Avian occupancy probabilities, vegetation structure, and presence of Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) in eastern and central Oklahoma (2009-2011)

Changes in land use and land cover throughout the eastern half of North America have caused substantial declines in populations of birds that rely on grassland and shrubland vegetation types, including socially and economically important game birds such as the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter bobwhites). As much attention is focused on habitat management and restoration for bobwhites, they may act as an umbrella species for other bird species with similar habitat requirements. We quantified the relationship of bobwhites to the overall bird community and evaluated the potential for bobwhites to act as an umbrella species for grassland and shrubland birds. We monitored bobwhite presence and bird community composition within 31 sample units on selected private lands in the south-central United States from 2009 to 2011. Bobwhites were strongly associated with other grassland and shrubland birds and were a significant positive predictor for 9 species. Seven of these, including Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii), Dicksissel (Spiza americana), and Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), are listed as species of conservation concern. Species richness and occupancy probability of grassland and shrubland birds were higher relative to the overall bird community in sample units occupied by bobwhites. Our results show that bobwhites can act as an umbrella species for grassland and shrubland birds, although the specific species in any given situation will depend on region and management objectives. These results suggest that efficiency in conservation funding can be increased by using public interest in popular game species to leverage resources to meet multiple conservation objectives.

Background heat flow values in the region of the Sea of Okhotsk

Particular features of tectonic structure and anomalous distribution of geothermal, geomagnetic, and gravity fields in the region of the Sea of Okhotsk are considered. On the basis of heat flow data, ages of large-scale structures in the Sea of Okhotsk are estimated at 65 Ma for the Central Okhotsk Rise and 36 Ma for the South Okhotsk Basin. Age of the South Okhotsk Basin is confirmed by data on kinematics and corresponds to 50 km thickness of the lithosphere. This is in accordance with thickness value obtained by magnetotelluric soundings. Comparative analysis of model geothermal background and measured heat flow values on the Akademii Nauk Rise is performed. Analysis points to abnormally high (~20%) measured heat flow agrees with high negative gradient of gravity anomalies. Estimates of deep heat flow and basement age of riftogenic basins in the Sea of Okhotsk were carried out in the following areas: Deryugin Basin (18 Ma, Early Miocene), TINRO Basin (12 Ma, Middle Miocene), and West Kamchatka Basin (23 Ma, Late Oligocene). Temperatures at boundaries of the main lithological complexes of the sedimentary cover are calculated and zones of oil and gas generation are defined. On the basis of geothermal, magnetic, structural, and other geological-geophysical data a kinematic model of the region of the Sea of Okhotsk for period of 36 Ma was calculated and constructed.

Integrated values of heterotrophic picoplankton and primary production (euphotic zone) in the Antarctic polar frontal region during POLARSTERN cruises ANT-XIII/2 and ANT-XVI/3

We assessed relationships between phytoplankton standing stock, measured as chlorophyll a (Chl a), primary production (PP), and heterotrophic picoplankton production (HPP), in the epipelagic zone (0-100 m) as well as in the mesopelagic zone (100-1,000 m) in the polar frontal zone of the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean in austral summer (late December to January) and fall (March to early May). Integrated epipelagic HPP was positively correlated to integrated PP in summer (data for fall are not available) but not to integrated Chl a. However, integrated mesopelagic HPP was positively correlated to Chl a in summer as well as fall. The mesopelagic fraction of HPP as a percentage of total HPP was also positively correlated to Chl a, whereas the epipelagic fraction of HPP was negatively correlated to it. These results indicate that with increasing phytoplankton standing stock, constituted mainly of highly silicified diatoms, the focus of its consumption by heterotrophic picoplankton shifts from epipelagic to mesopelagic waters. With a growth efficiency of 30%, our HPP data indicate that in both the epipelagic and mesopelagic zone heterotrophic picoplankton consume 20% of PP. Mesopelagic heterotrophic picoplankton consumed around 80% of the sinking flux, measured from depletion of 234Th, which is a lower fraction than that reported from the central and subarctic Pacific. Our analysis indicates that it is important to include mesopelagic HPP in comprehensive assessments of the microbial consumption of PP, phytoplankton biomass, and particulate organic matter in cold oceanic systems with high rates of export production.

