Using learning networks to understand complex systems: a case study of biological, geophysical and social research in the Amazon

Developing high-quality scientific research will be most effective if research communities with diverse skills and interests are able to share information and knowledge, are aware of the major challenges across disciplines, and can exploit economies of scale to provide robust answers and better inform policy. We evaluate opportunities and challenges facing the development of a more interactive research environment by developing an interdisciplinary synthesis of research on a single geographic region. We focus on the Amazon as it is of enormous regional and global environmental importance and faces a highly uncertain future. To take stock of existing knowledge and provide a framework for analysis we present a set of mini-reviews from fourteen different areas of research, encompassing taxonomy, biodiversity, biogeography, vegetation dynamics, landscape ecology, earth-atmosphere interactions, ecosystem processes, fire, deforestation dynamics, hydrology, hunting, conservation planning, livelihoods, and payments for ecosystem services. Each review highlights the current state of knowledge and identifies research priorities, including major challenges and opportunities. We show that while substantial progress is being made across many areas of scientific research, our understanding of specific issues is often dependent on knowledge from other disciplines. Accelerating the acquisition of reliable and contextualized knowledge about the fate of complex pristine and modified ecosystems is partly dependent on our ability to exploit economies of scale in shared resources and technical expertise, recognise and make explicit interconnections and feedbacks among sub-disciplines, increase the temporal and spatial scale of existing studies, and improve the dissemination of scientific findings to policy makers and society at large. Enhancing interaction among research efforts is vital if we are to make the most of limited funds and overcome the challenges posed by addressing large-scale interdisciplinary questions. Bringing together a diverse scientific community with a single geographic focus can help increase awareness of research questions both within and among disciplines, and reveal the opportunities that may exist for advancing acquisition of reliable knowledge. This approach could be useful for a variety of globally important scientific questions.

On the relationship between the Indian summer monsoon and river flow in the Aral Sea basin

We study the contemporaneous relationship between the intensity of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and runoff in the major rivers of the Aral Sea basin (Amudarya, Syrdarya) and some of their subcatchments. To this end, we use All-India rainfall (AIR) data, CRU surface observations of precipitation and temperature, ERA40 atmospheric data, and natural discharge data corrected for human interference. We show that there is a highly significant positive correlation between ISM intensity and Amudarya runoff. This finding cannot be explained by the spill-over of ISM precipitation over the Hindu Kush into the Amudarya basin. Instead, we suggest that the observed co-variability is mediated by tropospheric temperature variations due to fluctuations in the ISM intensity. These variations are known to be due to Rossby-wave propagation in response to condensational heating during monsoon precipitation. We hypothesise that the corresponding anomalies in surface temperatures imply anomalies in meltwater formation.

Large-scale and synoptic meteorology in the south-east Pacific during the observations campaign VOCALS-REx in austral Spring 2008

We present a descriptive overview of the meteorology in the south eastern subtropical Pacific (SEP) during the VOCALS-REx intensive observations campaign which was carried out between October and November 2008. Mainly based on data from operational analyses, forecasts, reanalysis, and satellite observations, we focus on spatio-temporal scales from synoptic to planetary. A climatological context is given within which the specific conditions observed during the campaign are placed, with particular reference to the relationships between the large-scale and the regional circulations. The mean circulations associated with the diurnal breeze systems are also discussed. We then provide a summary of the day-to-day synoptic-scale circulation, air-parcel trajectories, and cloud cover in the SEP during VOCALS-REx. Three meteorologically distinct periods of time are identified and the large-scale causes for their different character are discussed. The first period was characterised by significant variability associated with synoptic-scale systems interesting the SEP; while the two subsequent phases were affected by planetary-scale disturbances with a slower evolution. The changes between initial and later periods can be partly explained from the regular march of the annual cycle, but contributions from subseasonal variability and its teleconnections were important. Across the whole of the two months under consideration we find a significant correlation between the depth of the inversion-capped marine boundary layer (MBL) and the amount of low cloud in the area of study. We discuss this correlation and argue that at least as a crude approximation a typical scaling may be applied relating MBL and cloud properties with the large-scale parameters of SSTs and tropospheric temperatures. These results are consistent with previously found empirical relationships involving lower-tropospheric stability.

A global view of the extratropical tropopause transition layer from Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer O3, H2O, and CO

The global behavior of the extratropical tropopause transition layer (ExTL) is investigated using O3, H2O, and CO measurements from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) on Canada’s SCISAT-1 satellite obtained between February 2004 and May 2007. The ExTL depth is derived using H2O-O3 and CO-O3 correlations. The ExTL top derived from H2O-O3 shows an increase from roughly 1–1.5 km above the thermal tropopause in the subtropics to 3–4 km (2.5–3.5 km) in the north (south) polar region, implying somewhat weaker tropospherestratosphere- transport in the Southern Hemisphere. The ExTL bottom extends ~1 km below the thermal tropopause, indicating a persistent stratospheric influence on the troposphere at all latitudes. The ExTL top derived from the CO-O3 correlation is lower, at 2 km or ~345 K (1.5 km or ~335 K) in the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere. Its annual mean coincides with the relative temperature maximum just above the thermal tropopause. The vertical CO gradient maximizes at the thermal tropopause, indicating a local minimum in mixing within the tropopause region. The seasonal changes in and the scales of the vertical H2O gradients show a similar pattern as the static stability structure of the tropopause inversion layer (TIL), which provides observational support for the hypothesis that H2O plays a radiative role in forcing and maintaining the structure of the TIL.

