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opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

Climate change outpaces adaptive potential via hybridization in nesting female Saltmarsh and Nelson's Sparrows

Hybridization and introgression can promote adaptive potential and evolutionary resilience in response to increased pressures of climate change; they can also disrupt local adaptation and lead to outbreeding depression. We investigated female fitness consequences of hybridization in two sister species that are endemic to a threatened tidal marsh ecosystem: Saltmarsh (Ammospiza caudacutus) and Nelson's Sparrows (A. nelsoni). We found increasing nest flooding rates due to rising sea levels are outpacing potential adaptive benefits of hybridization due to very low overall nesting success in both the Nelson's and Saltmarsh Sparrows. In the center of the hybrid zone across two years, we determined the success of 201 nests of 104 pure and admixed Saltmarsh and Nelson's Sparrow females, genotyped using a panel of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) from double digest restriction-site associated DNA (ddRAD) Sequencing. We evaluated five metrics of female fitness and modeled nesting success in relation to genotypic, environmental, and nesting characteristics. We found differential fitness among Saltmarsh, Nelson's, and hybrid females, such that birds with predominantly Saltmarsh Sparrow alleles had higher reproductive success than birds with predominantly Nelson's Sparrow alleles, and hybrids were intermediate. Fledging success increased with two known tidal marsh nesting adaptations: nest height and nesting synchrony with tidal cycles. We found a positive relationship between hybrid index and fitness in daily nest survival in 2016, but not in 2017, likely due to differing levels of precipitation and nest flooding between years. The strongest and most consistent predictors of daily nest survival were nesting synchrony with lunar tidal flooding cycles and daily maximum tide height. Fitness patterns suggest there may be an adaptive benefit of interspecific geneflow for the Nelson's Sparrow at the detriment of the Saltmarsh Sparrow; however, flooding rates are so high in many years they mask any fitness differences between the species, and all females had poor nesting success, regardless of genetic makeup.

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

A secure future? Human urban and agricultural land use benefits a flightless island-endemic rail despite climate change

Identifying environmental characteristics that limit species' distributions is important for contemporary conservation and inferring responses to future environmental change. The Tasmanian native hen is an island-endemic flightless rail and a survivor of a prehistoric extirpation event. Little is known about the regional-scale environmental characteristics influencing the distribution of native hens, or how their future distribution might be impacted by environmental shifts (e.g., climate change). Using a combination of local fieldwork and species distribution modelling, we assess environmental factors shaping the contemporary distribution of the native hen, and project future distribution changes under predicted climate change. We find 37.2% of Tasmania is currently suitable for the native hens, owing to low summer precipitation, low elevation, human-modified vegetation, and urban areas. Moreover, in unsuitable regions, urban areas can create 'oases' of habitat, able to support populations with high breeding activity by providing resources and buffering against environmental constraints. Under climate change predictions, native hens were predicted to lose only 5% of their occupied range by 2055. We conclude that the species is resilient to climate change and benefits overall from anthropogenic landscape modifications. As such, this constitutes a rare example of a flightless rail to have adapted to human activity.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2023View details →

Contrasting impacts of climate change on protection forests of the Italian Alps: Supporting Data

