Land-use change and climate change are driving a global biodiversity crisis. Yet, how species' responses to climate change are correlated with their responses to land-use change is poorly understood. Here, we assess the linkages between climate and land-use change on birds in Neotropical forest and agriculture. Across > 300 species, we show that affiliation with drier climates is associated wit...

In semiarid western North American riparian ecosystems, increased drought and lower streamflows under climate change may reduce plant growth and recruitment, and favor drought-tolerant exotic species over mesic native species. We tested whether elevated atmospheric CO₂ might ameliorate these effects by improving plant water-use efficiency. We examined the effects of CO₂ and water availability o...

Plants have evolved different strategies to cope with drought, involving alternative ecophysiologies and different levels of plasticity. These strategies are critical for species of limited distribution, which are especially vulnerable to the current rates of rapid environmental change. The aim of this study was to assess the water strategy of two species with limited distribution, Cneorum tric...

The leaves of Nepenthes pitcher plants are specialized pitfall traps which capture and digest arthropod prey. In many species, insects become trapped by 'aquaplaning' on the wet pitcher rim (peristome). Here we investigate the ecological implications of this capture mechanism in Nepenthes rafflesiana var. typica. We combine meteorological data and continuous field measurements of peristome wetn...

15 Numerical and theoretical studies have shown that mesoscale gradients in land surface properties can induce circulations in the atmosphere. This study provides the first well-resolved observations of such flows induced by soil moisture from recent rainfall, and is based on aircraft data in the Sahel. Satellite imagery was used to identify fine scale soil moisture features within a wet zone s...

We examine the relationship between hydrologic variability and the incidence of human disease associated with West Nile virus (WNV; family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus) infection (hereafter termed "human WN cases") in Colorado from 2002 to 2007. We find that local hydrologic conditions, as simulated by the Mosaic hydrology model, are associated with differences in human WN cases. In Colorado'...

This research focuses on the need for preserving fruits in rural areas to prevent waste. The solar drier is made of vital chambers i.e. the concentrator chamber (that harvests the solar irradiance), the transport pipe (that transports the heat generated by convection) and hanger chamber (where the fruits are placed). The temperature within the concentrator chamber and hanger chamber was monitor...

The sensitivity of tropical cyclone intensity to ventilation of cooler, drier air into the inner core is examined using an axisymmetric tropical cyclone model with parameterized ventilation. Sufficiently strong ventilation induces cooling of the upper-level warm core, a shift in the secondary circulation radially outward, and a decrease in the simulated intensity. Increasing the strength of the...