Evaluating atmospheric CO2 inversions at multiple scales over a highly inventoried agricultural landscape

An intensive regional research campaign was conducted by the North American Carbon Program (NACP) in 2007 to study the carbon cycle of the highly productive agricultural regions of the Midwestern United States. Forty‐five different associated projects were conducted across five US agencies over the course of nearly a decade involving hundreds of researchers. One of the primary objectives of the intensive campaign was to investigate the ability of atmospheric inversion techniques to use highly calibrated CO₂ mixing ratio data to estimate CO₂ flux over the major croplands of the United States by comparing the results to an inventory of CO₂ fluxes. Statistics from densely monitored crop production, consisting primarily of corn and soybeans, provided the backbone of a well studied bottom‐up inventory flux estimate that was used to evaluate the atmospheric inversion results. Estimates were compared to the inventory from three different inversion systems, representing spatial scales varying from high resolution mesoscale (PSU), to continental (CSU) and global (CarbonTracker), coupled to different transport models and optimization techniques. The inversion‐based mean CO₂‐C sink estimates were generally slightly larger, 8–20% for PSU, 10–20% for CSU, and 21% for CarbonTracker, but statistically indistinguishable, from the inventory estimate of 135 TgC. While the comparisons show that the MCI region‐wide C sink is robust across inversion system and spatial scale, only the continental and mesoscale inversions were able to reproduce the spatial patterns within the region. In general, the results demonstrate that inversions can recover CO₂ fluxes at sub‐regional scales with a relatively high density of CO₂ observations and adequate information on atmospheric transport in the region.     

Tropical forest and mangrove history from southeastern Mexico: a 5000 yr pollen record and implications for sea level rise

A 250 cm long core from El Palmar, a swamp area located along the Rio Hondo river in the south of the Yucatan Peninsula, near the Belizean border, reveals the environmental history of the mangrove and tropical forest of the last 5000 years. The period between 5000 and 4600 b.p. shows sandy deposits, which form the early infill and development of the swamp. A medium-statured tropical forest covered the area and members of the Moraceae and Fabacaeae dominated this early forest. The period between 4600 and 4000 b.p. presents a clear change to a mangrove system with Conocarpus erecta and Rhizophora mangle as dominant trees. This vegetational change is due to flooding of the Rio Hondo river, which deposits sediments of high salinity due to higher sea-level. The medium-statured forest became established at some distance from the swamp area. After 4400 b.p. C. erecta appears as the dominant mangrove species and the R. mangle stands are less predominant in the area. The tropical forest was close to the swamp area and was mainly composed of members of the Moraceae, Arecaceae and Fabaceae as dominant taxa of this vegetational mosaic.     

Fine-grained secretory cells in the intestine of the lancelet,Branchiostoma (Amphioxus) lanceolatum,studied by light microscopy

Summary In the posterior part of the mid-gut epithelium in the lancelet, Branchiostoma lanceolatum, fine-grained cells occur. The appearance of the these cells is conspicuous with a basal and an apical swelling with small secretory granules. At the end of the secretion cycle the granular content is released into the gut lumen. The secretion product seems to consist of proteins and probably has an enzyme function. The restricted localization, the fine granulation, and the characteristic shape are features, that make these cells distinguishable from other secretory cells in the lancelet intestinal epithelium. A possible endocrine capacity of the cells is discussed.This work was supported by grant 2124-23 from the Swedish Natural Science Research Council and by grants from the Faculty of Science, University of Stockholm, Sweden.     

Long‐term survival and diversification of an endemic Melitaea species in mountains of Iran and adjacent areas

Disjunct distribution patterns regularly resulted in the separation of different genetic lineages in glacial refugia. Recent patterns of survival and expansion have been often revealed by climatic niche modelling. We used the combination of genetic markers, geometric morphometry and climatic niche modelling to clear up the taxonomy and reconstruct the potential range of an endemic Iranian, taxonomically disputed Melitaea species in climatically different epochs. Our results show that this species (Melitaea abbas Gross and Ebert 1975, comb. n. = M. zagrosi Tóth and Varga syn. nova) is clearly separated from all taxa of the Melitaea phoebe species group and only occurs in Iran and Azerbaijan but were also predicted for some adjacent regions. Molecular markers and distribution modelling show consistently that this species should have had a long‐term survival in this area, and its range could have been slightly larger during the last glacial maximum than currently. Based on the studied molecular markers, three main groups in M. abbas can be recognized: those of steppic area of Azerbaijan, western Iran and northeastern Iran. Each group is characterized by own mitochondrial haplotypes, but also a high level of genetic diversity appears in the central part of the distribution area (Zagros Mts.).     

