-
Evidence for Conductivity- and Macroinvertebrate-Driven Segregation of Ostracod Assemblages in Endorheic Depression Wetlands in North West Province of South Africa
-
Our knowledge of the ecology of non-marine Ostracoda inhabiting endorheic wetlands (pans) of the semi-arid regions of South Africa is very scarce. The present study investigates the distribution of ostracod species in grass, open, and salt pans in the central part of the North West province and tests ostracod response to abiotic and biotic predictor variables operating at a local scale. Distance-based linear models revealed three variables (pan type, water electrical conductivity and abundance of macroinvertebrate predators, and collector-gatherers) that best explained variation in the ostracod dataset. Ostracod assemblages from the three studied pan types differed by the dominance structure rather than by the species composition. Salt pans with high conductivity and high ratio of predaceous macroinvertebrates were dominated by Heterocypris giesbrechti, with accessory presence of Plesiocypridopsis newtoni. In open pans with low conductivities and the lowest ratio of predators (but highest ratio of collector-gatherers) Potamocypris mastigophora was typically a dominant species, while in grass pans, all the three mentioned species had similar relative abundances. Although our findings lend provisional support to some models of ostracod assemblage diversity across different pan types, more studies replicating endorheic depression wetlands in other regions are required before generalizations can be made.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2023
-
Evidence for Faster X Chromosome Evolution in Spiders
-
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2019
-
Evidence of a Cooler Continental Climate in East China during the Warm Early Cenozoic
-
The early Cenozoic was characterized by a very warm climate especially during the Early Eocene. To understand climatic changes in eastern Asia, we reconstructed the Early Eocene vegetation and climate based on palynological data of a borehole from Wutu coal mine, East China and evaluated the climatic differences between eastern Asia and Central Europe. The Wutu palynological assemblages indicated a warm temperate vegetation succession comprising mixed needle- and broad-leaved forests. Three periods of vegetation succession over time were recognized. The changes of palynomorph relative abundance indicated that period 1 was warm and humid, period 2 was relatively warmer and wetter, and period 3 was cooler and drier again. The climatic parameters estimated by the coexistence approach (CA) suggested that the Early Eocene climate in Wutu was warmer and wetter. Mean annual temperature (MAT) was approximately 16°C and mean annual precipitation (MAP) was 800–1400 mm. Comparison of the Early Eocene climatic parameters of Wutu with those of 39 other fossil floras of different age in East China, reveals that 1) the climate became gradually cooler during the last 65 million years, with MAT dropping by 9.3°C. This cooling trend coincided with the ocean temperature changes but with weaker amplitude; 2) the Early Eocene climate was cooler in East China than in Central Europe; 3) the cooling trend in East China (MAT dropped by 6.9°C) was gentler than in Central Europe (MAT dropped by 13°C) during the last 45 million years.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2016
-
Evolution and Diversity of Bat and Rodent Paramyxoviruses from North America
-
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
-
Evolution at two time frames: polymorphisms from an ancient singular divergence event fuel contemporary parallel evolution
-
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2018
-
Evolution de l'exploitation des gibiers-mammifères à Kisangani de 1975 à 2018
-
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
-
Evolution in the tides: unravelling adaptive strategies in Pogonus chalceus beetles
-
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2024
-
Evolutionary history and biogeography of widespread African giant shrews ( Crocidura olivieri species complex)
-
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2023
-
EVOSHEEP: the makeup of sheep breeds in the ancient Near East
-
The EVOSHEEP project combines archaeozoology, geometric morphometrics and genetics to study archaeological sheep assemblages dating from the sixth to the first millennia BC in eastern Africa, the Levant, the Anatolian South Caucasus, the Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia. The project aims to understand changes in the physical appearance and phenotypic characteristics of sheep and how these related to the appearance of new breeds and the demand for secondary products to supply the textile industry.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2021
-
Exchange processes and nitrogen cycling on the shelf and continental slope of the Black Sea basin.
-
A 3D coupled biogeochemical-hydrodynamical model has been applied to the Black Sea to simulate nitrogen cycling and to estimate the exchange of biogeochemical components at the shelf break and between the continental slope and the deep sea. It was found that biological processes on the northwestern shelf are in approximate balance. Primary production is fueled by river discharge, nitrate input from the open sea at the shelf break, and in situ remineralization. The input of nitrate from the open sea is roughly equivalent to the river nitrate discharge but is half the nitrate export from the shelf toward the open sea. Also, the Black Sea shelf acts throughout the year as a nitrate source for the open sea. The amount of shelf production not remineralized in the euphotic layer is 22.2% and is exported to lower layers (20%) or offshore (2.2%). We estimate that the export of carbon from the shelf to the interior of the basin represents 2.5% of the new production of the open sea. The upper slope adjoining the northwestern shelf is the site of downwelling events responsible for the downward transport to the intermediate layer of the continental slope of biogeochemical components exported from the shelf in the upper layer. The shelf has been found to be an efficient trap for the refractory material discharged by the Danube.
Located in
Library
/
No RBINS Staff publications