iridescent blue-green scales, represented. Attribution and ©: 1, JuJrgen C. Otto; 2-5, Hsiung et al. 2017b.

Figure 14. Male Maratus amabilis Karsch 1878 from eastern Australia. 1-2 in Jumping spider scales (Araneae: Salticidae)

Figure 14. Male Maratus amabilis Karsch 1878 from eastern Australia. 1-2, Courtship display with elevated and expanded fan. 3, Transverse alignment of pigmented scales near the rear of the fan. Attribution and ©: 1-3, JuJrgen C. Otto.

Figure 13 in Jumping spider scales (Araneae: Salticidae)

Figure 13. Adult female Platycryptus undatus (De Geer 1778), Greenville County, South Carolina. Green arrows indicate the pedicel-to-apex alignment of body scales.

Figure 24. Female Portia fimbriata. 1 in Jumping spider scales (Araneae: Salticidae)

Figure 24. Female Portia fimbriata. 1, Suspended in her irregular web. 3, SEM, regular pinnate scales on carapace.

Figure 12 in Jumping spider scales (Araneae: Salticidae)

Figure 12. Super black spots of male Maratus (7-11 after McCoy et al. 2019). 1-2, Two male M. karrie engaged in courtship display. Variable color of the fan (green to blue) may be due to either individual variation, the relative direction of illumination and observation, or a combination of the two. 3, M. speciosus with fringe of fan retracted, concealing the bright orange coloration of the bicolored setae of that fringe. 4, M. speciosus display with expanded fan. 5-6, Detailed views of the expanded fan of two male M. speciosus. 7, Dorsal view (SEM) of opisthosoma of M. karrie, showing smooth, iridescent blue scales surrounded by brushy scales and dark cuticle (microlens array). 8, Section through (7). 9, Dorsal view (SEM) of opisthosoma of M. speciosus. 10, Section through (9). 11, Schematic view of reflection and absorption of light by dark brushy scales above the microlens structure of the cuticle. Attribution and ©: 1-6, JuJrgen C. Otto; 7-10, McCoy et al. 2019.

Figure 4 in Jumping spider scales (Araneae: Salticidae)

Figure 4. Structural color is the result of the constructive or destructive interaction of alternative, multiple pathways for light. 1, Interference through a single layer (thin layer) with negligible refraction at the boundary. Arrows show the two different pathways that a photon can take as it is reflected, each of a different length. 2, Interference through a single layer (thick layer), with a higher refractive index (shaded, ~1.5) than air (~1.0). Both the thickness and refractive index of the layer produce a longer path for light that is not reflected at the upper surface. 3, The many alternate paths that a photon could take through a multilayer reflector, comprised of alternating layers with high (white, ~1.0) or low (shaded, ~1.5) refractive index. 4, Another view of the many pathways that a photon could take through this multilayer (3), showing each pathway separately. With regular spacing and alignment at the nanoscale, this can produce a series of consistent differences (each corresponding to a multiple of the favored wavelength) and a constructive effect as a result. 5, Passage of light through the slits of a transmissive diffraction grating. As with the interference of light through reflection at multiple layers, this produces a series of possible pathways for each photon, each of different length. As shown here, red light, because of its longer wavelength, is favored over blue light at larger angles relative to the incident light. 6, Reflection of light from a reflective diffraction grating. The effect is similar to that seen in a transmissive grating (5), in that the interaction of photons with different points of reflection produces a series of different path lengths, favoring longer wavelengths (red) at lower angles of reflection relative to the incident light. 7-12, Relationship of relative direction of incoming light, wavelength, and spacing of reflectors to interference. When the difference between two alternative pathways is equal to an integer multiple of the wavelength of a photon, interference of light traveling on the two pathways is constructive ("additive"). When it is equal to an integer multiple of half of that wavelength, interference is destructive ("subtractive" as one path cancels out the other). Anything else is somewhere in-between.

Figure 18 in Jumping spider scales (Araneae: Salticidae)

Figure 18. Representatives of the cosmopolitan genus Salticus. The well-known zebra spiders can often be easily recognized by their transverse to oblique stripes on the opisthosoma. Some species (7-9) have brilliant, iridescent scales, but these have not been studied in detail. S. scenicus has a holarctic distribution. 2-4, Note the variation in scale pattern of these European S. cingulatus. 6, The diagonal stripes on the sides of the opisthosoma are present but less evident in this female S. mutabilis. The four dark spots on each side of the carapace in females of this species appear to mimic the face of a salticid spider, perhaps providing some protection against attack from the side (see Hill, Abhijith & Burini 2019; Hill 2022). Attribution and ©: 1, Buddy; 2-3, Roman Providukin; 4, CePdric Mondy; 5, OQscar Mendez; 6, Diego Trillo; 7-8, Jillian Cowles; 9, gwentomologist; 10, faluke; 11, Ryan Kaldari; 12, corndog.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2022View details →