Arctic Oscillation and Antarctic Oscillation in internal atmospheric variability

n this study, we investigated the features of Arctic Oscillation (AO) and Antarctic Oscillation (AAO), that is, the annular modes in the extratropics, in the internal atmospheric variability attained through an ensemble of integrations by an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) forced with the global observed SSTs. We focused on the interannual variability of AO/AAO, which is dominated by internal atmospheric variability. In comparison with previous observed results, the AO/AAO in internal atmospheric variability bear some similar characteristics, but exhibit a much clearer spatial structure: significant correlation between the North Pacific and North Atlantic centers of action, much stronger and more significant associated precipitation anomalies, and the meridional displacement of upper-tropospheric westerly jet streams in the Northern/Southern Hemisphere. In addition, we examined the relationship between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)/AO and East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM). It has been shown that in the internal atmospheric variability, the EAWM variation is significantly related to the NAO through upper-tropospheric atmospheric teleconnection patterns.

Managing the duality of IHRM: unravelling the strategy and perceptions of key actors in South Korean MNCs

This research aims to extend our understanding of the duality between global integration and local responsiveness in multinational corporations (MNCs) by exploring the perceptions of corporate HR actors regarding the intra-organisational factors that alter the balance between these pressures. It examines the perceptions and actions of key actors in the context of two Korean MNCs. The study shows the importance attributed to a range of socio-procedural factors by corporate actors and which, therefore, inform the practical management of the dual forces, notably: HR expertise, social ties, trustworthy relationships and co-involvement in decision processes.

The early transcriptomic response to interleukin 1β and interleukin 33 in rat neonatal cardiomyocytes

In the heart, inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL) 1β are implicated in regulating adaptive and maladaptive changes, whereas IL33 negatively regulates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and promotes cardioprotection. These agonists signal through a common co-receptor but, in cardiomyocytes, IL1β more potently activates mitogen-activated protein kinases and NFκB, pathways that regulate gene expression. We compared the effects of external application of IL1β and IL33 on the cardiomyocyte transcriptome. Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were exposed to IL1β or IL33 (0.5, 1 or 2h). Transcriptomic profiles were determined using Affymetrix rat genome 230 2.0 microarrays and data were validated by quantitative PCR. IL1β induced significant changes in more RNAs than IL33 and, generally, to a greater degree. It also had a significantly greater effect in downregulating mRNAs and in regulating mRNAs associated with selected pathways. IL33 had a greater effect on a small, select group of specific transcripts. Thus, differences in intensity of intracellular signals can deliver qualitatively different responses. Quantitatively different responses in production of receptor agonists and transcription factors may contribute to qualitative differences at later times resulting in different phenotypic cellular responses.

Transport timescales and tracer properties in the extratropical UTLS

A comprehensive evaluation of seasonal backward trajectories initialized in the northern hemisphere lowermost stratosphere (LMS) has been performed to investigate the factors that determine the temporal and spatial structure of troposphere-to-stratosphere-transport (TST) and it's impact on the LMS. In particular we explain the fundamental role of the transit time since last TST (tTST) for the chemical composition of the LMS. According to our results the structure of the LMS can be characterized by a layer with tTST<40 days forming a narrow band around the local tropopause. This layer extends about 30 K above the local dynamical tropopause, corresponding to the extratropical tropopause transition layer (ExTL) as identified by CO. The LMS beyond this layer shows a relatively well defined separation as marked by an aprupt transition to longer tTST indicating less frequent mixing and a smaller fraction of tropospheric air. Thus the LMS constitutes a region of two well defined regimes of tropospheric influence. These can be characterized mainly by different transport times from the troposphere and different fractions of tropospheric air. Carbon monoxide (CO) mirrors this structure of tTST due to it's finite lifetime on the order of three months. Water vapour isopleths, on the other hand, do not uniquely indicate TST and are independent of tTST, but are determined by the Lagrangian Cold Point (LCP) of air parcels. Most of the backward trajectories from the LMS experienced their LCP in the tropics and sub-tropics, and TST often occurs 20 days after trajectories have encountered their LCP. Therefore, ExTL properties deduced from CO and H2O provide totally different informations on transport and particular TST for the LMS.