Input files for the ForClim model (version 4.0.1) used in the associated paper. They can be used to to reproduce results of the simulation study. The ForClim model, including the source code, executable and documentation, is freely available under an Open Access license from the website of the original developers at <a href="https://ites-fe.ethz.ch/openaccess/">https://ites-fe.ethz.ch/openaccess/</a>. The original climatic dataset used to generate the ForClim input climate files at each site in South Tyrol is freely available at <a href="https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.924502">https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.924502</a> while the CHELSA climate data for future scenarios are available at <a href="https://www.chelsa-climate.org">https://www.chelsa-climate.org</a>. If interested in using this dataset for a research study or a project, please contact <a href="https://www.marco-mina.com">Marco Mina</a> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Hillebrand L, Marzini S, Crespi A, Hiltner U & Mina M (2023) Contrasting impacts of climate change on protection forests of the Italian Alps. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 6, 2023  <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16197">https://doi.org/</a><a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1240235">10.3389/ffgc.2023.1240235</a> ABSTRACT. Protection forests play a key role in protecting settlements, people, and infrastructures from gravitational hazards such as rockfalls and avalanches in mountain areas. Rapid climate change is challenging the role of protection forests by altering their dynamics, structure, and composition. Information on local- and regional-scale impacts of climate change on protection forests is critical for planning adaptations in forest management. We used a model of forest dynamics (ForClim) to assess the succession of mountain forests in the Eastern Alps and their protective effects under future climate change scenarios. We investigated eleven representative forest sites along an elevational gradient across multiple locations within an administrative region, covering wide differences in tree species structure, composition, altitude, and exposition. We evaluated protective performance against rockfall and avalanches using numerical indices (i.e., linker functions) quantifying the degree of protection from metrics of simulated forest structure and composition. Our findings reveal that climate warming has a contrasting impact on protective effects in mountain forests of the Eastern Alps. Climate change is likely to not affect negatively all protection forest stands but its impact depends on site and stand conditions. Impacts were highly contingent to the magnitude of climate warming, with increasing criticality under the most severe climate projections. Forests in lower-montane elevations and those located in dry continental valleys showed drastic changes in forest structure and composition due to drought-induced mortality while subalpine forests mostly profited from rising temperatures and a longer vegetation period. Overall, avalanche protection will likely be negatively affected by climate change, while the ability of forests to maintain rockfall protection depends on the severity of expected climate change and their vulnerability due to elevation and topography, with most subalpine forests less prone to loosing protective effects. Proactive measures in management should be taken in the near future to avoid losses of protective effects in the case of severe climate change in the Alps. Given the heterogeneous impact of climate warming, such adaptations can be aided by model-based projections and high local resolution studies to identify forest stand types that might require management priority for maintaining protective effects in the future.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2023View details →

Supplementary Data for "Co-occurrence of climate-change induced and anthropogenic pressures in Central American key biodiversity areas"

Supplementary Data for the article "Co-occurrence of climate-change induced and anthropogenic pressures in Central American key biodiversity areas" This includes the pressure score maps for all climate scenarios / SSPs for the historical and future time periods as well as the script used for preparing the anthropogenic pressure maps (human footprint mapping).

Long-term ecological responses of a lowland dipterocarp forest to climate changes and nutrient availability at Bulusan Lake

This data publication encompasses the datasets generated in a study focusing on reconstructing ecological responses to climatic and nutrient availability changes during the late Holocene in northern Philippines. The data comes from samples taken from sediment cores retrieved from Bulusan Lake, located on Luzon Island, Philippines, in March 2013. In these samples, we analyzed fossil pollen and spores (a proxy for plant taxa abundance), charcoal (a proxy for fire activity), stable carbon isotopic composition of terrestrial-lipid biomarkers (a proxy for vegetation cover), stable nitrogen and phosphate isotope composition of bulk sediments, and elemental composition of sediment cores at a high resolution (proxies for nutrient availability and volcanic activity). The dataset also includes links to records generated in a previous study on the same sediments (Prohaska et al. 2023), where we measured the stable hydrogen isotopic composition of terrestrial-lipid biomarkers to reconstruct past hydrological conditions, as well as the magnetic susceptibility record and AMS dates of plant macrofossils to calculate sediment accumulation ages. The data generation spanned the period from April 2013 to September 2020, and the data files are provided in Excel spreadsheet format.