Harbour protection with dual chamber oscillating water column devices (HARBOUR OWC) - 1/25 scale model tank test

Among various devices of wave energy converters (WEC), oscillating water column (OWC) devices are one of the concepts successfully deployed around the world. Hence, the necessity to design and develop the recent concept of dual-chamber OWC device attached to an existing coastal breakwater emerged. Former investigation in a wave flume already characterized the hydrodynamic performance of the device for a 1:25 scale model with frontal wave excitations. From this study, the effect of the incident wave direction is highlighted and the effect of the air compressibility on the device performances can be determined. The enclosed dataset refers to the experimental work developed at LNEC within the project Harbour OWC (PTDC/EME-REN/30866/2017) and considers the 3D effect of the incoming waves with a 14º angle of incidence. Data of free surface elevation along the tank and inside the device along with total pressure are presented.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2022View details →

POLYPHEM - The future of small-scale Concentrated Solar Power plants

☀️ The POLYPHEM project aims to improve the performance of small-scale Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants and their flexibility to generate power on demand. To this end, POLYPHEM develops a new technology: an innovative, solar-driven Micro-gas turbine which would help meet the variable energy demand of a mini-grid. 📺 Watch our video to discover more about the POLYPHEM project and the future of small-scale Concentrated Solar Power plants! Follow us on: ► Website: www.polyphem-project.eu ► Twitter: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbk5Bb3lCX0hKOVBhTHJPbWQ0Qm9iMkplaDQtZ3xBQ3Jtc0ttam12Rmk3MG5zR09BMkFpMGNWVndva1FIZU1sTU1Vdk1ENHpsTGRNT2h1cklIcVpuS0VvVU1DMGZ4OC1VQ3dVb0daam5mRGVOZ05YeUxSY01saWRJSkhxa3NyYkxQN0VrUTVHdDBhZkFjNE5NVjBlVQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FH2020CSP&v=Lw_JCO8S734">https://twitter.com/H2020CSP</a> ► LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqay0xZHJwT0tqNEZKSzBYUEdURkNEemFUY3dLZ3xBQ3Jtc0tsNy1GSlQwSjlhMmdUNThyc2c0ZFBmRlRvMDVpa3JCVHliMVJRTDVPM1lwWFJwWTd1bkRFaWVqUTZUM2l3b3FPM3h2TFkwSlFNazJZcVBpT2FIUkwyMmQ4TzdxMHI5MXFjeGJjS0J5WWZneFd0TTA2WQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fpolyphem&v=Lw_JCO8S734">https://www.linkedin.com/company/poly...</a> 🇪🇺 This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 764048. EDIT: This is an updated version of the POLYPHEM video.

Mapping soil microbial residence time at the global scale

Soil microbes ultimately drive the mineralization of soil organic carbon and thus ecosystem functions. We compiled a dataset of the seasonality of microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and developed a semi-mechanistic model to map monthly MBC across the globe. MBC exhibits an equatorially symmetric seasonality between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. In the Northern Hemisphere, MBC peaks in autumn and is minimal in spring at low latitudes (<25° N), peaks in the spring and is minimal in autumn at mid-latitudes (25°-50° N), while peaks in autumn and is minimal in spring at high latitudes (>50° N). This latitudinal shift of MBC seasonality is attributed to an interaction of soil temperature, soil moisture, and substrate availability. The MBC seasonality is inconsistent with patterns of heterotrophic respiration, indicating that MBC as a proxy for microbial activity is inappropriate at this resolution. This study highlights the need to explicitly represent microbial physiology in microbial models. The interactive controls of environments and substrate on microbial seasonality provide insights for better representing microbial mechanisms in simulating ecosystem functions at the seasonal scale.

Divergent response and adaptation of specific leaf area to environmental change at different spatio-temporal scales jointly improve plant survival

Specific leaf area (SLA) is one of the most important plant functional traits. It integrates multiple functions and reflects strategies of plants to obtain resources. How plants employ different strategies (e.g., through SLA) to respond to dynamic environmental conditions remains poorly understood.This study aimed to explore the spatial variation in SLA and divergent adaptation of plants by changing SLA through the lens of biogeographic patterns, evolutionary history, and short-term responses. SLA data for 5424 plant species from 76 natural communities in China were systematically measured and integrated with meta-analysis of field experiments (i.e., global warming, drought, and nitrogen addition). The mean value of SLA across all species was 21.8 m2 kg–1, ranging from 0.9 to 110.2 m2 kg–1. SLA differed among different ecosystems, temperature zones, vegetation types, and functional groups. Phylogeny had a weak effect on SLA, but plant species evolved toward higher SLA. Furthermore, plants responded nonlinearly to environmental change by changing SLA. Unexpectedly, radiation was one of the main factors determining the spatial variation in SLA on a large scale. Conversely, short-term manipulative experiments showed that SLA increased with increased resource availability and tended to stabilize with treatment duration. However, different species exhibited varying response patterns. Overall, long-term adaptation of plants to environmental gradients and its short-term response to resource pulses through variation in SLA jointly improve plant adaptability to a changing environment. Overall SLA-environment relationships should be emphasized as a multidimensional strategy for elucidating environmental change in future research.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2022View details →