Model simulations and aircraft measurements of vertical, seasonal and latitudinal O3 and CO distributions over Europe

During a series of 8 measurement campaigns within the SPURT project (2001-2003), vertical profiles of CO and O3 have been obtained at subtropical, middle and high latitudes over western Europe, covering the troposphere and lowermost stratosphere up to ~14 km altitude during all seasons. The seasonal and latitudinal variation of the measured trace gas profiles are compared to simulations with the chemical transport model MATCH. In the troposphere reasonable agreement between observations and model predictions is achieved for CO and O3, in particular at subtropical and mid-latitudes, while the model overestimates (underestimates) CO (O3 in the lowermost stratosphere particularly at high latitudes, indicating too strong simulated bi-directional exchange across the tropopause. By the use of tagged tracers in the model, long-range transport of Asian air masses is identified as the dominant source of CO pollution over Europe in the free troposphere.

Palm oil, land rights and ecosystem services in Gbarpolu County, Liberia

As part of the rebuilding efforts following the long civil war, the Liberian government has renegotiated long-term contracts with international investors to exploit natural resources. Substantial areas of land have been handed out in large-scale concessions across Liberia during the last five years. While this may promote economic growth at the national level, such concessions are likely to have major environmental, social and economic impacts on local communities, who may not have been consulted on the proposed developments. This report examines the potential socio-economic and environmental impacts of a proposed large-scale oil palm concession in Bopolu District, Gbarpolu County in Liberia. The research provided an in-depth mapping of current resource use, livelihoods and ecosystems services, in addition to analysis of community consultation and perceptions of the potential impacts of the proposed development. This case study of a palm oil concession in Liberia highlights wider policy considerations regarding large-scale land acquisitions in the global South: • Formal mechanisms may be needed to ensure the process of Free, Prior, Informed Consent takes place effectively with affected communities and community land rights are safeguarded. • Rigorous Environmental and Social Impact Assessments need to be conducted before operations start. Accurate mapping of customary land rights, community resources and cultural sites, livelihoods, land use, biodiversity and ecosystems services is a critical tool in this process. • Greater clarity and awareness-raising of land tenure laws and policies is needed at all levels. Good governance and capacity-building of key institutions would help to ensure effective implementation of relevant laws and policies. • Efforts are needed to improve basic services and infrastructure in rural communities and invest in food crop cultivation in order to enhance food security and poverty alleviation. Increasing access to inputs, equipment, training and advice is especially important if male and female farmers are no longer able to practice shifting cultivation due to the reduction/ loss of customary land and the need to farm more intensively on smaller areas of land.

Effects of plant pathogens on population dynamics and community composition in grassland ecosystems: two case studies

Grassland ecosystems comprise a major portion of the earth’s terrestrial surface, ranging from high-input cultivated monocultures or simple species mixtures to relatively unmanaged but dynamic systems. Plant pathogens are a component of these systems with their impact dependent on many interacting factors, including grassland species population dynamics and community composition, the topics covered in this paper. Plant pathogens are affected by these interactions and also act reciprocally by modifying their nature. We review these features of disease in grasslands and then introduce the 150-year long-term Park Grass Experiment (PGE) at Rothamsted Research in the UK. We then consider in detail two plant-pathogen systems present in the PGE, Tragopogon pratensis-Puccinia hysterium and Holcus lanata-Puccinia coronata. These two systems have very different life history characteristics: the first, a biennial member of the Asteraceae infected by its host-specific, systemic rust; the second, a perennial grass infected by a host-non-specific rust. We illustrate how observational, experimental and modelling studies can contribute to a better understanding of population dynamics, competitive interactions and evolutionary outcomes. With Tragopogon pratensis-Puccinia hysterium, characterised as an “outbreak” species in the PGE, we show that pathogen-induced mortality is unlikely to be involved in host population regulation; and that the presence of even a short-lived seed-bank can affect the qualitative outcomes of the host-pathogen dynamics. With Holcus lanata-Puccinia coronata, we show how nutrient conditions can affect adaptation in terms of host defence mechanisms, and that co-existence of competing species affected by a common generalist pathogen is unlikely.

eRPUK 2003: eCommerce and Retail Property in the UK: third annual benchmarking survey

This new survey, which has just been completed and includes brand new data, has been funded by the RICS Education Trust and the European Shopping Centre Trust. It follows up our 2000 survey of UK retailers, investors and developers. The report presents results from our new 2001 survey. This continuing benchmark series of studies includes an extensive review of developments in ecommerce and retail in Europe and the USA. The survey reveals a cooling in attitude towards ecommerce in the UK, but there is rapid growth in some sectors and polarisation and marginalisation of secondary centres are likely to increase. In Europe the growth of a three tier system of ecommerce 'pioneers', 'followers' and 'laggards' is becoming established, and the research also reveals results from a recent joint survey on US and UK retailers conducted with Colorado State University. There is a danger of complacency as UK online sales (in percentage terms) now outstrip USA.