Bees exposed to climate change are more sensitive to pesticides

Bee populations are exposed to multiple stressors, including land-use change, biological invasions, climate change and pesticide exposure, that may interact synergistically. We analyze the combined effects of climate warming and sublethal insecticide exposure in the solitary bee Osmia cornuta. Previous Osmia studies show that warm wintering temperatures cause body weight loss, lipid consumption and fat body depletion. Because the fat body plays a key role in xenobiotic detoxification, we expected that bees exposed to climate warming scenarios would be more sensitive to pesticides. We exposed O. cornuta females to three wintering treatments: current scenario (2007-2012 temperatures), near-future (2021-2050 projected temperatures), and distant-future (2051-2080). Upon emergence in spring, bees were orally exposed to three sublethal doses of an insecticide (Closer, a.i. sulfoxaflor; 0, 4.55 and 11.64 ng a.i./bee). We measured the combined effects of wintering and insecticide exposure on phototactic response, syrup consumption, and longevity. Wintering treatment by itself did not affect winter mortality, but body weight loss increased with increasing wintering temperatures. Similarly, wintering treatment by itself hardly influenced phototactic response or syrup consumption. However, bees wintered at the warmest temperatures had shorter longevity, a strong fecundity predictor in Osmia. Insecticide exposure, especially at the high dose, impaired the ability of bees to respond to light, and resulted in reduced syrup consumption and longevity. The combination of the warmest winter and the high insecticide dose resulted in a 70% longevity decrease. Smaller bees, resulting from smaller pollen-nectar provisions, had shorter longevity suggesting nutritional stress may further compromise fecundity in O. cornuta. Our results show a synergistic interaction between two major drivers of bee declines, and indicate that bees will become more sensitive to pesticides under the current global warming scenario. Our findings have important implications for pesticide regulation and underscore the need to consider multiple stressors to understand bee declines.

Data from: Macroecological predictors of evolutionary and plastic potential do not apply at microgeographic scales for a freshwater Cladoceran under climate change

Rapid evolutionary adaptation could reduce the negative impacts of climate change if sufficient heritability of key traits exists under future climate conditions. Plastic responses to climate change could also reduce negative impacts. Understanding which populations are likely to respond via evolution or plasticity could therefore improve estimates of extinction risk. A large body of research suggests that the evolutionary and plastic potential of a population can be predicted by the degree of spatial and temporal climatic variation it experiences. However, we know little about the scale at which these relationships apply. Here, we test if spatial and temporal variation in temperature affect genetic variation and plasticity of fitness and a key thermal tolerance trait (critical thermal maximum; CTmax) at microgeographic scales using a metapopulation of Daphnia magna. Specifically, we ask if: (1) there is microgeographic adaptation of CTmax and fitness to differences in temperature among the pools, (2) pools with greater temporal temperature variation have more genetic variation or plasticity in CTmax or fitness, and (3) increases in temperature affect the heritability of CTmax and fitness. Although we observed genetic variation and plasticity in CTmax and fitness, and differences in fitness among pools, we did not find support for the predicted relationships between temperature variation and genetic variation or plasticity. Furthermore, the genetic variation and plasticity we observed in CTmax is unlikely sufficient to reduce the impacts of climate change. CTmax plasticity was minimal and heritability was 72% lower when D. magna developed at the higher temperatures predicted under climate change. In contrast, the heritability of fitness increased by 53% under warmer temperatures suggesting an increase in overall evolutionary potential unrelated to CTmax under climate change. More research is needed to understand evolutionary and plastic potential under climate change and how that potential will be altered in future climates.

Data for: Human activity coupled with climate change strengthens the role of lakes as an active pipe of dissolved organic matter

This dataset contains data from an investigation to resolve the relative importance of multiple environmental drivers on the quantity and quality of chromophoric DOM in lakes at the continental scales. The study is described in the paper: "Du Y., Chen F., Zhang Y., He H., Wen S., Huang X., Song C., Li. K., Wang J., Kellings D., and Lu Y. 2023. Human activity coupled with climate change strengthens the role of lakes as an active pipe of dissolved organic matter, Earth's Future, in press". The primary objectives of the study were to (i) quantity the magnitude of environmental drivers modulating lacustrine DOM quantity and quality at a continental scale, including climate, land cover, societal development, and water retention time, and (ii) unravel individual and interactive effects of the environmental drivers. Firstly, we constructed a structural equation model framework that incorporated both direct and indirect pathways. Secondly, we collected a continental-scale dataset of lake DOM quantity and quality, along with the corresponding environmental driver variables from a group of carefully selected lakes (n=182). Lastly, we established structure equation models to analyze DOM quantity and quality variations as a function of the four environmental drivers. The main results include: (1) land cover and societal development both exhibit positive direct effects on lake CDOM quantity, highlighting the significant role of well-vegetated soils and anthropogenic activities as sources of lake DOM on a continental scale. (2) Climate has two strong but opposite effects –a warming and wet climate facilitates soil OM production and export but also enhances CDOM in-lake transformation. (3) Three proxies are proposed as indicators of the magnitude of biogeochemical drivers influencing lake DOM across ecoclimatic zones, including fluorescent DOM/DOC indicating economic activity, percentages of a degraded fluorescent DOM component indicating solar irradiation, and percent tyrosine-like DOM reflecting DOM processing time within the watershed and lake.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2023View details →