Accelerate the Parameterization of Unified Microphysics Across Scales (PUMAS) on the graphics processing unit (GPU) with directive-based methods

Code used to produce results of paper titled "Accelerate the Parameterization of Unified Microphysics Across Scales (PUMAS) on the graphics processing unit (GPU) with directive-based methods" by Sun et al. Includes: - Source code of CAM to perform a CPU or GPU simulation - Source code of PUMAS stand-alone kernel for GPU porting (OpenACC and OpenMP offload), an example batch script for build/run on Casper (NCAR's cluster) and the input dataset - Dataset to reproduce the figures in the paper   Contact details: Jian Sun (sunjian@ucar.edu)

Fine-scale temporal dynamics of flower visitors sheds light on the pollination strategy of a dioecious palm in the Ecuadorian Andes

Background: Dioecious plants generally display sexual dimorphism in male and female floral traits, potentially attracting slightly different pollinator communities. The sharing of common floral visitors between male and female flowers and their timing of visits to both sexes is of critical importance to ensure plant's reproductive success. Palm inflorescences are visited by abundant and diverse insect communities, yet the temporal patterns of insect visits on both sexes remain poorly known. Results: We report 59 morphospecies in the arthropod community, dominated by three beetle families: Staphylinidae, Nitidulidae and Curculionidae. Male inflorescences were more abundantly visited than female, but visitors of the later were taxonomically more diverse. Among the 16 pollinator candidates identified, 9 visited both inflorescence sexes synchronously at dusk /night whereas the others did so asynchronously during the day. Conclusion: Our study provides new insights into the pollination mechanism of P. aequatorialis. We found evidence of differential pollinator attraction between floral sexes, which may be explained by the sexual dimorphism of both flowers. Synchronicity in dusk/night visits of both inflorescence sexes suggests a sexual synchronization of the signal used to attract pollinators.

Quantitative monitoring of diverse fish communities on a large scale combining eDNA metabarcoding and qPCR

eDNA metabarcoding is an effective method for studying fish communities but allows only an estimation of relative species abundance (density / biomass). Here, we combine metabarcoding with an estimation of the total abundance of eDNA amplified by our universal marker (teleo) using a qPCR approach to infer the absolute abundance of fish species. We carried out a 2,850 km eDNA survey within the Danube catchment using a spatial integrative sampling protocol coupled with traditional electrofishing for fish biomass and density estimation. Total fish eDNA concentrations and total fish abundance were highly correlated. The correlation between eDNA concentrations per taxon and absolute specific abundance was of comparable strength when all sites were pooled and remained significant when the sites were considered separately. Furthermore, a non-linear mixed model showed that species richness was underestimated when the amount of teleo-DNA extracted from a sample was below a threshold of 0.65.106 copies of eDNA. This result, combined with the decrease in teleo-DNA concentration by several orders of magnitude with river size, highlights the need to increase sampling effort in large rivers. Our results show a comprehensive description of longitudinal changes in fish communities and underline our combined metabarcoding/qPCR approach for biomonitoring and bioassessment surveys when a rough estimate of absolute species abundance is sufficient.

Data and code for: Functional traits mediate individualistic species-environment distributions at broad spatial scales while fine-scale species' associations remain unpredictable

Ecological communities are structured by a diverse set of processes acting at different spatial scales. In plant communities, assembly processes like ecological sorting, limiting similarity, and stochastic events are all expected to influence plant distributions and co-occurrence patterns. We assembled a data set describing the distribution of 139 herbaceous plant species within and among 257 forest stands in Wisconsin (USA) to elucidate the spatial scales at which these assembly processes operate. Analyses of these data in conjunction with detailed information about environmental conditions, plant functional traits, and phylogenetic relationships provided new insights into the scale-dependent drivers of plant community assembly in temperate forest understories. Traits like leaf height, specific leaf area, and seed mass all influenced individualistic plant distributions along landscape-scale gradients in soil texture, soil fertility, light availability, and climate while phylogenetic relationships did not predict species-environment relationships. These findings point to the importance of trait-mediated ecological sorting in shaping individualistic plant distributions at broad spatial scales. Contrary to our expectations about the importance of limiting similarity at local scales, neither functionally similar nor phylogenetically related herbs segregated among microsites within forest stands. We hypothesize strong ecological sorting among forest stands coupled with stochastic fine-scale interactions among species appear deterministic, niche-based assembly processes at local scales.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2022View details →

Incorporating the effect of large-scale vertical motion on convection through convective mass flux adjustment in E3SMv2

Simulation data for the manuscript entitled of "Incorporating the effect of large-scale vertical motion on convection through convective mass flux adjustment in E3SMv2".