Appendix 7: List of species with their distribution ranges restricted to the corresponding phytogeographical region

Understanding species distribution patterns and the corresponding environmental determinants is a crucial step in the development of effective strategies for the conservation and management of plant communities and ecosystems. Therefore, a central prerequisite is the biogeographical and macroecological analysis of factors and processes that determine contemporary, potential, as well as future geographic distribution of species. This thesis has been conducted in the framework of the BIOMAPS-BIOTA project at the Nees Institute of Biodiversity of Plants, which was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The study investigated patterns of plants species richness and phytogeographic regions under contemporary environmental conditions and forecasted future climate change in the area of West Africa covering five countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo. Firstly, geographic patterns of vascular plant species richness have been depicted at a relatively fine spatial resolution based on the potential distribution of 3,393 species. Species richness is closely related to the steep climatic gradient existing in the region with a high concentration of species in the most humid areas in the south and decreases towards the northern drier areas. The investigation of the effectiveness of the existing network of protected areas shows an overall good coverage of species in the study area. However, the proportion of covered species is considerably lower at national extent for some countries, thus calling for more protected areas in order to cover adequately a maximum number of plants species in these countries. Secondly, based on the potential distribution range of vascular plant species, seven phytogeographic regions have been delineated that broadly reflect the vegetation zones as defined by White (1983). However notable differences to the delineation of White (1983) occur at the margins of some regions. Corresponding to a general southward shifted of all regions. And expansion of the Sahel vegetation zone is observed in the north, while the rainforest zone is decreased in the very south.This is alarming since the rainforest shelters a high number of species and a high proportion of range-restricted or endemic species, despite their relatively small extent compared to the other regions. Finally, the evaluation of the potential impact of climate change on plant species richness in the study area, results in a severe loss of future suitable habitat for up to 50% of species per grid cell, particularly in the rainforest region. Moreover, the analysis of the possible shift of phytogeographic regions shows in general a strong deterioration of the West African rainforest. In contrast the drier areas are expanding continuously, although a slight gain in species number can be observed in some particular regions. The overall lesson to retain from the results of this study is that the West African rainforest should be fixed as a high priority area for the conservation of biodiversity of plants, since it is subject to severe contemporary and projected future threats.

Pollen and macrofossils profiles and age determination from the Pittsburg Basin in the lowlands of south-central Illinois

Pollen and macrofossil evidence for the nature of the vegetation during glacial and interglacial periods in the regions south of the Wisconsinan ice margin is still very scarce. Modern opinions concerning these problems are therefore predominantly derived from geological evidence only or are extrapolated from pollen studies of late Wisconsinan deposits. Now for the first time pollen and macrofossil analyses are available from south-central Illinois covering the Holocene, the entire Wisconsinan, and most probably also Sangamonian and late Illinoian time. The cores studied came from three lakes, which originated as kettle holes in glacial drift of Illinoian age near Vandalia, Fayette County. The Wisconsinan ice sheet approached the sites from the the north to within about 60 km distance only. One of the profiles (Pittsburg Basin) probably reaches back to the late Illinoian (zone 1), which was characterized by forests with much Picea. Zone 2, most likely of Sangamonian age, represents a period of species-rich deciduous forests, which must have been similar to the ones that thrive today south and southeast of the prairie peninsula. During the entire Wisconsinan (14C dates ranging from 38,000 to 21,000 BP) thermophilous deciduous trees like Quercus, Carya, and Ulmus occurred in the region, although temporarily accompanied by tree genera with a more northerly modern distribution, such as Picea, which entered and then left south-central Illinois during the Woodfordian. Thus it is evident that arctic climatic conditions did not prevail in the lowlands of south-central Illinois (about 38°30' lat) during the Wisconsinan, even at the time of the maximum glaciation, the Woodfordian. The Wisconsinan was, however, not a period of continuous forest. The pollen assemblages of zone 3 (Altonian) indicate prairie with stands of trees, and in zone 4 the relatively abundant Artemisia pollen indicates the existence of open vegetation and stands of deciduous trees, Picea, and Pinus. True tundra may have existed north of the sites, but if so its pollen rain apparently is marked by pollen from nearby stands of trees. After the disappearance of Pinus and Picea at about 14,000 BP (estimated!), there developed a mosaic of prairies and stands of Quercus, Carya, and other deciduous tree genera (zone 5). This type of vegetation persisted until it was destroyed by cultivation during the 19th and 20th century. Major vegetational changes are not indicated in the pollen diagram for the late Wisconsinan and the Holocene. The dating of zones 1 and 2 is problematical because the sediments are beyond the14C range and because of the lack of stratigraphic evidence. The zones dated as Illinoian and Sangamonian could also represent just a Wisconsinan stadial and interstadial. This possibility, however, seems to be contradicted by the late glacial and interglacial character of the forest vegetation of that time.