Supplementary material for "Filter-feeding gelatinous macrozooplankton response to climate change and implications for benthic food supply and global carbon cycle"

Simulation Outputs Description --------------------------- This text file outlines the contents of the simulation outputs utilized in the analysis presented in Clerc et al. (2023). Pre-treated outputs are not provided for storage reasons, but the complete output can be made available upon request. Spatial files are regridded to a 1-degree resolution regular grid using the treatment: cdo remapdis,r360x180 in.nc out.nc. Folder Names: -------------- Here is a brief overview of the content within each folder. - TS_PICONTROL: Globally averaged time series for the PI-control runs spanning 1850-2100. (Units: PgC, or PgC/yr for "fluxes" filenames.) - TS_RCP85: Globally averaged time series for the RCP8.5 runs spanning 1850-2100. (Units: PgC, or PgC/yr for "fluxes" filenames.) - TS_RCP26: Globally averaged time series for the RCP2.6 runs spanning 1850-2100. (Units: PgC, or PgC/yr for "fluxes" filenames.) - EXPORT_LAYERS_PICONTROL: Time-averaged Pi-control flux outputs at specified depth horizons over the indicated period. (Regular 360x180 grid; Units: gC/m2/yr.) - EXPORT_LAYERS_RCP85: Time-averaged RCP8.5 flux outputs at specified depth horizons over the indicated period. (Regular 360x180 grid; Units: gC/m2/yr.) - EXPORT_LAYERS_RCP26: Time-averaged RCP2.6 flux outputs at specified depth horizons over the indicated period. (Regular 360x180 grid; Units: gC/m2/yr.) - SURFACE_LAYERS_RCP85: Vertically integrated (0-300m) time-averaged RCP8.5 outputs over the specified period. (Regular 360x180 grid; Units: mmolC/m3.) - SURFACE_LAYERS_RCP26: Vertically integrated (0-300m) time-averaged RCP2.6 outputs over the specified period. (Regular 360x180 grid; Units: mmolC/m3.) - SURFACE_LAYERS_PICONTROL: Vertically integrated (0-300m) time-averaged PiControl outputs over the specified period. (Regular 360x180 grid; Units: mmolC/m3.) - CHLOROPHYLL: Surface chlorophyll on a 360x180 degree grid, time-averaged over the indicated period. (Units: mg Chl/m3.) - TS_BIOME: Biome-specific averaged time series spanning 1850-2100. (Units: PgC, or PgC/yr for "fluxes" filenames.) - TS_CFLX: Globally averaged carbon uptake time series spanning 1850-2100. (Units: PgC/yr.) - BIOMES: Biome masks on a regular 360x180 grid. Filename Conventions: ----------------------- Please refer to the following conventions for filenames. MODEL: - PISCES-FFGM: SLP - PISCES-v2: STD - PISCES-GM: MAC FORCING: - Pi-control: PI - Climate-change scenario: AD PERIOD: - 1881-1900: PRI - 1995-2014: HIS - 2081-2100: FUT DEPTH: - 0-300 m: dmin0_dmax300 - 100 m: ilevel9 - 1000 m: ilevel21 - Seafloor: seafloor BIOMES: - High Chlorophyll: HC - Intermediate Chlorophyll: IC - Low Chlorophyll: LC - Southern Ocean: SO - Arctic Ocean: LCA NetCDF Variables: ------------------ - SALP: Filter-feeding gelatinous Macrozooplankton (FFGM) - ZOO3: Generic Macrozooplankton (GM) - ZOO2: Mesozooplankton - ZOO: Microzooplankton - PHY: Nanophytoplankton - PHY2: Diatoms - POC: Small particles (quantity or flux) - GOC: Large particles (quantity or flux) - SPCC: FFGM carcasses carbon (content or flux) - SPFC: FFGM fecal pellets carbon (content or flux) - MPCC: GM carcasses carbon (content or flux) - MPFC: GM fecal pellets carbon (content or flux) - CHL: Chlorophyll - Cflx: Carbon uptake - NO3: Nitrate - PO4: Phosphate - O2: Oxygen For any inquiries or data access requests, please contact corentin.clerc -at- usys.ethz.ch.

