The Paleocene in general and in Europe in particular, is generally considered as an epoch with high endemism and few intercontinental dispersals of mammals, although some faunal interchange is known between Asia and North America, mainly from the Tiffanian-Clarkforkian boundary. Up to now, however, faunal interchange between Europe and North America during the Paleocene has almost never been demonstrated. The study of the early Paleocene fauna of Hainin (Belgium) reveals high endemism in European mammals at the end of the Danian (early Paleocene). The age of the fauna of Walbeck (Germany) is reevaluated and is likely to be Selandian (middle Paleocene), significantly older than previously suggested. Therefore, Walbeck is closer in age to Hainin than to the typical late Paleocene fauna of Cernay (France). However, the faunas from Walbeck and Cernay share many common genera that are not present in Hainin, showing a faunal turnover around the Danian-Selandian boundary in Europe, marked by the first occurrence of Plesiadapis, Arctocyon and Adunator in Walbeck, and of neoplagiaulacid multituberculates and Dissacus in Cernay. The three genera present in Walbeck are abundant and diversified in North America from the beginning of the Tiffanian, i.e., older than the expected age of Walbeck. Therefore, it is inferred that these genera dispersed from North America to Europe around the Danian–Selandian boundary, corresponding roughly to the Torrejonian–Tiffanian boundary. The absence of multituberculates in the fauna of Walbeck does not allow the drawing of definite conclusions about the moment of their dispersal, but it is likely that it happened at the same time as Plesiadapis and Arctocyon, because neoplagiaulacids are abundant and diversified during the whole Paleocene in North America. Similarly, Dissacus is very rare in Cernay, and could also have dispersed at the same time as others, but remained unnoticed because of its rarity. The Clarkforkian in North America is marked by massive arrival of taxa from Asia, among which are rodents, carnivorans, and tillodonts. The recent discovery of the latest Paleocene fauna of Rivecourt (France), where typical Paleocene taxa cohabit with rodents and a carnivoran, indicates that the large-scale dispersal event marking the Paleocene–Eocene boundary began in Europe about at the same time as in North America, with the arrival of rodents and carnivorans. The morphology of the new carnivoran species suggests that this group dispersed separately from Asia to Europe and from Asia to North America.
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Abstract Non-technical summary A substantial increase in wind energy deployment worldwide is required to help achieve international targets for decreasing global carbon emissions and limiting the impacts of climate change. In response to global concerns regarding the environmental effects of wind energy, the International Energy Agency Wind Technical Collaborative Program initiated Task 34 – Working Together to Resolve Environmental Effects of Wind Energy or WREN. As part of WREN, this study performed an international assessment with the global wind energy and environmental community to determine priority environmental issues over the next 5‒10 years and help support collaborative interactions among researchers, developers, regulators, and stakeholders. Technical summary A systematic assessment was performed using feedback from the international community to identify priority environmental issues for land-based and offshore wind energy development. Given the global nature of wind energy development, feedback was of interest from all countries where such development is underway or planned to help meet United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change targets. The assessment prioritized environmental issues over the next 5–10 years associated with wind energy development and received a total of 294 responses from 28 countries. For land-based wind, the highest-ranked issues included turbine collision risk for volant species (birds and bats), cumulative effects on species and ecosystems, and indirect effects such as avoidance and displacement. For offshore wind, the highest-ranked issues included cumulative effects, turbine collision risk, underwater noise (e.g. marine mammals and fish), and displacement. Emerging considerations for these priorities include potential application to future technologies (e.g. larger turbines and floating turbines), new stressors and species in frontier regions, and cumulative effects for multiple projects at a regional scale. For both land-based and offshore wind, effectiveness of minimization measures (e.g. detection and deterrence technologies) and costs for monitoring, minimization, and mitigation were identified as overarching challenges. Social media summary Turbine collisions and cumulative effects among the international environmental priorities for wind energy development.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