Genetic variation of morphological scaling in Drosophila

Morphological scaling relationships between the sizes of individual traits and the body captures the characteristic shape of a species, and the evolution of scaling is the primary mechanism of morphological diversification. However, we have almost no knowledge of the genetic variation of scaling, which is critical if we are to understand how scaling evolves. Here we explore the genetics of population morphological scaling relationships – the scaling relationship fit to multiple genetically-distinct individuals in a population – by describing the distribution of individual scaling relationships – the genotype-specific scaling relationships that are unseen or cryptic. These individual scaling relationships harbor the genetic variation that determines relative trait growth within individuals, and theoretical studies suggest that their distribution dictates how the population scaling relationship will respond to selection. Using variation in nutrition to generate size variation within 194 isogenic lineages of Drosophila melanogaster, we reveal extensive variation in the slopes of the wing-body and leg-body scaling relationships among genotypes. This genetic variation reflects variation in the nutritionally-induced size plasticity of the wing, leg, and body. Surprisingly, we find that variation in the slope of individual scaling relationships primarily results from variation in nutritionally-induced plasticity of body size, not leg or wing size. These data allow us to predict how different selection regimes affect scaling in Drosophila and are the first step in identifying the genetic targets of such selection. More generally, our approach provides a framework for understanding the genetic variation of scaling, an important prerequisite to explaining how selection changes scaling and morphology.

Contrasting intra-annual population dynamics of two codominant species are consistent across spatial and temporal scales

1. Despite asymmetric competition and a wide array of functional similarities, two ecologically important C4 perennial grasses, Andropogon gerardii and Sorghastrum nutans, frequently codominate areas of the mesic tallgrass prairie of the US Great Plains. A subtle difference in their vegetative reproduction strategies may play a role in preventing exclusion of S. nutans, the presumed weaker competitor in this region. 2. While A. gerardii vegetative tiller densities peak in the early growing season and decline thereafter (determinate recruitment), those of S. nutans may continue to increase throughout the growing season (indeterminate recruitment), providing a potential avenue for recovery from more intensive early season competition. However, until now these patterns have only been informally observed in the field. 3. We examined the year-to-year consistency of growing season vegetative tiller dynamics (measured as seasonal change in tiller densities) of each grass species from at an intact tallgrass prairie in Kansas - a site within the core of both species' distributions - over a period of 8 years. Then, to investigate environmental effects on these dynamics, we examined whether they differ across a Kansas landscape varying in topography, fire management regimes and the abundances of the study species. Finally, we expanded the investigation of environmental effects on growing season tiller dynamics by observing them at the periphery of the species' distributions in central Colorado, where climatic conditions are dryer and the study species' abundances are reduced. 4. Synthesis: We found that the tiller densities of A. gerardii decline within seasons with striking consistency regardless of spatio-temporal scale or environmental factors (topography and fire regimes). In contrast, we found the seasonal dynamics of S. nutans tiller densities were dependent on environmental factors, with seasonal tiller density increases occurring only within the Kansas populations but not consistently between years. These observations lay the groundwork for establishing differences in tiller recruitment determinacy as a potentially important yet underappreciated mechanism for promoting coexistence and codominance among perennial plant species.

Global-scale modeling of early factors and country-specific trajectories of COVID-19 incidence: a cross-sectional study of the first 6 months of the pandemic

Studies examining factors responsible for COVID-19 incidence are mostly focused at the national or sub-national level. A global-level characterization of contributing factors and temporal trajectories of disease incidence is lacking. Here we conducted a global-scale analysis of COVID-19 infections to identify key factors associated with early disease incidence. Additionally, we compared longitudinal trends of COVID-19 incidence at a per-country level and classified countries based on COVID-19 incidence trajectories and effects of lockdown responses. Univariate analysis identified eleven variables as independently associated with COVID-19 infections at a global level (p<1e-05). Multivariable analysis identified a 4-variable model as optimal for explaining global variations in COVID-19 (p<0.01). COVID-19 case trajectories for most countries were best captured by a log-logistic model, as determined by AIC estimates. Six predominant country clusters were identified when characterizing the effects of lockdown intervals on variations in COVID-19 new cases per country. Globally, economic and meteorological factors are important determinants of early COVID-19 incidence. Analysis of longitudinal trends and lockdown effects on COVID-19 highlights important nuances in country-specific responses to infections. These results provide valuable insights into disease incidence at a per-country level, possibly allowing for more informed decision making by individual governments in future disease outbreaks.