Data for: Climate change alone cannot explain boreal caribou range recession in Quebec since 1850

The contraction of species range is one of the most significant symptoms of biodiversity loss worldwide. While anthropogenic activities and habitat alteration are major threats for several species, climate change has not been overlooked either. For species at risk, differentiating the effects of human disturbances and climate change on past and current range transformations is an important step towards improved conservation strategies. We paired historical range maps with global atmospheric reanalyses from different sources (ERA5, CERA-20C, 20CRv3) to assess the potential effects of recent climate change on the observed northward contraction of the distribution range of boreal populations of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Quebec (Canada) since 1850. We quantified these effects by highlighting the discrepancies between different southern limits of the caribou's range (used as references) observed in the past and reconstitutions obtained through the hindcasting of the climate conditions within which caribou are currently found. Hindcasted southern limits moved ~105 km north over time under all reanalysis datasets, a trend drastically different from the ~620 km reported for observed southern limits since 1850. The differences in latitudinal shift through time between the observed and hindcasted southern limits of distribution suggest that caribou range recession should have been only 17% of what has been observed since 1850 if recent climate change had been the only disturbance driver. This limited impact of climate reinforces the scientific consensus stating that caribou range recession in Quebec is mainly caused by anthropogenic drivers (i.e. logging, development of the road network, agriculture, urbanization) that have modified the structure and composition of the forest over the past 160 years, paving the way for habitat-mediated apparent competition and overharvesting. Our results also call for a better consideration of past distribution ranges in models aiming at projecting future distributions, especially for endangered species.

Data, simulations/projections, and supporting materials for simulated hydrologic responses to climate-change projections for the Lake Tahoe basin: subbasin-scale results

This dataset contains data, simulations, projections, and supporting materials associated with simulated hydrologic responses, at the scale of 60 subbasins comprising the Lake Tahoe Basin, California and Nevada, to a 16-member ensemble of statistically-downscaled projections of climate change, 1950-2099. The process and results are described in detail in <div>Dettinger, M., & Rajagopal, S., 2023, Simulated hydrologic responses to climate-change </div> <div>projections for the Lake Tahoe Basin: Desert Research Institute Publication 41292, 99 p.,</div> <div> </div> <div>which is included here. </div> <div> </div> <div>The dataset as presented here contains 6 files, including one large zipped file that itself contains some 1,975 files, mostly simple text files of data, simulation outputs, and analytical results organized into dozens and dozens of subdirectories to allow specific elements to be identified and isolated. Beyond this large collection, the zipped file also contains copies of the report(s), selected supporting documents, graphical files, codes, and copious #readme.txt files to orient the user. </div>

Data from: Navigating Polycrisis: long-run socio-cultural factors shape response to changing climate

Data from: Minority-group incubators and majority-group reservoirs for the diffusion of climate change adaptations