A nonparametric procedure for the two-factor mixed model with missing data

We develop a nonparametric imputation technique to test for the treatment effects in a nonparametric two-factor mixed model with incomplete data. Within each block, an arbitrary covariance structure of the repeated measurements is assumed without the explicit parametrization of the joint multivariate distribution. The number of repeated measurements is uniformly bounded whereas the number of blocks tends to infinity. The essential idea of the nonparametric imputation is to replace the unknown indicator functions of pairwise comparisons by the corresponding empirical distribution functions. The proposed nonparametric imputation method holds valid under the missing completely at random (MCAR) mechanism. We apply the nonparametric imputation on Brunner and Dette's method for the nonparametric two-factor mixed model and this extension results in a weighted partial rank transform statistic. Asymptotic relative efficiency of the nonparametric imputation method with the complete data versus the incomplete data is derived to quantify the efficiency loss due to the missing data. Monte Carlo simulation studies are conducted to demonstrate the validity and power of the proposed method in comparison with other existing methods. A migraine severity score data set is analyzed to demonstrate the application of the proposed method in the analysis of missing data.     

Structural insights into small RNA sorting and mRNA target binding by Arabidopsis Argonaute Mid domains

The RISC-associated Argonaute (Ago) proteins play the catalytic role for RISC-mediated gene regulation by selecting small RNAs and subsequent targeting and cleavage of complementary mRNAs. Ago Mid domains are proposed to play essential roles in small RNA sorting. Here, we report the crystal structures of Arabidopsis Ago1 Mid domain and its chimera mutant with part of Ago1 replaced by Ago4. The structures demonstrate that a single amino insertion in the nucleotide specificity loop of AtAgo1 will change the nucleotide binding preference of AtAgo1 from “5′-U” to “5′-A”. Moreover, we identify a long positively charged groove located along the “5′-end-nucleotide specificity loop” and occupied by several sulfate ions with the distance of 9-11 Å distance, indicating a putative mRNA target binding groove.     

西藏南部岗巴地区白垩纪中期钙质超微化石带和Cenomanian-Turonian界线

我国西藏南部海相白垩系含有较丰富的钙质超微化石。文中着重研究岗巴地区两个剖面 (即剖面A ,B)Albian Santonian钙质超微化石的分布。根据标志种的存在 ,识别出 5个初现面事件 ,相应地建立 6个钙质超微化石带 ,自下至上是Prediscosphaeracretacea带 ,Eiffellithusturriseiffeli带 ,Lithraphiditesacutum带 ,Gartneragoobliquum带 ,Quadrumgartneri带 ,Lucianorhabduscayeuxii带。同时 ,通过洲际对比 ,建议以G .obliquum初现面作为划分本区Cenomanian和Turonian界线的标志。此外 ,Q .gartneri带和I .cayeuxii带之间缺失多个化石带 ,据此推测Turonian至Santonian期间本区可能存在沉积间断。     

Recent population expansion and connectivity in the hydrothermal shrimp Rimicaris exoculata along the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge

Aim Deep‐sea hydrothermal vents are unstable habitats that are both spatially and temporally fragmented. In vent species, a ‘short‐term insurance’ hypothesis would lead us to expect mostly self‐recruitment, limiting the loss of larvae in the deep ocean or water column and increasing genetic differentiation over the time elapsed since colonization. Alternatively, a ‘long‐term insurance’ hypothesis would support the prediction of selection for large‐scale dispersal, to ensure long‐term persistence in these ephemeral habitats. The main goal of this study was to infer the spatial and temporal distribution of genetic diversity of the shrimp Rimicaris exoculata, which forms high‐density local populations on hydrothermal vents along the Mid‐Atlantic ridge. Location Deep‐sea hydrothermal vents along the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge. Methods We used sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI, 710 bp) to assess the spatio‐temporal distribution of genetic diversity across five hydrothermal fields from 36° N to 4° S. Results In contrast to previous results from pioneer studies, very high haplotype diversity was observed in vents across the entire region (i.e. 0.69–0.82), indicating current large effective population size and low drift. The star‐like shape of the network of haplotypes, the lack of spatial genetic structure and the significance of tests reflecting demographic effects, together with the fitting of a population expansion model, all support a recent population expansion. Main conclusions Our results suggest a very recent common history of R. exoculata populations/demes along the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge, derived after a common bottleneck or founder event and followed by a concomitant demographic expansion. This study therefore suggests a large effective population size and/or high dispersal capacity, as well as a possible recent (re)colonization of Mid‐Atlantic hydrothermal vents by R. exoculata.