These data are part of a data portal that accompanies the special issue 'Climate change adaptation needs a science of culture,' published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B in 2023. To access the data portal, please visit <a href="https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4h4">10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4h4</a>. This repository contains code and supporting documentation for the agent-based model analyzed in our paper, "Minority-group incubators and majority-group reservoirs for climate change adaptation". We performed and analyzed a suite of agent-based models that simulated the spread of an adaptation, i.e., a beneficial behavior, in a population with a minority and majority group, defined by group size and tendency to interact with others from one's own group versus another group (homophily). We ran 1000 trials per parameter setting, where parameters were systematically varied to test different homophily levels in each group, and the effect of whether the minority group, majority group, or both groups start with one member knowing the adaptation. The adaptation either spread from one agent in one or both groups to the rest of the members of both groups in the case of adaptation success, or the adaptation disappeared from the entire population (adaptation failure). We then calculated the success rate across all 1000 trials. We also measured the mean time to either adaptive success or failure.

Effect of climate-change-induced increases on the range of rice-barley double cultivation on the intermediate egret

Intensification of cultivation methods and land use types, particularly in the face of climate change, has steadily weakened the habitat function of rice fields for waterbirds. Intermediate egrets (Ardea intermedia) are highly dependent on rice field habitats. Here, we examine the effect of a shift from rice monoculture to rice–barley double cultivation on the use of rice fields by intermediate egrets in South Korea. Rice-barley double cultivation has been increasing steadily in the southern region of South Korea due to changes in the rice growth period under climate change and maximization of economic benefits. We studied rice fields to determine the effect of the rice-barely double cultivation area on the abundance of intermediate egrets on the regional scale and their potential distribution pattern in response to double cultivation in relation to climate change using national-scale climate, altitude, and land cover data from May 1 to June 23, 2018. Compared to the irrigation practices used for rice monoculture, irrigation was stopped for some time in rice-barley double cultivation prior to planting, compromising the role of rice fields as a food ground for intermediate egrets. The potential abundance of intermediate egrets rapidly decreased by half when the double cultivation area increased to >40% of the total rice-field area, and was less than one individual if the area increased to >80%. Furthermore, according to climate change projections, by 2100, the double cultivation area would account for 75.74% of the predicted range of intermediate egret foraging ground. Synthesis and applications. Double cultivation areas should be <40% of existing rice fields to minimize the impact of the change in cultivation practices. This approach can also convert rice fields to other types of land use. Consequently, appropriate conservation and management measures may be developed to maintain suitable habitats despite rapidly changing cultivation practices resulting from climate change.

Climate change does not equally affect temporal patterns of natural selection on reproductive timing across populations in two songbird species

Climate change has led to changes in the strength of directional selection on seasonal timing. Understanding the causes and consequences of these changes is crucial to predicting the impact of climate change. But are observed patterns in one population generalisable to others, and can spatial variation in selection be explained by environmental variation among populations? We used long-term data (1955–2022) on blue and great tits co-occurring in four locations across the Netherlands to assess inter-population variation in temporal patterns of selection on laying date. To analyse selection, we combine reproduction and adult survival into a joined fitness measure. We found distinct spatial variation in temporal patterns of selection which overall acted towards earlier laying, and which was due to selection through reproduction rather than through survival. The underlying relationships between temperature, bird and caterpillar phenology were however the same across populations, and the spatial variation in selection patterns is thus caused by spatial variation in the temperatures and other habitat characteristics to which birds and caterpillars respond. This underlines that climate change is not necessarily equally affecting populations, but that we can understand this spatial variation, which enables us to predict climate change effects on selection for other populations.

Climate change causes declines and greater extremes in wetland inundation in a region important for wetland birds

Wetland ecosystems are vital for maintaining global biodiversity, as they provide important stopover sites for many species of migrating wetland-associated birds. However, because weather determines their hydrologic cycles, wetlands are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Although changes in temperature and precipitation resulting from climate change are expected to reduce inundation of wetlands, few efforts have been made to quantify how these changes will influence availability of stopover sites for migratory wetland birds. Additionally, few studies have evaluated how climate change will influence inter-annual variability or the frequency of extremes in wetland availability. For spring and fall bird migration in 7 ecoregions in the south-central Great Plains of North America, we developed predictive models associating abundance of inundated wetlands with a suite of weather and landcover variables. We then used these models to generate predictions of wetland inundation at the end of the century (2069–2099) under future climate change scenarios. Climate models predicted the average number of inundated wetlands will likely decline during both spring and fall migration periods, with declines being greatest in the eastern ecoregions of the Great Plains. However, the magnitude of predicted declines varied considerably across climate models and ecoregions, with uncertainty among climate models being greatest in the High Plains ecoregion. Most ecoregions also were predicted to experience more-frequent extremely dry years (i.e., years with extremely low wetland abundances), but the projected change in inter-annual variability of wetland inundation was relatively small and varied across ecoregions and seasons. Because the south-central Great Plains represents an important link along the migratory routes of many wetland-dependent avian species, future declines in wetland inundation and more frequent periods of only a few wetlands being inundated. resulting in an uncertain future for migratory birds as they experience reduced availability of wetland stopover habitat across their migration pathways.

opencc-by-4.0Sep 2023View details →

Dataset underlying the study "Changes in longevity, parasitization rate and development time of the whitefly parasitoid Encarsia formosa under future climate conditions"

This dataset is underlying the scientific publication titled "Changes in longevity, parasitization rate and development time of the whitefly parasitoid Encarsia formosa under future climate conditions", published in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/biological-control">Biological Control </a>journal.  The first section of the dataset provides the meterological parameters used to drive climate chambers for the experiments conducted by LIST and UNICT researchers. The second section of the dataset provides a graphical representation, including the relevant metadata, of the survival rate of adult Encarsia formosa (a whitefly biocontrol agent) under various climate conditions. The third and final section of the dataset includes an overview of the whitefly parasitization rate of Encarsia formosa according to the different parameters of the experiments undertaken by the LIST and UNICT scientists. The provided figures and tables in the dataset are further discussed and interpreted in detail, as well as their subsequent results, in the scientific publication. This research was conducted within the VIRTIGATION project, which is part of the EU Open Research Data pilot. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 101000570.

opencc-zeroOct 2023View details →

Climate change accelerates ecosystem restoration in the mountain forests of Central Europe

<ol> <li>Restoring degraded forest ecosystems is an important element in the ongoing challenge to sustain the integrity and functioning of the biosphere. However, the evaluation of restoration success is hampered by long lead times of management measures in forests. Moreover, forest change is accelerating in the absence of management because of ongoing climate change. Yet, because a counterfactual is frequently missing, it remains unclear whether restoration measures are aided or impeded by climate change. </li> <li>Here, we analyzed the pace and success of forest restoration under climate change, combining field data and simulation modelling. We focused on the management zone of Berchtesgaden National Park (BGNP), Germany, where restoration aims to restore homogeneous Norway spruce (Picea abies) forests to structurally diverse mixed mountain forests. We evaluated three alternative restoration strategies: Two active strategies focused on planting the currently underrepresented silver fir (Abies alba) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica) but differing in the creation of gap-cuts, and a third passive restoration strategy without interventions. Strategies were simulated with the forest landscape model iLand from 2020 to 2100 under different climate scenarios (historic, RCP 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5).</li> <li>The forests of BGNP developed into structurally diverse and mixed forests under all evaluated management strategies, and differences between active and passive restoration were generally small. While restoration goals for forest structure were largely met by 2100, forest composition remained far from target in all strategies. Climate change aided restoration by significantly increasing the prevalence of silver fir and European beech (+104.2 % to +258.6 %). Field data on short-term restoration effects were in line with simulated long-term trajectories.</li> <li> Synthesis and applications. We here show that forest restoration efforts in Central European mountain forests will likely be accelerated by climate change. Nonetheless, the slow pace of restoration underscores the need for taking action. Our study highlights that active restoration measures such as tree planting can bring the system closer to restoration targets. However, it also demonstrates that passive restoration (no intervention) is a viable option for management, highlighting the need to evaluate restoration measures against the counterfactual of a no-intervention strategy.</li> </ol>

publicSep 2020View details →

Data from: Resilience of an integrated crop-livestock system to climate change: a simulation analysis of cover crop grazing in southern Brazil

Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.